Unfortunately there are few photos in this entry since Eli is embarrassed by his looks at the moment- I will start taking pictures now that he is healing and feeling a little better so that you can see his progress.
Sunday morning I woke up bright and early and collected eggs, watered and fed the goats, opened up the chickens little ramp door on their coop so they could roam, and hurried home to power clean the whole house before heading to the store to buy more Pedialyte for Eli.
I am still very worried about him. His nose is just so swollen and looks very painful. I was relieved though to hear Dr. Dzimianski say that this is a common occurance in goats and that every goat will most likely have a bout with it (soremouth). I had asked him about this illness when we took Ellen to get disbudded yesterday and he didn't seem too concerned. He said to get some diaper rash cream that had zinc oxide in it to help heal and sooth his face, and that would help dry everything up so that he could get back to eating and drinking without pain. You see, soremouth went through the herd of goats in the field down from ours about 3 weeks ago. Sugar was able to heal almost completely in a couple of weeks. The symptoms are raw sores in the nose, mouth and on the outside of the ears and face. The nose swells and is so painful that the goat may choose not to eat or drink which in turn slows the healing process due to lack of nutrition. It looks to me like it would feel the equivalent of having strep throat AND cold sores all over the outside and inside of your mouth and throat. So sad to see Eli suffering with this.
Sunday though, he started drinking water on his own and he ate some sweet feed all on his own. That served as a teeny bit of sweet relief, but he still just seems so weak and skinny and dehydrated. I decided to give him until the end of the day to perk up before calling in the professional - Dr. Mike Dzimianski.
Sunday morning while she was picking up her eggs, I asked one of our regular egg customers if she wanted to come out to feed the babies. That evening she got to meet the other half of About An Acre, Jason, and the whole animal crew: Ellen, Misty, Milly, Shaniqua, Ellie, Eli, Sugar, Brutus, and the lovely egg laying ladies - she bottle fed the little ones and she even got to chase and catch a few birds and put them up because they had not yet figured out the new coop with the ramp.
I left feeling very worried for Eli still and decided I would call the vet in the morning. Eli had been such a trooper and willing to let me help him any way I can.
This morning I called Dr. Dzimianski about Eli and he said he could come out this evening. I was willing at this point to put however much it was going to take to get Eli well on my credit card. I went out on my lunch break and took some baking soda with me - I read that when they are ill and not eating well that baking soda is good for getting things back in balance. A big piece of his scab had come off and you could see he was beginning to heal, but his frail stature had me feeling unsure about his future.
After I got off work, I hurried over to the acre to meet the doc. He gave Eli a good look-over and he was continuing to focus on his bony body and his scabby little face. I asked, "What are you thinking right now as you are looking him over?" He replied that Eli had the worst case of soremouth that he had seen, but he seemed to be healing now and that he is experiencing a lot of discomfort, but since Eli is eating and drinking, he wasn't all that worried. He said that it is just something that has to run it's course and he seemed to think that the fact that Eli was walking around and still had a good bit of strength was a great sign and that I should just keep doing what I was doing and he will be back to his old self soon. After the great news (I honestly was worried too much and thought the worst was going to happen when the doc was out there - I tend to be a worry wart sometimes....), I picked Dr. D's brain with a ton of questions about the breed of goat that Eli is - Saanen dairy goat and informed him that we have had the hardest time fattening him up. He again eased my mind by telling me that Saanen bucks will always be a little on the thin side - it is part of the dairy goat genetics and that he would never be meaty. I asked him how old he though Eli was and he said very young - maybe a year old. He is just a little baby still! We got him in February and he was in such awful shape at that time, we got some meat on his bones and then he comes down with this soremouth - I can't wait to get him back on the healthy track and let him have an enjoyable life. I am thoroughly impressed with this doctor's passion for animals and so glad to have him so close - he is only about five minutes away from the acre and I would recommend him to anyone. He holds seminars from time to time on dairy goats and I am excited about seeing him speak and learning more. I wave as he is driving off and then go down to put the zinc oxide on Eli's face.
It is now time for me to go pick up my new baby - my dream car - my awesome 1977 Ford F-100 truck. This truck has a local history here in Athens and was even purchased new at the old Ford dealership on Atlanta Hwy (it is now a John Deer tractor store). My step-dad claims that he needs to "adjust some things" for me - I am pretty sure that is code for "I used to have one of these and I hope she will let me drive it for a day!" I bought this truck from a super nice family that I have actually become friends with through the process - I hope to give the old owner a ride in my new lovely truck out to see the whole crew on the farm. I am eager to drive this beaut and I can't help but to take some pictures of it while my step-dad drives away - yeah , I'm a bit dorky at times..... I am Oooooh-ing and Ahhhh-ing like it is a living, breathing being and immediately call my mom and tell her how pretty it is.
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