Have an 8 week old buckling that wound up having surgery for an undescended testicle last Monday (he was sold as a wether). The surgery wound up being a little more extensive than expected as the testicle was quite high. The vet said to expect him to be pookie for a couple of days. We checked his incision, temp, eyes, etc....all looked good....eating and drinking some when encouraged to do so, but not as vigorously as usual. Mostly he just stayed by himself either standing up against a wall or laying down, walking slowly. By Thursday morning when he had not perked up, we decided to take him back to the vet to see if there was something we were missing. The vet checked him over, did bloodwork and even an ultrasound to check for free fluid in his abdomen - all nothing. He concluded that his behavior was perhaps his way of showing pain. He gave him an antibiotic and pain shot and sent him home with Banamine to be given twice a day for 3 days. It appears that when the pain medicine is being effective, he is up, eating, being more like himself but without a lot of energy. BUT when it wears off, he is back to being solitary, slow moving, standing along a wall, disinterested in eating. He had been separated with the other bucklings before the surgery because of his age, but now that he is wethered and without the apparent energy to do anything anyway, we put him back with his mom thinking it would be more comforting. She stays close to him, but he really hasn't shown much improvement. He was supposed to be picked up today by his new owner, but we all agreed to have him stay here closer to the vet and the familiar during this seemingly prolonged recovery. Does anyone else have any experience with this? Normal? Not normal? Anything else we can do or any other treatment we could try? He's just pitiful.
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Thank you for sharing your experience! Glad he's doing well.
That's so good to hear! I completely agree that a little TLC can go a long way. But I feel so bad for your husband!
So just thought I would update this. By last Sunday morning we were convinced that we were going to lose Bullwinkle. He was very weak and just not recovering, even with mom. We scooped him up and brought him to the house where he was under our watchful eye. Without sitting in the barn continuously we couldn't tell when/if he was peeing, pooping, eating, nursing, etc. My husband held him in his lap all day... and even slept in the chair with him in his arms all night. Occasionally Bullwinkle got up to eat a bit, explore the house, or follow my husband to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. By 6am Monday as we headed to the barn to milk, Bullwinkle led the way and wound up spending the day with his mom and sister. I actually think I heard him brag to the others about how nice it was to sleep in a recliner while they all had to sleep in the barn!! Today he is acting like nothing ever happened. If there is a sad part to his story it is that he will be going to his new home tomorrow. I am the one who usually sheds a tear when one of the kids goes to a new home....I'm thinking my husband is going to have a hard time saying goodbye to his little buddy, Bullwinkle. All this to say...sometimes all it takes is a little TLC. We feel blessed. Gig-Att-Att-Gig!
Having him with his mother is a great idea. When they're not feeling well, nursing is the best thing for them, so hopefully he is at least nursing.
It cost more than we got for him, but....... Anything you would advise for a goat that just wasn't acting "up to snuff" irregardless of the surgery? We just came back from the barn and he's really not eating much of anything. Getting kind of worried.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I've never had this surgery done as it would cost more than I could sell a wether for in this area, so I don't have any experience with this. Sorry to hear that he's taking awhile to recover, but I think you did the right thing by keeping him until he's back to normal.