# stray starving goat with paralyzed jaw-help? (this is kinda long, sorry, but TY!



## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

Hi. I think I need a little advice here. Thanks in advance.

A starving goat (and a very large pot-bellied pig) showed up a few days ago, first thing in the morning, and were hanging out with our steers. (Fortunately, our herd of goats were still locked up in the barn as we lock them in every night.) These 2 critters look like they have all kinds of crap going on. We work really HARD to keep our livestock healthy, and it really annoys me, that other folks let their uncared-for and therefore disease-ridden livestock roam wherever they please. GRRRR!

The goat has an obvious problem, in that she is unable to close her mouth. She also has bald spots, and is in generally bad shape. Oh great...just what our animals need...
.We were not able to get close enough to her to catch or help her in any way. The pig and the goat ran off, when my husband and I went outside to do the morning chores.. (I had seen the steers acting strange, and so had grabbed the binoculars, and saw the pig and goat out the kitchen window when we first woke up.)

(This same pig was here alot last year, and the police tracked down the owner, who was a dope. (to put it mildly.) We finally ended up firing shots into the air to scare the pig away, as it was here rooting up our yard every day, and we were worried about parasites and diseases it might be carrying and that might spread to OUR livestock. This was AFTER the police talked to the owners....We had not seen it in a year, until the other day, but only After resorting to using the gun to scare it off last year.)

Okay... on Monday, a goat was WITH the pig. Because we knew who the owners were, (as the police told us that last year,) We called them. The woman told my husband that she would tell HER husband, and then hung up on MY husband... Nice! 
The man showed up lastnight, and talked about how they escape constantly, and how they had been looking for them, etc...(BUT, he ate his dinner and did many other things before coming to our place to find his animals.) I am positive that he is either completely ignorant, or just does not care at all. ( If they were MINE, I would be looking for them constantly, and make SURE they could no longer escape. ) This guy told us that they escape "all the time." Grrrrrrr. (We are also a good 3 miles from this place that they came from.) 

Well, this morning, the goat was in our cowshed. She looked horrible, and her mouth was open and her breathing was labored. She was laying in the corner. I caught her, and we carried her to our pig-pen over on the other side of the property. Her hooves are about 5 inches long, and she walks on her pasterns. POOR THING! Her face is swelled up and hard, all around her jaws. Her mucous membranes are very pale. She looks like a Pygmy goat, probably a kid from this past Spring. She weighs maybe 30 pounds. She is not congested, but the mouth is open due to the swelling, I think. SHe looks like the typical "auction" goat. only worse. Yes, I am changing clothes and washing up well before handling any of our animals.. etc...

Okay, and so I am thinking bottle-jaw, (have never had a case of it, and so looked here on the forum to treat her.) and so am trying to cover all of the bases with her. I gave her Cydectin, Bo-Se, fortified B-Complex, Penicillin, Banamine, and Power Punch, along with drenching her with some water. I also gave her some Dex... I figured we might as well hit her with everything in our arsenal....
Within a few hours, she seemed to be feeling somewhat better, as her breathing was quieter, and she just "looked" better than earlier.. She still cannot close her mouth, but was licking at a little grain, tho whether she can chew it or not....I don't think so.. She WANTS to eat...She is up and around. I do not think she can drink on her own, or eat hay. Maybe electrolytes? Soaking grain? (We do not have any alfalfa pellets now, as we feed straight alfalfa hay,. and she cannot eat that.) Somehow, she is not terribly dehydrated, but is, a little. What do YOU folks think? No. We have not called the owners. It is very obvious she has not been well-cared for, if at all. It breaks my heart, as there is NO reason for her to be in such horrible condition. I do not even WANT to call her owners. I am not sure what to do at this point. I want to give her a chance, as she seems to want to live... Or, is it too late for her, and should we just sss and end her misery? Or, do we call the owner and tell them that he either needs to take her to the vet or euthanize her? Or, do we just keep trying and tell them nothing at all? What if he comes here tonight and asks if we have seen her? This is SO hard, and I feel SO bad for the poor little gal. No goat deserves this....I do not know... She sure seems to be fighting... seems like she has had a horrible life...and yep... I want to give her a good one... but... am I wrong? Please help us decide....Should I tell him that we are treating her, and IF she recovers, I will call him? I would HATE to send her back to that life...My husband says we should just call the SPCA... that's what we did LAST year, when the pig kept coming here... Did not help...
Anyway... any advice for treatment, or not...or what to do with her if she happens to recover (doubtful) or what to do about the "owners." Thanks so much. My heart just breaks for this little girl...I think about OUR goats.. how happy and spoiled they are.. and then THIS poor gal... and there are SOOO many just like her. Makes me cry....Thanks again...
Sally


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

:sniffle, it breaks my heart to hear all of this Sally! :sigh unfortunately we can't go SSS the humans :mad. JMO here but if it looks like she might make it I'd send in some bloodwork for diseases; CAE, CL, and whatever else might be around MY area. I would also look for tattoos. If there weren't any and she did fine on her tests then I would see where to go from there. But if she has tats :shrug2, I'd be real leery that owners would come back on me. Tam


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## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

OK I am not a fan of this but I think your only option is SSS. And yes it is too bad you can't do that to the owners. 

