Sick Goats and Fishing Holes

Reader Contribution by Lisa Doucette
Published on May 26, 2010
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We had a sick goat on our hands this week. I mean really sick, like I-have-to-call-the-vet-but-don’t-really-want-to-because-it’s-going-cost-a-fortune-sick!

It all started Saturday morning when I checked on the little darlings. I noticed that Esme’s hind legs and tail were soaked. I looked around and noticed a large wet spot on the floor, it didn’t look like diarrhea but you never know with goats. I figured she just ate too much grass and had diarrhea. I left her in the barn for the day and didn’t think much more about it.

Sunday morning when I checked on the critters I noticed spots of blood on the floor. I looked at her bum and noticed blood coming out of her vagina. Now was the time to panic! But she was acting normal, eating normal, and I checked her temp and that was normal. I was completely confused. So Dave and I gave her a shot of Pen-G (penicillin) as a precaution. Needless to say, she was not amused to have a needle in the back of her leg. I still kept her in for the day and kept a close eye on her. What I was afraid of also, was it contagious?

Monday I called the vet in Middleton, since they specialize in goats. They were baffled. We talked for awhile trying to figure out what was the problem, but to no avail. The only thing they could figure out was maybe she had a varicose vein in her vaginal wall that had busted and it was bleeding. It would rectify itself. They had never seen it in goats, only in horses, but anything is possible. So she told me to deworm her and give her the Pen-G for a few more days and keep a close eye on her. Then 5 minutes later the vet called me back and said, “I was thinking more about this and even though this usually just happens in Oct or Nov, Esme might be having a pseudo-pregnancy. She’s young and confused so she might have thought that she was pregnant. They usually have alot of mucous that discharges when they think they should give birth then have bleeding for a few days.”

So my goat thinks she was preggers! What next. I checked her tonight and no blood. Completely clean. Hopefully it stays that way.

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