So little Oogie is still with us. When he was three days old his breathing became difficult. I started him on penicillin injections, but then his left eye became quite white. I switched him to oxytetracycline to cover other organisms I thought could cause pneumonia and keratoconjunctivitis. My vet wasn’t available until the following Monday, and I did not want to bring him to the other vets in the office for this problem as I have had them make disparaging comments about trying to save young livestock. His behavior and breathing improved, but his eye became more swollen although less opaque. So I finally got to see our vet Monday, and he feels he went septic with pneumonia and an infection of his eye globe itself. So he switched us to penicillin and Naxcel (a cephalosporin antibiotic) as well as chloramphenicol eye ointment. He thinks the eye will improve dramatically with this, and that delayed colostrum intake was the reason behind all of this. He does not think there is an underlying anatomic problem. Not much has changed since then except now he has diarrhea for which I am starting probiotics. He continues to be more active all the time and eating better, so it looks like he’ll make it after his very rough start. So now I can start getting attached (I was trying not to before but not sure I was successful).
Next on the hit parade, I am going to administer mineral boluses to my pregnant ewes. I am dreading this because these boluses look huge to me, and I am not sure how I am going to get them down the gullets of my sheep without choking them. They are designed for 6 weeks old lambs so they should go down our adult sheep OK. Wish me luck with this!
Tonight we get to restart the nighttime barn checks as the ewes and remaining pregnant does are due to deliver as well as some rabbit does too. We are getting up every three hours to feed Oogie anyway, but it is harder when you have to get dressed and go out in the cold to the barn. I was going to sleep in the hay loft this year but with a bottle fed goat in the house it doesn’t make any sense. The baby monitor is charged up and get ready for some serious sleep deprivation!
Wow.. what a struggle you and little Oogie have had. It sounds like you were really on top of it and doing the right things, even without the help of the vet. I hope that he continues to improve by leaps and bounds. I’ve got an old ram I’m trying to get through til grass comes up. He is actually doing good now and putting on some weight, but I have to give him a homemade recipe of ‘rumen buffer’ everyday to keep him functioning. I’m hoping this will improve once he is on grass and off the large amounts of grain I had to use to keep him alive during the winter.
Tammy
I could have chosen a better antibiotic. I have Naxcel but it was expired so I chose the penicillin and oxytetracycline instead, but the vet thinks this is what saved him so I cannot complain too much. Keeping gold animals alive is hard too- I have not had tremendous success with that except my first sheep. She’s skinny as can be but keeps making in through the winters.
Hope everything works out with oogie. I know the feelings of those long nights, I have 4 more cows do to calf and I put one in the barn the other day. I’m like you, wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t have to get dressed like you were going on an arctic mission. The weather is warming up around here, but I still have to worry about coyotes.
Just look at him. How could you not get attached. He’s adorable! Glad he’s getting better. Hope he continues.
~Randy
Oogie’s lucky you don’t listen to those nasty vets. I’ve had them think I’m totally nuts for taking them a duck to have her wing amputated. Congrats on a job well done and I hope he continues to improve!
Good luck with those long nights. I’m done with those now until June. (I put off the kidding until then because I don’t teach well with no sleep).
We’ve had repeated eye troubles in one of my yearling ewes as well and it’s been very frustrating. Those boluses DO look big; we are looking into needed supplementation here, too. Too many cases of copper deficiency to ignore, plus the possibility of other minerals that may be interfering with copper absorption.
And I’ve decided that I’m too old for all this sleep disruption!
Well, as soon as I get optimistic and attached it all falls apart. Oogie started having seizures this evening and then just died. Naturally we are heart broken. He was a cute little goat that didn’t deserve such an awful and short life
Donna,
I’m SO sorry about Oogie. However long his life was, it was worth all the effort you put into him. You are a GREAT caretaker of all your animals. Oogie would not have lasted as long as he did without your intervention. You did all you could.
Jackie
Thanks Jackie.
Donna,
So sorry to hear about Oogie this morning. I know you put your heart into getting him well. Those tiny little lives are so fragile and we never really know what hidden issues they are dealing with. Take care and even though I know it doesn’t help much, realize you did your best to bring him through, AND he knew he was being well cared for.
Tammy
Thanks Tammy.