Broken scur problem

Meg Z · #1 11/25/04, 03:56 AM

A while back I purchased a couple of Alpine doelings. One had a scur a couple inches long. Before I brought her home, they banded it. Now, I've never used bands, but it seemed to me that it was placed too high up.
Regardless, I came home the other day, and the scur was broken off, below the banding point, at the hairline. There is no horn left.
Here's the question, since I've never had a broken horn of any type before...
There's a piece of tissue that appears to be the tissue that would be found inside the lower, growing point of the horn. Nice, cone-shaped material. It was quite bloody to start with, but has dried up somewhat, with antibacterial lotion. It seems to me, though, that this tissue would be the growing point, and the scur may possibly come back. Is this right, or am I way out of line here? If it does come back, can I keep it trimmed/filed/dremeled/whatever the goat will tolerate to keep it small? Someone said to burn it, but at her age, I figure that's not the answer.
(I did boost her tetanus, she's 7 mos old, has four age mates in her pasture)

Stacy Adams · #2 11/25/04, 09:19 AM

If it were me, and I had a way to burn it (ie: disbudding iron) then I would.. it would hopefully be a one time thing, whereas filing it, and you goat will not tollerate this, you willl be doing at least once a year if not more... JMHO

Jen H · #3 11/25/04, 07:44 PM

If she were my critter, I'd either burn the core or have a vet dig it out and cauterize it. The scur will just keep growing and you'll just keep on having the same problem over and over otherwise. (my vet charged $60 to remove one of my sheep's scurs. The charge really isn't too bad)

I can't imagine any of my goats holding still for me to file the scur down.

Laura Workman · #4 11/26/04, 04:28 AM

I figure the tissue you're talking about is sinus tissue from inside the horn. Given that, I would just let it dry up. If you start trying to dig out all the sinus material, you're going to be clear down inside the goat's head before you get it all, if you ever do, and there's no need. It's the outside ring that grows the horn, not the inner sinus tissue. And I just can't even imagine burning that off. Owie!!!

Meg Z · #5 11/26/04, 07:32 AM

I had posted on here after Stacy did and it didn't show up....oh well.

The thought of reburning a 70 pound bottle-baby makes me cringe.

I know my hubby wouldn't be able to hold her for it, either. She will let me file, as long as she can sit in my lap while I do it!

I think that I'm going to have to do the wait-and-see this time. If it grows back, I'll just have to find a vet who will do it. (I can find only one vet around here that will condescend to work on goats, and he doesn't know what he's doing, so that's not my best option.)

You know, if there WAS a decent goat vet around here, this would never have been considered a problem. Some of you folks send your kids to vet school to become homesteader vets, not dog/cat or horse vets.

Laura Workman · #6 11/26/04, 11:03 AM

Just a little reality check. When was the last time you spent $1,200 on a vet bill for a goat, as I did for my old dog a year or two ago? The reason more vets are caring for pets is that more people care for pets. There are just more pets out there, and people are far more willing to spend money on them. Caring for pets is a lucrative business. Caring for livestock (other than horses, who are in reality pets), is just not that lucrative, and with most livestock being big enough to seriously hurt you without really meaning to, it's far more dangerous and physically trying as well.

Jen H · #7 11/26/04, 01:42 PM

The vet I take my dogs and cats to actually started out her practice specializing in sheep and goats. She had to drop the livestock because she just wasn't making a living taking care of them. The vet just had too many instances of looking at a critter, diagnosing what was wrong, getting out the medication, and having the owner look at her like she'd grown horns overnight because she was charging them $70 for the whole visit. On her end, lab tests cost money, she needed to have 2 attendants to hold the critter while she worked on it (to make sure noone got hurt), those attendants need to be paid, the building the vet's office is in has to be maintained....... On the owner's end, depending on the quality, you can buy yourself a new goat for around $50.

That's just the way the economics works.

There's also the incidentals people will pay for with their pets that people won't pay for with stock. I take my dogs and cats in for their vaccinations - it's just plain easier to haul everyone in once a year and have the vet do it. I'm willing to pay for that. Getting my goats into the truck is no problem - they walk right up a ramp because they think we're going for a hike. Getting them out of the truck in town, then manhandling them into a strange building so someone they've never seen before can give them a shot? You've got to be kidding me! It's easier to do that here. Sure, the large animal vet will come out to my place - that costs more, naturally, than if I hauled the critter in myself.

Meg Z · #8 11/27/04, 08:18 AM

I fully understand the economics of the vet practice. I'm a vet tech. Or I used to be. However, where I grew up and went to school and lived, there were always 'mixed practice' vets. They don't seem to exist here. Maybe they don't exist at all any more, anywhere. Heck, I was out of the country for 8 years; things change. Does anybody live in a place where there are 'mixed practice' vets?

Stacy Adams · #9 11/27/04, 08:59 AM

My vet works with two others in a "mixed" practice.. the bulk of their practice is livestock, including goats, though mostly meat goats.. and then the pets of those livestock owners.. There are a few other vets that work on both, but your right, they are few and far between..