When Carrie was still in the house in her pen, she got sick. I didn't know what was wrong but she wasn't eating and was just acting strange. She was about 2 months old at that point. I googled, because that's how I find the answers to all of life's problems, and realized she was bloated.
Goats have several stomachs, sort of like cows. But bloating in a goat is deadly if it isn't fixed immediately. Something about the gas getting trapped in the stomachs. The home remedy is to feed the goats a half a cup of cooking oil and to massage their stomach until they fart and/or burp. So that's what I had to do. I had to use a syringe to get the oil in her and then spend 45 minutes massaging her belly. I will just say that goats really do fart and burp, and they do stink. She had diarrhea the next day, but then was back to normal.
A week before we left on our beach vacation, Carrie had diarrhea for two days and then was acting sick. After checking her out, I realized she was bloated again. Bloating can be caused by overeating (especially grain) or of eating bad plants. Carrie had been out in the yard eating all kinds of plants that day and she had the obvious signs: lack of appetite, acting off, not moving much, and the left side of her body was clearly bloated.
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| Not my goat - but a picture of what it looks like when the left side shows bloating. |
It was about 10:30 at night, and there I was with a bottle of oil, a syringe, and a goat. I got the oil in her and began massaging her belly.
Kelly was constantly coming around behind me, or climbing on top of the dog house next to me and nibbling at my clothes. Kelly would be pulling the bottom of my shirt in the back and Carrie would be biting the front edge of my shorts.
At one point I was leaning over Carrie rubbing her belly, and I turned my head over my shoulder to tell Kelly to stop biting me, and OUCH! Carrie had gotten a nibble on my chest. Carrie never breast fed from her mother (or anyone/anything else) and only ever ate from a bottle - but whether it was on accident or she knew what she was going for - it hurt and I was shocked. I know she considers me her mom, but I never been THAT kind of mom to anyone!
I sat out there with her for 45 minutes, in the dark, that night. After awhile she didn't want me touching the swollen side of her belly, but she would also get very clingy if I stopped touching her completely. She never did fart or burp, but I finally went inside and hoped for the best.
The next morning she seemed better, but not completely back to normal. Her stomach wasn't as bloated so I just waited it out and later that evening or the next morning (I can't remember now) she was back to normal.
Today, Jeremiah was just watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie, from the early 90s, and he said "Remember when Carrie bit your boob?" I knew immediately I had to share the story.
And I'll end this post with pictures of Kelly and Carrie doing what they love to do best... Climbing. Notice how large the dog house is that Kelly has somehow learned to get on top of....
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