So, my wife calls yesterday and said her beloved wether was scouring. Color? "Greenish brown." Consistency? "Pretty runny." Runny, or watery? "Runny, I guess." Blood? "Not that I could see"
Dietary. He'll be fine. Just keep an eye on him, not much to really worry about unless it goes watery, mucousy, bloody, etc..
She calls back later..."Now it's watery." Color? "Yellowish" Blood? "Yeah, a little bit. I'm really worried about him. He's grinding his teeth and doesn't want to be fooled with. He went into the barn and is standing there by himself."
Well...crap.
Blood and yellow water, to me, warrants treatment, so I ask her to drench him with about 12ml of Di-Methox 40% injectable, which she does.
I'm a little worried myself at this point...that was awfully quick, because he was FINE yesterday.. I'm thinking bacterial. Salmonella? E.coli? Cl. Perf?
She calls back after the di-methox to see what else she can do, so I ask if she thinks she can get about 1.5ml of banamine in him, delivered IM...to relax the gut, bring down a fever (if any), and knock the pain down a little.
"Um.. By myself?" she says.. That means no. I can understand that, as I somehow wound up being the "the shots guy" and this wether probably weighs 175lbs. So...I leave work about an hour and a half early.
I stopped at TSC on the way home and picked up a bottle of C & D antitoxin, just in case, even though he just had a C/D-T booster 6mo ago.. I also grabbed some electrolytes.
As I pull up at the house, I'm expecting to see everyone else out grazing with him laid up in the barn and my wife holding vigil...but no...he's out with the herd. Grazing. When I walk over, he comes to greet me with the rest of them.
Hmm.. :/
He has a poopy butt, but all I see is green sludge. He goes to poo again and the tiniest bit of water comes out. I was pretty relieved, but my wife was still really upset. She showed me the blood she wiped off his bum, but I didn't know if it was from straining or toxin or what..
Oh well...he's getting banamine anyway, and pepto, if only because I didn't leave work early for nothing.
First try with banamine, he goes sauntering off with a syringe dangling out of his neck/shoulder area...it falls out, needle goes in dirt. New needle, try again. Blow new needle off syringe, banamine right in the eye...MY eye. That stings. Try three, switch to luer lock syringe and put his ass in the stanchion. No sweat this time (imagine that)..
Give him pepto, which he resists until he tastes it...not so bad, huh?
We throw hay just to see if he'll eat....buries his head in the feeder and starts knocking other goats outta the way, as always.
My wife felt much better.
I was both relieved that he seemed so OK, and somewhat amused at all the ado over what seems to be a fairly run of the mill round of dietary scour. I also felt appreciated. Not by the wether -- he hated me for a while there -- but by my wife. That always feels good.
And my eye still hurt a little.
Wether seemed fine this morning. No new sludge...old sludge seems to be drying, so I'd say he's loafy already. Rumen was nice and bouncy...not hollow, not tight. No teeth-grinding. If he's loafy or clumpy pellets this afternoon, he'll get probiotics and we're done.
Dietary. He'll be fine. Just keep an eye on him, not much to really worry about unless it goes watery, mucousy, bloody, etc..
She calls back later..."Now it's watery." Color? "Yellowish" Blood? "Yeah, a little bit. I'm really worried about him. He's grinding his teeth and doesn't want to be fooled with. He went into the barn and is standing there by himself."
Well...crap.
Blood and yellow water, to me, warrants treatment, so I ask her to drench him with about 12ml of Di-Methox 40% injectable, which she does.
I'm a little worried myself at this point...that was awfully quick, because he was FINE yesterday.. I'm thinking bacterial. Salmonella? E.coli? Cl. Perf?
She calls back after the di-methox to see what else she can do, so I ask if she thinks she can get about 1.5ml of banamine in him, delivered IM...to relax the gut, bring down a fever (if any), and knock the pain down a little.
"Um.. By myself?" she says.. That means no. I can understand that, as I somehow wound up being the "the shots guy" and this wether probably weighs 175lbs. So...I leave work about an hour and a half early.
I stopped at TSC on the way home and picked up a bottle of C & D antitoxin, just in case, even though he just had a C/D-T booster 6mo ago.. I also grabbed some electrolytes.
As I pull up at the house, I'm expecting to see everyone else out grazing with him laid up in the barn and my wife holding vigil...but no...he's out with the herd. Grazing. When I walk over, he comes to greet me with the rest of them.
Hmm.. :/
He has a poopy butt, but all I see is green sludge. He goes to poo again and the tiniest bit of water comes out. I was pretty relieved, but my wife was still really upset. She showed me the blood she wiped off his bum, but I didn't know if it was from straining or toxin or what..
Oh well...he's getting banamine anyway, and pepto, if only because I didn't leave work early for nothing.
First try with banamine, he goes sauntering off with a syringe dangling out of his neck/shoulder area...it falls out, needle goes in dirt. New needle, try again. Blow new needle off syringe, banamine right in the eye...MY eye. That stings. Try three, switch to luer lock syringe and put his ass in the stanchion. No sweat this time (imagine that)..
Give him pepto, which he resists until he tastes it...not so bad, huh?
We throw hay just to see if he'll eat....buries his head in the feeder and starts knocking other goats outta the way, as always.
My wife felt much better.
I was both relieved that he seemed so OK, and somewhat amused at all the ado over what seems to be a fairly run of the mill round of dietary scour. I also felt appreciated. Not by the wether -- he hated me for a while there -- but by my wife. That always feels good.
And my eye still hurt a little.
Wether seemed fine this morning. No new sludge...old sludge seems to be drying, so I'd say he's loafy already. Rumen was nice and bouncy...not hollow, not tight. No teeth-grinding. If he's loafy or clumpy pellets this afternoon, he'll get probiotics and we're done.
...I guess? I mean, yeah, he's clearly improving and that's excellent news, but did I really need to hear that? I'm tryin to work over here...
