Goat with injured mouth

Cygnet · #1 06/03/14, 11:51 AM

I've dealt with a lot of injuries in goats, but this is a new one. My vet can't get out until tomorrow, unfortunately.

1 year old Nigerian doeling. She's split her mouth open at the crease between the upper and lower lip another 1 1/2". Big jagged tear that basically makes her look like the Joker on one side.

I didn't catch it for a couple of days -- she's eating and acting completely normal. When I first saw it, I thought she'd been stung by a bee because it was starting to swell.

Looks like it's starting to get infected. I sprayed it with furazone and gave her a shot of pen g. Can't get any tetanus antitoxin anywhere nearby -- vet'll have to give a shot of it tomorrow. Too old to stitch, but I'd like the vet to have a look at it to make sure there's nothing else we need to do (and to give her antitoxin).

Anyone deal with an injury like this? Odds that her lip will heal up -- or will she always have a lopsided grin? Food is getting in the cut (so high probability of a nasty infection, I'm afraid) but she seems to be able to eat and chew her cud okay.

Cyngbaeld · #2 06/03/14, 03:53 PM

The vet may be able to trim away the edges and sew it. Ask him if it is possible. That is a bad spot to have a tear.

Cygnet · #3 06/03/14, 04:17 PM

Yeah -- nasty spot. If it were anywhere else, it wouldn't have merited even a vet call. Where it's at, I'm concerned that if we do stitch it up we'll end up with a nasty anaerobic infection of some kind or another (because food is going to be constantly ground into it) and if we don't, the edges will never heal together and she'll have functional issues with eating.

No idea how she did it. Goats are amazing at finding ways to hurt themselves sometimes ...

Squeaky McMurdo · #4 06/03/14, 06:10 PM

Super glue! That's what it was originally invented for and I use it for that more than anything else. I currently have a superglued puppy that got desciplined a little too hard by another dog. It happened less than a week ago and looks much better today.

Since she'll see the vet tomorrow just leave it. The vet might have some "liquid stitches" that will seal it completely against yuckiness getting in after it has been thoroughly cleaned.

Frosted Mini's · #5 06/04/14, 01:20 PM

I had a goat once that split the bottom part of her lip pretty bad. I just cleaned it twice a day and it healed up fine. Cud juices leaked on it all the time and did not cause infection. I hope you have the same results!

Cygnet · #6 06/04/14, 10:50 PM

Vet was out -- he said she's healing up good with nice granulation tissue. She'll have a funny grin, but given I didn't even notice

the problem for several days (and we handle the goats twice a day!) I suspect it won't be noticeable when it's healed.

Rabies shots all around for the dogs and goats, too. He said there'd been a case in a bobcat in this area a few months back, and ours were all due.

And he promised to contact us if he heard about a cattle dog, border collie or auss ie litter or any combination thereof from a local breeder --we've been having a hard time finding a pup OR an experienced older rescue dog with the right kind of temperment. I definitely appreciated that promise, because we've been having a hard time finding the right dog.

(The local rescues that I've talked to really do not seem to understand the nature of the dogs they are rescuing and will not adopt to anyone who expects the dogs to, y'know, do the job they were bred for. Our dogs are treated very well -- better than many pets -- but they have a job to do, and IMHO, they're happier for it.)