It's been an emotional six weeks here at Patina Farm!
If you read my previous post, you know that we welcomed Thelma and Louise to our family in October.
Even for a Pygmy goat, Louise was tiny, weighting only 5 1/2 pounds at 2 1/2 months old.
A week after the goats became part of the family, we noticed that Louise's left leg was swollen at the "elbow" joint. I took her to the vet, and we decided that she probably fell off the top of her house and sprained her leg (goats do love to jump on things!).
Unfortunately she spiked a high fever the next day, and her other front leg became swollen as well. After doing some research, the vet and I determined that she had "joint-ill", a bacterial infection in her joints. Little Louise had 50% chance of recovery.
We put Louise on an anti-biotic and an anti-inflammatory, but we couldn't seem to get rid of the fever and infection. Poor Louise was in so much pain. She couldn't bend her legs to lie down. She stood awkwardly, attempting to find a position to take some pressure off of her front legs.
Steve and I took turns holding Louise so that she could rest.
After 10 days of antibiotics, Louise wasn't getting any better. Her joints were still swollen, her temperature was high, and she wasn't gaining any weight.
She spent most of her time in my office on my lap. Poor Thelma was unhappy too, alone outside. She would call out "Ma Ma", crying for Louise... it broke my heart.
Steve could tell that I was as miserable as Thelma and Louise. He suggested that we purchase another goat to keep Thelma company. If something happened to Louise, then Thelma wouldn't be alone. If Louise recovered... we'd have a herd of three!
So... we welcomed Dot into the mix!
Now that Thelma was happy with Dot, I sat Louise on my lap and scoured the internet for information on Joint-ill. Steve found an online goat veterinarian , and I also consulted Debbie, our goat breeder. I presented all of the research to our veterinarian, and we decided to put Louise on two different anti-biotics, Baytril and Draxin.
After a few days, Louise's fever slowly lowered. Although she still couldn't bend her legs completely, she was able to lie down with her legs propped up on the wood base of the screen on my porch.
Thelma was as relieved as the rest of our family!
After 10 days on Baytril, Louise was on the road to recovery! Her joints were becoming less swollen, her temperature was normal, and she was gaining weight!
Thanks to our veterinarian, Dr. Matt Bailey, our amazing goat breeder, Debbie at Amber Waves, and my amazingly patient husband, we finally had three content goats... just in time for Thanksgiving!
Please visit my Instagram (velvetandlinen) to see Louise in action!
On a less dramatic note...
Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Steve and I began dreaming up some new garden ideas for the lower part of our land... We are starting to install the new potager next week (the goats have taken over my existing one!).
I'm so excited to share it with you as the installation progresses...
xo
Brooke
