9 days ago I walked down to the barns in the morning to do my normal ritual of chores and milking. I had anticipated it would be like every other morning since all was great the night before. When I came around the corner to throw feed to my junior pen, something was wrong. Very, very wrong! My doe kid (who I had waited seemingly forever for, like since before conception) was down, and in a horribly bad way. She was convulsing, seizing! I quickly abandoned all chores, scooped her up and hauled her inside. I took her temp which was WAY off the charts high. I administered banamine but it wasnt bringing it down fast enough so into a bag and into an ice bath we went. I finally got her temp down and aggressively treated her with antibiotics and a plethora of other things. I didnt have a whole lot of hope she would make it. She was blind (or had ulcerated her eye due to banging head while seizing), could not stand, and just generally was bad. The worse Ive ever seen. As a matter of fact Ive seen better off not make it. The first night she seized all night, I just dont know how such a little body could endure so much. I administered a stronger dose of Dex to try and get what I perceived as brain swelling or some sort of neurological trauma which finally stopped the seizing and for the next few days she clung to life while I clung to hope. More then once I texted my friends to tell them I didnt think she would be alive in the morning just to be greeted with her hungry cries for breakfast. For 5 days she lived in my laundry basket where I kept her rotated, hand fed hay cut in pieces manageable for her to eat, fed her bottles, kept up her medicine regiment, performed PT, told her how beautiful she was, and prayed.... Oh man did I pray... I do believe there was some begging in there too. Some times I swore it was the end and told her it was ok to die, and each time she would embarrass me by defying the odds to live another day when I had given up. On the 5th day she toddled to my bedroom to ask for a bottle. It was a miracle!!!! She made a horrible mess along the way, I had never been so happy to be so mad at a goat. And so I had to upgrade her sick bay in my house to something she couldnt climb out of. But she was standing, and walking! She also took to eating and drinking enthusiastically on her own. Today, nine days later, she gave the dog a run for his money. (See Video).... Sometimes I think we give up to quickly for our own comfort. We just dont have it in us to watch an animal who is down and seemingly suffering try to get themselves straightened out. We are uncomfortable with the reality that sometimes things get worse before they get better. Im guilty of wishing at the time it would have happened during the week so I could have her euthanized or wishing my husband was home to humanely dispatch her. As it was neither was a reality so I dug in and did the best I could to see it through, regardless if the ending was good or bad. I have no regrets it happened that way. As luck would have it she pulled through. At least this far. She still has a ways to go before she is normal, if she is truly ever normal again. I still pray everyday that her improvement continues and that I never again fail her with complacency. So here is to persistence, not falling victim to despair, and a baby goat who refused to die!
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 00:28:52 +0000
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