My poor Rue! Remember to keep benadryl on hand!

Goat Whisperer

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My poor sweet little Rue! Monday morning I am out doing chores and I see Rue, my Nigerian dwarf doeling standing there..... First thing I notice is that her ears are swollen and hanging down. I scoop her up and take her out of the field (this are has 20 bottle babies, impossible to take a good look at a goat with everyone crowding you). I take a step back to examine her and see has many swollen welts along her belly and her tail was so swollen it was 3x it's normal size. Half of her "udder" was so swollen it looked like it was engorged with milk. Clearly an allergic reaction to some type of bug bite/sting. My poor girl looked miserable, but still had a good appetite. I get a weight on her and go to the goat med cabinet for some liquid Benadryl. Well crap. It's expired and I didn't realize how little I had left in the bottle! That is NOT like me, I always try to make sure we are fully stocked! Thankfully there was enough to give her a full dose. It seemed to be helping, but I was still worried about her.
Of course she started getting sleepy, which had me even more worried. Is it the meds or is she getting worse?! I ended up spending most of the day outside keeping an eye on her. I ended up picking up a few more bottles and gave her another dose. Thankfully the following morning she was back to her usual self.

So, just a reminder- check your goat cabinet and make sure you have some benadryl on hand :) I am now keeping a big bottle for the farm and one packed in my "show bag". With copperhead season ramping up I can't believe it slipped my mind.

Here's sweet Rue, a few hours after I gave her some meds. Swelling went down tremendously and her ears were starting to perk back up.
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Baymule

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I keep Benadryl on hand, along with baby aspirin and Arnicare pills. It’s my go-to for snake bite. Glad you had Benadryl on hand for that emergency!
 
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