One of our kids, Hansel, is walking around on only three of his legs. We've checked his hooves for thorns, cleaned his feet, checked his leg for broken bones, and found nothing.
We think he may have a dislocated shoulder. What should we look for/do if this is the case?
I had a 4Hers goat do that once. What I did was I palpated the leg all the way up and down the leg to see where it MIGHT hurt. I could not find a for sure place so we gave him asprin twice a day for 10 days and he was better. I figured he was butted really well and it was bruised really well.
We finally saw that his knee is swelling and it is worse this evening - you can see the swelling in both the left knee and ankle. He's taking it well and hops around and nurse still. He's in the barn with his dam and sister and we have a heater there to kelp keep him warm and dry - it's been raining almost all day here.
I've looked in a couple of books on goats and fond nothing. In a horse book they recommend draining the knee. Not something I'm ready to do at this point.
What food would you feed a goat to help them overcome a spained knee or torn cartilage? What meds would you give?
I've had a kid limping a little, nothing bad. He'll probably get over it fine. If I were going to do anything I'd probably try to ice it a little, hard to do with a little goat though. You could use an ace bandage to hold a small cold pack (I did that with colt once). How's he doing today?
He's still hobblying along fine. He doesn't like the attention we give his leg. It's still swelled as it was yesterday and very warm. A friend of mine at work (who used to have over twenty goats), initially thought it might have been a spider bite. But after discussing, he seemed to think that since the swelling continued on the second day, it wasn't likely a bite.
Hansel is still eating well, he does fuss a bit now, but other than that, he seems to be getting along alright.
If y'all think of anything else, please don't hesitate to mention it.
Ditto on the Joint Ill. Did he ever have any odd swellings on his navel as a kid? The hot would lead me to think it was joint ill. If it is, you'll probably have to call your vet and get an antibiotic.
I'll have to call the doc and find out what he thinks.
What, besides aspirin, would you give at this point?
Mike
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