We lost our Buck Today

Starsmom · #1 09/27/06, 08:54 PM

We lost our beloved Spike today. He had been ill for about 2 weeks ago, just under the weather, nothing in particular. He had been doing great for the past 3 or 4 days, eating, playing almost his normal self. This morning around 10 I went down and noticed he wasn't eating and was off to himself. I checked on him and he appeared a little bloated, gave him a CD&T shot and baking soda drench. Checked on him again and he was down with frothy bloat. It was fast...I literally ran to the vets office and got the thera bloat, but when I got home (not even an hour later) he was gone. The vet said it doesn't usually happen that fast. He wasn't down but a very brief time. I'm heart sick that I didn't throw him in the truck and take him instead of going to get the med's. I truly thought I had time. It didn't appear to be very bad, he was moaning, but didn't appear to be in too much distress. He got up and greeted me and hugged me and when I looked at his face he had a little bit of foam in the corners of his mouth. The bloating appeared to be the same as earlier.

I figured it just started...I hate I made a bad choice. This was my sons goat, he was the first one born to him out of his own does and bucks. He used him in the fair and won Grand Champion this year as well as several other trophys and plaques with this guy. He was a real sweet heart.

My advice to any that one that does not have it on hand, get the thera bloat and mineral oil. Keep it on hand...It can happen swift and not having it can mean the difference between life and death. Having a tube on hand and knowing how to use it can also be helpful. My vet was very helpful and loaned me his tube, gave me a needle in case I needed to aspirate his rumen and complete instructions...although too late, at least I know what to do next time and have everything on hand. I guess we were due, its been several years since we lost one and have only lost 3 (one was only a couple days old and we were total newbies and don't know what happened to him)

Reauxman · #2 09/27/06, 08:59 PM

Sorry for your loss.

Thanks for your advice.

Please don't beat yourself up over this. It was destiny. somethines we can't explain why it happened, but it did and we must make the best of it.

prairiecomforts · #3 09/27/06, 09:06 PM

Shot - I am sorry to hear about your buck. It is hard to lose any animal - but especially hard when we are atached to them. We lost Black Raseberry (our first doe) this spring. She accidently hung herself in a gate latch. The kids and I were just heartbroken!

HilltopDaisy · #4 09/27/06, 09:17 PM

How sad...............but I thank you for sharing with us. I'm so sorry your buck didn't make it.

murphyjamie · #5 09/27/06, 09:23 PM

I am very sorry for your loss. When you are feeling better, could you please post the instructions the vet gave you on tubing and also on putting the needle in the rumen. I will say some prayers for you and your family tonight. God bless you

goatkid · #6 09/27/06, 10:03 PM

Sorry you lost your goat. Please don't be too hard on yourself. Being that he had been under the weather over the past couple weeks makes me wonder if he had hardware disease. In that case it probably wouldn't have made any difference if you had driven him to the vet. Even with the best of management, goats can eat things they shouldn't. I lost a doe to bloat last spring. She was fine when my husband fed at dinner time and dead when I got home a couple hours later. I suspect she bloated after an unknowing passerby fed her something. My husband had fornd bits of carrots in the pen the previous day. I've read that a carrot can lodge in the upper digestive tract and the goat cannot burp and will bloat.

RollrXGirl · #7 09/28/06, 12:02 AM

I am so sorry for your loss.

Sher · #8 09/28/06, 08:28 AM

Gee, I am so sorry that your Spike is gone. Those big ole boys may be smelly...but ya gotta love em! I'm usually not too close to bucks, bulls, etc. But I must say that our current buck is so different..he's our boy..and I would be crushed to lose him.

Don't beat yourself up...he had a great place to live while he was here..that's a true blessing to animals.

Starsmom · #9 09/28/06, 09:12 AM

Thank you all for your thoughts. I will truly miss him. We have a couple bucks and he wasn't the typical one. He really wasn't that messy and never really smelled too bad.

I never heard of hardware disease. The other day when he wasn't feeling too well I let him out of the pen so the others wouldn't pick on him (even though he outweighed them all). The rabbits had gotten into the garden and I was cutting off some half eaten squash and he picked one up. I broke off little peices and he seemed to like them so I feed him a little, but not too much. The peices were small, so I don't think that would have done it. But we did recently have a couple storms and things get blown into their pen and it possibly we may have missed something and he ate it.

I'll post those instuctions I got on tubing and aspirating the rumen later. Thanks again for all your thoughts. It was hard telling my son, he was very upset, they were close buddies. At least he had gone in the pen and played with him for a while the evening before, so he feels like he did say goodbye. He is 13, and he took it better than I expected. Spike was 16 months old and probably weighed in at 170-200 lbs. Mikey called him his "gentle giant".

Sweet Goats · #10 09/28/06, 10:29 AM

Our thoughts and prayers go out to you. It is really hard to remember that these beautiful animals are put here on earth just for a bit, then they are needed above.

I am sure he is watching over the rest of the herd.

RockyRooster · #11 09/28/06, 10:30 AM

So sorry StarsMom. I too know how it feels to lose an animal. It is so sad. Glad your son is taking it better than you expected.