Hugs,
Anne


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## tmfinley (Feb 21, 2008)

You need to sss, he obviously won't do it. It is best for the poor animals. If they ask about them later say you don't know a thing. 

Tiffany


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

Nah.. no Tattoos, no ear-tag.. no nothing.....Hell! They did not care enuff about her to trim her hooves in the past year.....or to go looking for her......or fence her pen...or even just de-worm her... poor honey is in such horrid shape...... She seems to be such a lost soul...but, she isn't. I am sooo glad she found us....I think.. poor darlin. At least we can help her with her pain... for now......she almost seems to KNOW we are trying to help her...

BUT....on a positive note, she is resting more comfortably tonight...I feel bad that she does not have a companion, but I am not about to put her anywhere NEAR our goats... And.. she is NOT alone... she is in our pigpen, and so she is right next to our chickens. I know that no coyotes or dogs can get at her......and that she is safe, at least for now... 
Who knows what tomorrow holds?
Thanks, Tammy and Lindsey. I will keep you posted on how things go....


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## Guest (Sep 23, 2009)

Bless your heart for caring for this poor goat, my neighbors also have one like this.. 
I would SSS, because you know that he will get her back and sorry to say this ( But you are going to give her a life of hell if she goes back) Give her the best you can while you have her, and put her down quietly and gently as possible. She will be at peace that way and you will know that her last days were better.. 
Barb


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

Thank you guys.. As expected, the owner did NOT come looking for her tonight... (oh, and get this.. her owner is the local DOG CONTROL OFFICER!) GRRRR!
This poor little darling is resting fairly comfortably tonight... but I am not ready to give up on her just yet, because SHE isn't ready to give up. She wants to LIVE! I dunno why... given her past, but she DOES! 
She is now resting more comfortably than she has ever known... most likely. We will see how she is in the morning....She IS fighting to live, and she is fighting HARD!. She has shown us, that she wants to live the good life! The life that she deserves! This kid WANTS to live...period!.. I want to help her LIVE the good life!

That is what makes all of this SO hard! If she had given up, it would be easier...But she is fighting to survive, and so I feel that we must also fight FOR her, and help her in every way that we can.

I WISH we could SSS the owners! We do not like most people.....this just re-inforces that! GRRRRR! If we can make this little goat's life a bit easier, or, even her death......then I guess we did what we could. AND.. that THIS guy is the dog control officer.......that just COMPLETELY chaps my keester! ARGHHHHH! And, we have decided, that if she survives this, she will have a home here, and we will not bother to tell those creeps about it.....period. This is total animal cruelty and neglect.......but, it is the dog control officer who is doing THIS????? Sighhhhh...... so sad.....


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

What a heartwrenching story! :down I think Sally she knew you would help her so she let you and didn't fight you. You are a very caring person. And........That neighbor needs to have his butt charged with animal cruelty, but it probably isn't going to happen! :twisted Unfortunately the reality of this situation is SSS is probably the nest option. But, it does sound encouraging as she is responding. At least if she passes she will know you loved her and will die with love. Thats worth a lot! I agree, I wouldn't bother calling them or telling them, they won't care and she will only have to go back to that, "hell hole!" 

I saw you are located in NYS, it's getting colder back there and if you have the weather where we used to live in western NYS it's going to get damper too which will bother her as well. And you have probably heard the saying that come winter the old and the sick don't make it. 

Bless your heart! Good luck. Hope she does better.


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

Who is the owner's boss? I'd make a call.


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## stoneyheightsfarm (Jan 19, 2008)

My initial thought is tetanus (aka lock jaw) but that usually locks the jaw shut...??? I'd probably trim the poor gal's hooves before I sss just to know that she felt what it was like to walk normally for once in her life.


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

Well, I have not trimmed her hooves. YES! They bother me alot, too, but just BREATHING seems to be a chore for her right now, and so, I put OFF trimming her hooves until she is (if she makes it) stronger.........I do NOT want to stress her more than she is already, and so a few more days of long and horrible feet, are not as bad as not being able to eat, or breathe.......I just want her to know that someone REALLY cares about her.... I think she DOES know it.......poor baby....I can tell you right now, that if a miracle DOES happen, and she recovers, they will NEVER get her back! Any ideas for further treatment? Suggestions (other than SSS, as I am not seeing that as an option at the moment) would be appreciated! Thanks!


