Holy Hairy Heel Warts Batman!

So...Hyacinth has an eye infection. I discovered it on Friday, the Fourth of July. Of course, no vet office was open, so I had leave her to suffer over the weekend. Her eyes were very runny and her cornea was hazy - like a cataract. And it appeared that Billy was getting whatever Hyacinth had.

I did a search on the internet and decided that it was probably pink eye. I also discovered that pink eye can be very serious for goats. While I was looking up goat diseases I looked up that funky lump on Pansy's neck and though it might be a "CL Absess". Don't ask me to explain what that is, because I can't. Suffice it to say that both pink eye and CL are contagious and can spread to the whole herd.

So today I called every vet in the local phone book looking for one that would make a house call, or ranch call, as it is called out here. Oddly enough, there are very few.

Anyway, one of the vets that called me back was very nice and asked me to come to the office and he'd talk to me about my goats and give me some meds. So that's what I did.

The clinic was extremely busy, so Pearlie and I sat patiently waiting while everyone else got taken into waiting rooms, or picked up their pet, or bought their meds, and the receptionists answered numerous phone calls. Finally, one of the receptionists called me up and I explained to her my reason for being there. I asked were they always that busy. She said yes and proceeded to tell me about some woman calling about her cattle's hairy wart problem. Looking over at the other receptionist, she said, "I've never heard of hairy warts, is that a real ailment?" The other gal said, "Yes, you don't want your cattle to have hairy heel warts. It's very serious." All this cracked me up, so I said, "Well, my goat has a funky lump. If y'all can treat hairy warts, you can surely treat funky lumps." We both laughed until we cried.

Anyway, I finally got in to see the vet. He was very nice and helpful. I described the eye problem. "Yep, pink eye. Did you get your goats from a barn sale?" "No, I bought both of our Nubians from individual breeders, but my husband got a little goat from the flea market, although she isn't having an eye problem." Vet told me that she probably came from a barn sale and they usually carry pink eye and other diseases. She's a carrier and gave it to Hyacinth. Treat all the goats at once and they should all clear up. Don't buy any more goats from the flea market.

Since he didn't seem to be in a hurry, I asked him about the funky lump on Pansy's neck. "Is it crusty or oozing?" "No, just a hairless lump." "Yep, CL abcess." "Is she contagious?" I asked. "No, the abcess has already burst and healed over. Those lumps are what remains and it should eventually go away. BTW, those barn sale goats also frequently get crusty-something-or-other on their mouths. If her mouth gets crusty on the corners, don't handle her, it can spread to humans." Great. "Is there a treatment?" "No, it just has to run it's course."

So, when I got home, I enjoyed the experience of locking each goat's neck between my knees and spraying them in the eyes with the medication. They didn't resist too much, but each of them spit in disgust several times. You'd think I was squirting it in their mouths the way they carried on.