Sick Critters

So living on a farm isn't always wide open spaces and frolicking in the fields!

I came home on Friday to a sick goat. Nephi looked like he was about to give birth to triplets and he was frothing that the mouth. Actually his cud was coming out his mouth. I called the vet. Richard said that it sounded like choke and bloat, to try massaging his neck to relieve the blockage. I tried and failed so Richard came out.

He sedated my 125 pound yearling buck and proceeded to tube him, while R and I held him in place and nephew Byron and Grandma watched. Nephi got some electrolytes and mineral oil to rehydrate and knock down some of the foam from his bloat. We put him away and he immediately lay down and moaned for an hour.

In the mean time, we vaccinated all of the horses. I was concerned about Max since last year he reacted to the west nile vaccine. I was assured that this was a different vaccine and he should be fine. All of the horses need to see the dentist in fall... So that means a full trailer loaded to the vet and a half day with sedated horses...

I went out to check Nephi later in the evening and he was up, but still not real happy about life. He was still moaning and water/oil was dripping out his mouth. He had one of those 'too much Thanksgiving Feast' looks. But he was on his feet, which was an improvement. Lacey was less than thrilled since she shares with Nephi and he wasn't allowed to eat, which also means that she gets to fast. I had to put P in with the babies since I was weaning them and they couldn't figure out how to eat grain. They are starting to figure it out.

Hopefully soon we will be able to finish the buck pen and move Nephi and Helaman in together. Then Lacey, P, Dawn and Pearl can start learning to get along. It will be a hard transition for Nephi and Lacey. Nephi because he loves Lacey and Lacey because she doesn't like little goats... At least Dawn and Pearl are fast runners and can probably out run Lacey for the most part!

We checked on Nephi before leaving for the conference and he was back to normal; trying to bite fingers and crying because he thinks he is starving. I updated the vet at 6:30, and got the OK to feed them when we got home that night.

When we got home from the conference and pulled up to the barn I immediately knew something was wrong with Max. It is hard to explain but his nose was funny. He had a wrinkle in his nose that I have only seen once before... Yes, last year when he had the reaction to the vaccine. Now, if you recall, west nile is a neurological disease, so the reaction is neurological. Not fun to have a 2,000 pound horse with a nerve issue. I haltered him and handed him off to R to hold while I ran back to the house for the hot pad. The cure for this reaction is heat applied to the injection site. I came back out to the barn and plugged in our barn hot pad. R got me a sweater out of the truck and we stood for 45 minutes with a hot pad on Max's neck. The neurological symptoms are easy to spot: twitching, muscle tremors, inability to hold the head up, can't swallow, dehydrated, tripping and trouble standing and walking. With Max we have a super easy way to tell medical issues: he gets friendly. Max is very independent, he loves me and tolerates R. If R pets him and Max snuggles, stands still or doesn't react instead of pinning his ears and walking away, there is a problem! If I pet him and he snuggles back instead of tolerating me, there is a problem! Anyhow, after standing in the barn for 45 minutes during a cold windy rain I can happily report he is back to normal!