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

If she's that bad off, she may not care much about your trimming her feet. Otherwise I would just wait and see. Sounds terribly sad.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

That is so typical- this jerk probably rants and raves about people who let dogs run loose. 
You know he just turned them out to eat in the wild because he did not want to feed them.
You are so right- HE need to be SSS!
Squidge said the dogs would have had pork chops LAST YEAR! 
You are entirely too nice! Be careful it does not turn into some kind of trouble.
L


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## Carolyn (Oct 27, 2007)

You need to take pictures immediately!! Pictures are very important and maybe a video if possible--document everything. Poor thing!


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Agree with Carolyn get some pictures also I would worm her for tapeworms cydectin won't get them


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Sally how is the little one doing today? Tam


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

An ACO answers to the town council, selectmen or whatever the governing body is called there. The only problem is-if you report him to his boss, they may take the goat and send her right back to him.

I would get pictures of her from every angle. Pics of face, feet, any and all injuries. Weight her and keep a log of her weight gain. Log every thing you do for her, date, time, equipment used. Also, keep track of every dose of medication you give her. Log the day, time, medication and dosage given to her. Describe in minute detail, every injury or illness you find on her.

Put all this info in a notebook or 2, almost like a diary. Use a notebook where you can't just rip pages out of it without it being obvious.

The reason I am saying this is-if this ever goes to court you will have documentation of all that you did and why. By logging the date and time in front of the description it is extremely accurate. If you get taken to small claims court by the owner, you can show how much you spent to make the goat well and he would have to pay you back. If he tried to say you stole the goat, showing all that you had to do to make it well, with pics, descriptions and all, will prove that he was a neglectful owner.

I know this all seems like overkill...but as a retired cop/detective/ACO it's just a case of CYA (cover your a$$)

Good luck with the poor girl. If you pull her through this, you will have a devoted friend for life.


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## Painted Pony (Apr 12, 2009)

I recommend you check with the state (not local since the potential owner may work there) and find out the laws on keeping the animals knowing who their owner is. Some states require you to post an ad for lost animals and after a certain number of days unclaimed they become yours. Once you know your states laws on keeping a stray animal that wanders up to your property, you might want to work towards that goal so it is all legal.

While many of us would SSS I understand you aren't ready to do that & no one can fault you. Just make sure you take the necessary precautions to keep your other animals safe & healthy.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I'd probably do the same thing you are. I'd give her meds I have on hand, try things that didn't cost me money, and see how she does. Sometimes I think that even for an animal, and recently I did this with a deer, having someone to care for them in the end is a relief. Being out of the cold, wet, etc. Out of danger of getting chewed on by dogs. Fed, watered, etc. not only helps the soul of the animal, but possibly even more important, helps the soul of the person providing the care and kindness. I know it's easy for someone to say "just put her down" and maybe that really is the best thing, but for me it's never that easy, because I've always been in communication with animals, every since I can remember and I feel empathy for them, and think "what if it were ME in that position, feeling sick, no one to care about me, etc. 

I used to drive my parents crazy, but then my dad would always bring me home little animals he found like a chipmunk one time, some baby rats, kittens, etc. As long as you make sure that this goat stays away from your herd until any tests run come back clean, then her life decision doesn't need to be made immediately. It could be that what she's got is incurable, I have no experience with any of things you describe being wrong with her, but even if so, you don't have to shoot her, you can take her to the vet and have them euthanize her...it cost me about $30 the last time I did that, course, it was a cat, so maybe a goat costs more? 

I wish you luck, whatever the outcome. But nope, I would not tell the owner a thing. If she gets well, maybe you could find a pet home for her miles and miles away.


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## SherrieC (Oct 26, 2007)

Sally, that owner is not going to come looking for the goat he obviously doesn't want. Just in case though if you're Not going to sss, then document.


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## SherrieC (Oct 26, 2007)

{well heck I was going to add something but my Modify button is missing}
How is she eating if her jaw is open? Do you think maybe she got stung by something out in the pasture. I would try to trim her feet. With her being so I'll and see if if stress's her at all, she may just lay there. you are only going to be able to trim a little at a time, and wait a few days for the blood to retreat out of the area, and for the hoof bottom to reharden to trim more. you can't just whack off 6'' of hoof.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I'm assuming that SSS is the same as PTS, but what does it stand for?


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## Faithful Crown Nubians (Dec 5, 2007)

dragonlair said:


> I'm assuming that SSS is the same as PTS, but what does it stand for?


SSS = Shoot Shovel Shut up.

That is always what I have heard...


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

Ok, gotcha!


