dog attack on pygmy goat

[kjoiner]

Yesterday a dog attacked my male pygmy goat. He is 18 months old and weighs about 70 lbs. They got him pretty bad, there was 4 of them and 2 of hem were small dachsunds. Anyway, the first thing that we noticed and that they had torn out one of his tescticles and the other way has a gash but not too bad. We immediately carryed him to a pen with a wood bottom (didn't want him on dirt). and administered probios to help him calm down. They also got him on his mouth, but not too bad (could have been worse) That is what we noticed, did not want to dig too deep until he calmed down some. Oh and I had some blue wound spray in the pen, so I sprayed his testicle and sac with that. OK, so I then went and got some more help (goat people) and we gave him a shot of agrimycin, B-complex, gave aspirin orally, cleaned sac with peroxide and put some wound powder on testicle and sac area. As we are doing this we notice evrytime he tries to move he SCREAMS (very heartbreaking).
This morning he seemed to be okay except still screaming in pain. So, I went and got some banamine and today have given him a shot of banamine, agrimycin, B, probios, and cleaned wounds with peroxide and wound powder again.
This is where my dilema starts, a friend also gave me a bottle of Excede antibitics - he says you only give every 5 days and is the best. My internet research shows that Pen-G is best for wounds and Excede is best for pneumonia? What do you think?
Next - he is not eating but is drinking good - so we put some electrolytes in his water also gave him some yogurt mixed with gatorade with a drench. When he drinks his water he starts rattling, not chest rattling but sounds seems to come from mouth to neck. We checked for neck wounds and found 2 small scratches, not even deep enough to bleed. Should i try to shave his neck to make sure no other wounds? I am worried that the dogs have crushed or punchered his esophagus. A friend said that if there is no major wound it sounds more like his throat may be swollen and that the banamine will help with that. ??? What do you think?
BTW - We do not have a vet in the area that knows ANYTHING about goats, we can usually tell her what we need and she will let us have it. Beacuse we are teaching her!
So next question - If his gurgling/ rattling is not better by tomorrow would you take the the vet for an xray to determine is esophagus is damaged or go ahead and have him put down because and IF he is still in extreme pain.
Thanks for your help, I just need some more advice. I feel like I am doing all I can right now but also need to formulate a plan B.

 

[Roll farms]

First off, it sounds like you're doing all you can (esp. w/out a goat vet) so - good job!

Is he running a temp at all?

Agrimycin is a tetracycline antibiotic.
Using that, you can't 'switch' to Pen G b/c it counteracts w/ it and renders the Pen G ineffective, but yes, Pen G would have been the better choice for wounds.
I would be very tempted to stop the agrimycin asap and switch over to Pen G in 24 hours*, keeping a CLOSE eye on his temp. If it shoots up, I'd try a double dose of Pen G ASAP. I dose them at 1cc per 20# but I've seen others dose at 1cc per 15# - you can't use the cattle / horse dosage.

*24 hours after the last dose of Agrimycin -I've never actually done this, but just what my gut would tell me to do if I was in this situation.

Shaving his neck and looking closer isn't a bad idea as long as it doesn't cause further pain / worsen an injury.

Cut some rosebush / raspberry / maple leaves - something he'll find irrisistible. Try sprinkling calf manna on his feed. Soak some alfalfa pellets in water and a bit of molasses, maybe his throat is too sore to swallow and softer food would help.

I'd keep up the banamine tonight, and evaluate him in the morning.

Only you can make the call on whether he's 'worth' a vet bill. Could be an easy fix...could be irreparable. Could be something that will just take time to heal, or can't be recovered from.

 

[terrilhb]

Oh my. I pray he is feeling and getting better. Hugs to you and your poor baby.

 

[daisychick]

I am hoping he is doing better today.

 

[PattySh]

Poor little guy. I hope he recovers. I have found that goats do not tolerate pain well at all. I am hoping this morning finds him feeling better.

 

[elevan]

 

[kjoiner]

Thank you! He seems to be doing better this morning! He was out of his pen this morning (only about 2' away, but still at least he is moving around some) and had went back in pen about 20 minutes later. I gave him some more yogurt and gatorade and then gave him some water. I did not hear the rattling that I was worried about yesterday, so I consider that a huge improvement. I am guessing that his throat was swollen and the banamine helped bring the swelling down. He still seems to be in pain, I can tell by his breathing and he did holler once while I was out there, but still seems to be improved from yesterday! Can I give banamine more often than once a day? I am giving him .7 cc. From what I read it is 1cc per 100lbs and he weighs about 70lbs. And it said every 24 hours. Can I give more or more often in a sitiation like this?
Roll Farms - Have not checked his temp, I figured that his back end was sore enough and if he was running a temp, then he would need antibiotics and banamine, which I am already giving. But I could be wrong! I looked at the bottle wrong - what I am giving him is penicilin with a brand name that starts with Agr... so I assumed agricilin - stupid me. So I am doing the right thing without even knowing it. Thanks for the tips on feed, I will be going to Tractor SUpply here soon for some calf manna and alfalfa pellets. I normally feed an all-grain that our local feed store makes themselves and it is sweet so the molasses is a great idea. I have tried maple leaves and he turns his nose up.
It is NOT an option of IF he is worth a vet bill, because I would do whatever it took. My thoughts are loading him up, which will be painful to him, carrying him in and then not having a clue and then charging me $400 for doing NOTHING and then me still losing him. I know this might make me sound bad, but I do not want to put him through any added stress or pain unless absolutely necessary. I am also thinking that having a vet go ahead and taking the other testicle might relieve some of the pain and possible infection. Any thoughts on that??
Thank you all! I will keep you posted!
BTW - Dogs are taken care of now!

 

[daisychick]

If you don't mind him losing his other testicle (breeding purposes) I would say that would be a really good option. That way he doesn't have an open wound on one side. The vet could do a complete castration and fix one of his biggest injuries all at the same time. Then it would also give the vet a chance to give the rest of him a look over and make sure he doesn't have anything else hurt.

 

[freemotion]

Large animal vet usually come out to your place....and the fee is sometimes very close to the office fee so the savings aren't that much to bring the animal in. Check on that...

I hope he continues to improve. Be sure to use a larger gauge needle if it is the type of product like PenG that has a thicker component that is filtered out by a smaller needle. I would probably get the vet to at least look at the remaining testicle and scrotum and then you can make a decision as to whether to repair the scrotum and save the testicle or to castrate him.

Poor little guy. What happened to the dogs?

 

[kjoiner]

Thanks DaisyChick! That is what I was thinking too. I am not sure that one is going to be functional anyway and I think I had rather go ahead and castrate him completely and eliminate his biggest threat of infection at this point (the way I see it) and get another billy for breeding. I hate to lose him as a breeder but that is better than losing him completly.