Pink Eye

We managed to stave off the parasites pretty good this spring, so I guess we're due for some illness around here.  A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I discovered that some of the goats had pink eye and we had to treat all fourteen of them.  Billy didn't get it even though he was spending quality time with the does, but we treated him anyway...just in case.

It's pretty much a pain when the goats have to be medicated because, well, they don't like to be medicated.  They particularly don't like to have stuff squirted in their eye.  We only have one goat who likes medicine, but only the kind she gets to swallow.  You can see her in the video below, getting in the way because she wants to taste the medicine.

For two weeks we squirted them all in the eyes twice a day.  OK, the truth of it is that there were a couple who didn't get it twice a day because they wised up and ran away, even though we tempted them with yummy sweet feed.  It's really, really hard to catch goats that don't want to be caught.  For several days, it was a disastrous melee with horned goat bodies flying all over the place.  I had several bruises on my legs to prove it.  We desperately need a chute.  Don't ask me why we've been raising goats for eight years and still don't have a decent set up for situations like this.

But, we finally got it down to a manageable system.  By Thanksgiving, we thought they were improved enough to take a break.  Even though they're supposed to be treated until their eyes cleared up, it was a pretty laborious process, we ran out of medication, and I had been reading things that sounded like it would clear up on it's own anyway.

Whatever.

After Thanksgiving, there were a few that were completely well and a few that were worse.  So, we had to get more medication and start over with the ones still showing signs of illness.

This doe was the worst.  Her eye was completely clouded over and inflamed.  She actually had to have a shot in the eyelid.  Ouch.  But, she's getting better.

This is one of the does that ran away and made it more difficult than it had to be.  She missed a few doses the first time around and her eye got pretty bad.

Another picture of the goat above.  If her eye was normal, you'd be able to see the rectangular pupil and a clear amber colored iris.  As it is, the eye just looks dull.

This guy got better, then worse.  Both of his eyes are cloudy.  You can barely make out his pupil.

If you enlarge this one, you can see that her left eye is clear.  Compare it to the other pictures of cloudy eyes to see the difference.  When they have pink eye, it kind of looks like a cataract, a cloudy spot that can cover just a spot on the eye, or the entire eye.

Her eye has begun to clear up, but it's still swollen and partially clouded.

Here's a video that I made with the GoiPro of our morning goat medicating session.  Too bad I didn't think to video our earlier goat wrangling efforts because I think it would have actually been funny to see.  It involved lots of running around, chasing, falling, and trying to fake the goats out by acting like we were just ambling on by and weren't actually going to grab them (no, that doesn't work), a bit of failed amateur lassoing, and snagging goats with a staff.

It's hard to see in the video, but goats have an extra eyelid under the eyelid that you can see.  It closes from the back of the eye towards the front.  Some of the goats are particularly hard to medicate because they'll clinch their outer eyelid really tight and when I pry that one open, they'll close that inner eyelid which blocks the spray.

The video doesn't work anymore because, apparently, Blogger doesn't give a flip.

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.