Help please! - hopping lame

[hoggie]

I have just come back from feeding the animals, and my BT nanny is hopping lame. I can't find a wound, no swelling, no heat, ate her tea alright but is now not eating her hay because that means standing up! Her hooves need trimming (I still haven't plucked up courage to do them ) but I can't see why that would suddenly cause her to be lame in one foot. Do they have sprains/strains like everyone else - she is a bit of a maniac! Is there anything else that lameness would be a symptom of ? She wants to lay down all the time to take the weight off it - is it ok for goats to do that - I know in horses it is not good for them to say the least.

thanks in advance for any suggestions

hoggie

[fishhead]

If her hooves haven't been trimmed she could be getting foot rot. It's really not that hard to do. If she's laying down because of foot pain that can't be good for her.

Not trimming hooves can also be hard on the joints too.

I used to have a link to a good site but I'm sure if you search the internet you can find simple instructions. Even if you cut it a bit short and it bleeds slightly they don't seem to be too affected. Just trim it slowly.

Is there another goat raiser nearby that can show you or maybe you could volunteer to help them trim some hooves for the experience?

[hoggie]

thanks - I am assumming that foot-rot would present itself similar to thrush in a horse - smelly, a bit soft? Her feet aren't really really bad but they are curled in a bit. i will try and trim them tomorrow - I have instructions in a book, I am just a coward

thanks again

hoggie

[hoggie]

Forgot to say - if foot-rot is like thrush there is no sign of it

hoggie

[BlueHeronFarm]

Probably not hoof rot, then. The trimming is not so bad. If you're like me, you'll cut way too little at first - then you'll accidentally make one bleed when you're more confident, then you'll scale back again. ...it's a little scary, but completely do-able. The more often you do it, the less you'll have to cut each time.

[Starsmom]

Yes, goats can get sprains and strains. My sons little buckling got a strain/sprain. He got stuck and acted like it was broke. Would just wobble and fall down. My son paid to have it x-rayed and nothing visibly wrong. Next day he is running around and hopping. If you think she is in pain, gently feel the leg to find out where the pain is located. You could rub some linamint on it, or even wrap it with vet wrap or ace bandage and duct tape. I wouldn't wrap too tight, but enough to give support. She could have gotten bumped by another goat..who knows these critters can get into anything possible and some things that seem impossible. Good Luck.

[hoggie]

Thanks - will do my best with the trimming. The book I have looks as though you trim the pad on the bottom of the hoof as well as the walls. Is this right? This is what is putting me off doing it as I thought those bits had nerves in to help them grip?

Starsmom - that is the weird bit - I can't find any signs of anything - she just doesn't want to put it on the ground. Maybe if she had only just done it there may be more signs of what's wrong in the morning.

thanks

hoggie

[fishhead]

I don't believe you trim the pad itself but only the hoof that surrounds it including between the toes. It helps if you can support them by squeezing them between your legs or pushing them against a wall. No one likes to be off balance and goats are no different.

[southerngurl]

Just trim all hoof wall away that sticks up above the "sole". This will be better than leaving it, and you can't make her bleed.

[hoggie]

OMG - this puts me top of the list of those people you would never sell a goat to !!!

Having checked this goat over THREE times to ascertain what was causing the lameness - joints, tendons, sole of foot, between the toes - everywhere I could think of, I suddenly noticed a speck of something that looked like blood on her hoof wall! Lifted up the hair that falls over her coronet (if it was a horse it would be - I hope you know what I am talking about) and she has an enormous split/crack/wound across the hoof just below the coronary band. Hopefully this link will work



It is a reallly bad photo (taken on the camera phone) but what you can see is her hoof divided with my hand on the left dividing her toes. On the left toe you can see a dark mark - that is her wound !!!

How on earth did I miss it. I can only say it wasn't somewhere I would think of a wound not showing up immediately but I'm feeling pretty awful.

So we soaked it for 10 mins in cold water/epsom salts, then bandaged it with some purple spray on it (so that she wouldn't lick the spray off mainly) while we were doing the other animals, and have left her to it for the night (minus bandage). Oh yes and I gave her a spoon of molasses in her feed - I always do this if anyone's a bit off colour for any reason, don't know if it does any good but it feels as if it should.

So, apart from telling me off for not finding it earlier, any suggestions now that I know what it is? If I bandage her foot and wrap it in duct tape or someting will it stay on or will she still chew it off - I took the bandage off before we came away as I didn't want to go back in the morning and find her tangled up in it.

Oh yes - and does anyone have any idea how a goat could injure herself in this way? Beats me how she could have done it.

thanks

hoggie

[BlueHeronFarm]

OUch! I am not sure what to do, but want you to not feel like you are a bad goat mom - we can't see evry little thing right away.

I think you could safely leave it bandaged, but will defer if someone says otherwise. Have luckily NOT had to bandage yet.

[fishhead]

You kept looking until you found the wound. Some people wouldn't bother.

Could she have stood on the fence or something?

What are you feeding in the way of minerals? That might be something to check to make sure they are getting everything they need to make strong hooves.

[Sweet Goats]

I have aold lady that is limping really bad. I just want to cry when I see her. I give her a asprin every morning and every night. I started giving her straight gyucosamine (sp). that I got at my vet supply store. I massage her leg, and I hit her sore spot. I think she was butted pretty hard, and that is what happened. She use to be the Queen, but she has lost her rank.

[hoggie]

Thank you for the moral support BlueHeronFarm and fishhead. I do feel pretty terrible. I must say bandanging her wasn't too bad (thank heavens for all those hours at pony club LOL) but soaking her injured foot - let's just say my daughter learnt some new words and I don't think any of them are in the Bible

She could have done it on anything - like I say she is the maniac of the family and seems to get an adrenalin rush from doing everything at top speed. It is the position that puzzles me more. Either way the poor girl is going to need a bit of TLC for a bit I think.

re. minerals - they are still just on a goat mineral lick at the moment, plus whatever is already put into their feed. I eventually found a source of loose goat mineralas in the UK, but their carrier doesn't deliver to where we are. They want to deliver to the docks and then I ship it home - the shipping company wants to charge double what the stuff costs just to get it here. I asked in the other islands and no-one here seems to feed loose minerals Anyway - my boss is going to the mainland soon with a horsebox to collect some pigs and he is going to collect it on the way - so then they will have the loose minerals to help themselves to.

Over here we have a product called "cornucrescine" for horses that you rub into the coronet and it promotes healthy hoof growth. Do you know if this would work on a goat once the split heals a bit?

thanks again

hoggie

[hoggie]

That must be upsetting to watch Sweet Goats especially if she has lost her status as well. I hope she picks up

hoggie