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

Thanks guys....for all of your help and advice.
We DID end up doing the SSS after 3 days of treating this poor gal.....We had never had to euthanize a goat before.....and so it was extremely HARD......She was suffering and getting worse..., she just wasn't gonna get any better... After Chuck shot her, we both were very sad, but on the other hand, we felt a little better just knowing that this poor little sweetie was not suffering anymore... She came to us too late to be helped.....BUT.. we were very kind to her, and relieved her pain while she was with us, and then, we ended her suffering. ARGH!.....It was VERY hard on both of us.... All of the goats we have owned..... and the first Euth we do is someone else's goat???! That is just WRONG! (This may sound weird... but I am feeling guilty that we never named this little doe....She should have counted! She should have had a NAME! I never named her...) 

Now, we have the pot-bellied pig. GRRRR! He came back again and again over the past couple of weeks.....and spilled and ate most of of our chicken feed, and trashed our henhouse yesterday....etc.... We called the owner lastnight. no response. called the SPCA and Sheriff today. no help.... Called the owner again tonight....supposed to come get him tomorrow..... we'll see. if not... SSS again. and it just SICKENS us, because it is NOT the fault of the animal at all! GRRRRR! I am calling that 150 pound ugly thing Henry.....(sighhhh...)


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Sally, you did your best BABY! And bless you for making a hard choice. I might be looking at doing the same thing...I dunno at this point. (((BIG FAT WASHINGTON HUGS)))!!!
Tam


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## [email protected] (Sep 18, 2008)

You did name her....it was in your heart.

"I am sooo glad she found us....I think.. poor darlin."

"little darling is resting fairly comfortably tonight"

Animals only know the here and now. They have no concept of past or future. You gave little Darling a happy ending. She knew comfort. That's what counts. ((((Sally))))


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

LIL Darling recieved the best of care and loving she ever had. You need to feel proud you did right by her. As for the pig butcher bet those hams will taste good and help pay for the damage done


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

Thank you, guys.....
Killing that poor "lil darlin" was very sad, but thanks......I guess we DID name her, eh, without even knowing it....? THANK YOU!  

The owner DID show up to claim his old pig on Saturday!! WOW! THAT was totally unexpected as my husband had told him by phone message that he owed us money for the chicken feed. HE PAID IT! I was POSITIVE he would say the pig was not his after finding out he owed us money! (In my experience, working in animal hospitals........ even the most beloved pet... when it costs money.... the owners then say it is not theirs, and it ends up our liability.) 
He came and got his stupid pig on Saturday at about 5 pm....... We still have not found our barrel.. BUT....I am thinking that now that it has hit him in wallet, maybe he WILL keep the pig fenced in!  The ONE question that I find myself wanting to ask, however...... is this.....

"Being the DOG control officer.......HOW do you justify people who say... the dog keeps lifting the fence and escaping... JUST like you told ME your PIG does, and HAS done, for many years?!" I bet he does not accept THAT same excuse from dog folks, eh?????

Anyway, IF the pig shows up again, we will shoot NEAR him once again, as we did last year....to scare him away....(sighhhhh)
Ah well... at least for the moment, we are done with the situation.......
Thank you again....for all of your help... Originally, I was sooo bummed by all of the SSS advice......but... that poor little gal let us know what she needed, and... against what I felt at the time,,,, you were right......
and so, I thank you....


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

So sorry to hear she passed away. At least she passed away knowing someone loved her! It's hard, but you did the right thing for her. Did the owner ask about the goat at all?


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

Well, yes...... He DID have the nerve to ask about the goat...... and my hubby told em that ..."last time we saw it about 10 days ago, it was in VERY poor health, and being goat owners, we knew it was not going to live very long without help.....") 
THEN......He.....("the owner") THEN said..... when he was here on Saturday, he said "that he had seen the goat just a couple of days ago, and she seemed FINE...then!~."GGGGrrrrrr!

(she had been dead for MORE than a few days by then, GRRRRRR,,,,,,)

I did NOT even go outside, as I was afraid I could NOT hold my temper at that point..... Fortunately, Chuck IS able to hold his temper, and so just nodded to what the guy told him, knowing he was lying..... WHAT A CREEP!I wanted to go out, and torture the guy as soon as I heard him say that buncha BS!!! GRRRR! I guess it is a GOOD thing I did not go out to talk to him, eh?
I guess that the important thing is....

We did what we could do for the goat.......we ended her pain, and we loved her for 3 days.... and now she is no longer in any pain........(shrugs.) 
We did what we could.... and it was a good thing......even tho it feels really awful.....


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## hemetites (Sep 30, 2009)

This story of Lil Darling has made me weep. Bless you for giving her love and kindness the last few days of her life.
- Charlene


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