goat in pain need advice ASAP

[fishhead]

Tonight I saw that one of my boys partially ripped off a scur. It's pretty painful from the way he's acting and bawling. To make matters worse we are going to be colder than -10 F tonight. It moves when he lowers his head to eat and I'm concerned that he won't eat enough to stay warm in this cold.

I have on hand buffered asprin, ibuprofren and naproxen. He weighs between 125 and 150 lbs.

Which is the most effective and what is the dosage?

Thank you.

[dragonchick]

I am so sorry your little guy is hurting. Depending on how much its hanging by, you may be able to clip the rest loose. Put a thick piece of gauze over the hole that's left and vet wrap it around his head. Take care not to wrap it around his neck so he can breathe. If the wound is spurting blood you can use a disbud iron to cauterize it. I would have the vet look at it asap. IF you have banamine, he could probably have 1/2 cc to take the edge off the pain.

IF you can't clip it loose I would use vet wrap to stabilize it. This way he doesn't knock it completely off. A vet consult is still in order. Watch for any sign of infection or flies burrowing within the wound.

I wouldn't give aspirin as its a blood thinner. Never heard of giving an animal naproxen. I believe the ibuprofen form is children's and given by the weight on the bottle.

[fishhead]

I just gave him 3 ibuprofren hidden in some gamebird breeder and corn. He's calmed down a bit so it must have just happened before I saw him. He looks terrible with bloodsickles hanging from his face and ears. At least he's eating now and looks full so he should be warm enough tonight.

All 3 have knocked their scurs off several times and it's never been an issue. I'm waiting for spring so that I can band the scurs once and for all.

[dragonchick]

After the scurs fall off from banding I think I would use a disbud iron to keep them from growing back.

[deetu]

I also would nip off the hanging scur and put Blood Stop (used to stop bleeding when cutting a dog's nails) or Wonder Dust (for livestock or horses) on with pressure to stop the bleeding, adding more powder if needed.
I use Wonder Dust instead of Fural when dehorning. Dries it right up, no flies and mostly, no inhaling bad fumes.

...bloodsickles, poor guy....

[Minelson]

I really feel for you...it's bad enough having these problems when the weather is half way decent. I can relate to the bloodsickles...I know exactly what you mean. Right now I'm having to administer 30cc of penicillin to my horse and I can't do that with gloves on! UGH. During the last arctic blast my 2 roosters decided they hated each other and started fighting to the death...frozen blood everywhere. I just wanted to let you know that I am so sorry you have to deal with this today/tonight. I know how hard it is

[fishhead]

Thanks for the advice and concern. He seemed to have calmed down quite a bit when I went out to give him the drug so I think he must have just done it. I think he caught it on the horse panel feeder wire and panicked.

How can I get the rest off if he doesn't do it himself? It's hanging flat against his head so there isn't much holding it. I'm pretty sure the bleeding has already stopped and flies aren't a concern at below zero. I don't have a debudding iron.

The vet sold me some spray that encourages tissue regrowth for Miss Huff n Puff. I may spray the open spot once the scur is completely gone.

[dragonchick]

You can use hoof trimmers to remove the rest of the scur. Have someone hold him cause hes going to fight you when you touch that scur. Be real quick with the cutting and it will be over in a second. I have heard of homemade disbudders made the same way a branding iron is made. Its heated over a fire until cherry red and held on the "spot" of about 10 seconds. If you have access to anything like that it might be worth a shot to get rid of the scurs permanently

[fishhead]

-24 this morning. Hopefully he didn't get the exposed area frostbit too bad. He was pawing at the scur with his back foot last night so maybe he'll finish the job. I'm pretty sure the bone is completely severed and it's only soft tissue holding it in place based on the way it flops around.

[fishhead]

duplicate post

[chamoisee]

Go and catch him, restrain him very securely, use sterilized hoof trimmers or wirecutters to take the horn/scur the rest of the way off, and cauterize the area with a hot dehorning iron. He is in torment as long as that broken scur is flopping around! I mean, how would you like a mostly excised body part dangling from your body and aching with every slight movement?

[Starsmom]

Mine do that all the time. If by chance when you remove the scur, it you see an opening (the sinus cavity) you will need to cover that. My vet showed me a neat trick. Take some gauze and cut it just over the size of the hole, then take a piece of duct tape larger than the entire hole, put a little super glue on the outer edge of the tape all the way around. Place it over the hole. Once in place, the glue will hold it for a week or two. By the time the glue breaks down and the tape comes off it will have healed over and the sinus cavity will be closed up. The main thing is you don't want the cavity exposed to the elements or anything for that matter.

[picklespickles]

sinus cavity info is useful. will put that aside for later. thanks.

[fishhead]

Thanks for the tip. I've been wondering about the sinus hole. The scur is about 6" long and maybe an inch wide so I'm hoping that it won't leave a hole. Right now it's covered by a big blob of blood. Tomorrow when it warms up further I'm going to try washing the blood off his face.

I got a better look at it last night and it's not coming off by itself in an acceptable amount of time so I'm going to have to slice it off. I'm going to ask my vet for some banamine and acepromazine today.

He was in the shelter and wouldn't come out. He also wasn't eating. I gave him 2 ibuprofren and then got him started eating by hand feeding him dried oak leaves. Then I mixed the leaves in with hay. When I last checked he was eating the hay. It warmed up to zero last night and 30's today so that will help.

My plan is to give him a shot of banamine and maybe some acepromazine. Then holding the knife flat to his head in one motion lift the tip of the scur and slice it off like slicing a chicken joint. Sounds like a good theory.

How often do you give banamine? 12 hours or 24?

Maximum 4 days or 5?

[chamoisee]

I think you'd better get help to hold him still...speaking from experience. If there is any hard horn tissue to cut through, a saws-all works really well.

[fishhead]

The scur is laying sideways and flat against his temple so I don't think it has any horn attachment to the skull left. Plus when I first saw it the scur would flap when he ran. It doesn't move now but that's probably from all the dried and frozen blood. I'm hoping the sedative will calm him down enough. I will tie him to a tree or figure out some way to fasten him to a wall.

This morning he ate the BOSS out of the pan with the others. Before he would run away if the other goats got near him and there is no way he would have put his head that close to the others.

[Minelson]

Did you get it off yet?

[Sweet Goats]

How is he doing?

[fishhead]

Not yet. It's going to happen tomorrow after it warms up. I've got 3 days of banamine and enough acepromazine to sedate him tomorrow. The ACE will sedate him enough to cause his head to droop. Then I'll know he's ready. The vet suggested hoof shears rather than the knife. There isn't much left so one or two good snips should do it.

He ate BOSS out of the tray with the others again tonight so I think it has stopped hurting at least if it doesn't get bumped. I still gave him 2 ibuprofren to get him through the night.

[dragonchick]

Be careful giving both ACE and banamine. Too much and his head won't come back up and his feet will buckle. Fluids will settile and he could drown,\.