Friday, February 21, 2014

Nettie Update

Just got back in from the barn a few minutes ago.  Nettie is still alive (isn't it sad when you have to point that out).

I ended up giving her the banamine shot at 6pm last night even though I was "supposed" to wait 12 hours between shots, which would have been at 10pm.  But to hell with "supposed to" when her fever was edging up again.  I wasn't going to chance her getting any hotter.  And within an hour her internal temperature was going back down.  I checked on her during the night and every time she was standing up.  Not sure if she got up when she heard the gate open or if she's just been standing up the entire time.  Which I guess is better for her rumen and lungs anyhow, but I just wonder if she's in pain when she's putting all that pressure on her belly and udder.

The wound on her udder has healed over just fine.  It's just a smooth scab; no puss, no infection-looking stuff.  If I didn't know any better and just saw this wound (and wasn't there for the actual wounding), I would have just shrugged it off to a scrape.  But just because it's looking fine, it's obvious there's some sort of infection in her bloodstream and I'm wondering if it's from the wound or if it is something else that just so happened to coincide with the udder accident.

I was thinking that her labored breathing yesterday (or was it the day before?  I'm not even sure what day it is, ugh!) was because of the fever, but maybe she had pneumonia?  I don't know and not sure if I'll ever find out, but at least the treatment is the same.

Her temperature earlier this morning (5:30) was 103.6 - only a tenth of a degree above the higher end of normal, so I waited the 12 hours to give her the third shot of banamine.  She also is going to need another round of penicillin in another half hour.
My window sill looks like a drug addict lives here.
The poor girl has been stuck over a dozen times, drenched a dozen more and had a thermometer stuck up her backside just as often.  Luckily I had a bunch of syringes and needles in my medical kit.  Going to have to stock back up after this.

Sorry if this is boring some of you.  But it's nice to have a detailed record of this in addition to my scribbling on the calendar.  You'll be wishing I'd do one of my batshitcrazy Political Rants after this.

And thank you for all your blogosphere well wishings and thoughts for Nettie.

9 comments:

  1. Good news on the udder wound! I hope her kidding goes well. Do you think something could have 'happened' to the kid(s) during the butting incident? You are such a good goat mom!

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  2. Glad she is doing okay. That is some care you are giving her. Hope she continues to get better.

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  3. How did I miss this! How freaking scary!!! I hope her fever stays down. Isn't today her first delivery date? You are a good goat mamma and I will be praying for Nettie until she heals ♥
    I got my seeds yesterday and you did too much!!! I will go through mine and see if I can find something interesting besides the asparagus :) The hubs was even excited over the wild grape seeds, lol!!!!!

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  4. Wow, just wow. By-the-way, I got the seeds thank you! Can't wait to try the flowers & trees.

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  5. Glad she is doing better and hope she keeps heading in the right direction. These critters are supposed to bring joy and happiness, not stress and worry!

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  6. Glad you are on top of this - does the penicillin and Banamine affect the kids at all? I think it's a good sign that the wound has healed well, as she will be needing her udder to be in good shape pretty soon. Sometimes their temps go up because of stress - such as the Lady With Pointy Things coming in every 10 minutes (kidding). Hats off to you, my dear, for being such a talented vet tech.

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  7. Candy, the butting incident occured just on the udder so I'm not worried about that, but worried about any problems with them being so hot with her fever and all these meds I'm pumping into her.

    Kristine, thanks for your concern :)

    Kelly, well, unlike me, you probably have a life outside of the blogosphere :) But things are going ok, not out of the woods though. Happy to spread the seed-wealth!

    PP, thanks. Wanna trade some sheep for some goats?!?

    DFW, Glad you got them (and glad I finally got them in the mail before summer!!)

    The Family, I don't know what animal hasn't brought stress & worry at one point or another, but thankfully the joy outweighs it.

    Susan, I have NO idea about the meds causing the unborn kids harm or not. Her initial wound has healed well, but now she's ALL black and blue and she doesn't want to lay down and I know she's tired. Hopefully the banamine is helping with her pain.

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  8. I find this very interesting so keep posting. My experience has just been with cattle and baby calves and they are very different.

    So do you think she had pneumonia. It seems to me if it was infection due to the injury, the wound would be infected. But maybe not.

    I do hope she has her baby with no problems. I am sure you have goat colostrum in the freezer and are set to go if trouble rears its ugly head.

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