# UPDATED - Leg Injury



## stano40 (Jul 24, 2010)

It's been 4 days since bringing home an injured doelings and I think she is making good progress.

We have been giving her PenG shots and a tetanus shot as well.  The leg was shaved and washed.  After 1 day we soaked her leg in an Epsom salt bath and that cleaned out a whole bunch of nasty old and crusty scabs and is releasing a lot of pus.  Her leg is cleaned twice a day with either a saline solution or the Epsom salt bath.  Antibacterial ointment is applied and wrapped for cleanliness and to force the ointment into the wound.

I've noticed in the past 4 days that she is starting to lower her leg to a more natural position, so I guess her leg is feeling better.

This is what it looked before treatment:







4 days later this is the result so far:





















Some swelling have gone down but one of our concerns is that the hoof is very soft so far.  We have been paying close attention to it and between the toes of the hoof is also cleaned and packed with ointment.

bob


----------



## ksalvagno (Jul 24, 2010)

While it looks nasty, it also looks like it is on its way to healing. That is great that you took these guys in and helped her!


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Jul 24, 2010)

Thanks for the update! I was thinking about her this morning.  It does look like the swelling has gone down some.  Are you cold hosing?  That will really help the swelling go down.


----------



## stano40 (Jul 24, 2010)

She's getting ice packs every other day.  Today she had the Epsom salt soak which has been really helping her a lot.

bob


----------



## freemotion (Jul 24, 2010)

Fantastic!  Keep us updated.  It is so great that she is putting it down a bit.  Her hoof is likely soft from all the soaking and not using it for so long.  Hopefully, it will harden up once she is back to normal.  

Is she bearing any weight on it yet?  Even a tiny bit?


----------



## stano40 (Jul 25, 2010)

Both of us have noticed yesterday that she has been relaxing her leg almost to a full position and trying to put her hoof to the ground.

You can see by her movements that the leg must be feeling a little better by the way she moves and tries to stand on the hoof a little.

bob


----------



## dkluzier (Jul 25, 2010)

Poor little thing. Looks like she's headed for a great recovery though


----------



## glenolam (Jul 25, 2010)

Poor girl - she must have been so miserable on that hoof before.

It does still look nasty, but definitely less swollen!  Great job!  I'm sure she's very happy you found her


----------



## cmjust0 (Jul 27, 2010)

If she's been holding it up very long, she's probably got some tendon/ligament re-stretching to do as well.  Goats apparently bind up pretty good if they hold their feet up for very long.

She getting any banamine?  Can't remember...

Also..if you get the actual wound itself more or less healed to the point that you're not so worried it'll become re-infected, she might benefit from a round of dexamethasone to bring that swelling down.

Don't do the dex if you still worry about infection, though...dex is really good at bringing down inflammation because it's an immune system killer..  A double-edged sword if ever there was one..


----------



## stano40 (Jul 27, 2010)

We're still doing the wrappings and antibiotic ointment on the wounds.  Plus trying to give her shots of PenG.  

We tried giving her a shot last night but couldn't get the needle to eject the PenG.  we were using a 22 guage needle and I'm wondering if switching to an 18 or 20 would help.

Last night the leg looked nearly normal and she was trying to walk on the hoof so we left the wrapping off to get air to the hoof.  This morning the swelling was bigger so back to the wrappings & ointment.

bob


----------



## glenolam (Jul 27, 2010)

stano40 said:
			
		

> Plus trying to give her shots of PenG.  ....
> 
> We tried giving her a shot last night but couldn't get the needle to eject the PenG.  we were using a 22 guage needle and I'm wondering if switching to an 18 or 20 would help.


Oh man is cmjust0 going to ream you for that one! 

He's notorious for using an 18g for peng because more can fit through quickly.

From what he's said, the 22g will only push the carrier through the needle - the actual medicine will stay in the syringe, rendering the whole thing useless.

Go buy a bigger needle!


----------



## cmjust0 (Jul 27, 2010)

glenolam said:
			
		

> stano40 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


WHAT!?!?    






Gleno's pretty much spot on, though.  The particles of PenG in the suspension are often too large to go through a 22ga needle, so you wind up having to draw/backflush/draw/backflush over and over just to get the stuff into the syringe to begin with....all the while, pushing those bigger med particles back into the bottle, instead of into your syringe where they belong.  Over time, what you'd end up with is a bottle full of big PenG particles and very little carrier....which would mean that you've been administering syringes more full of carrier than they should have been...which would mean that you've effectively been underdosing.

Go with a bigger needle.  I really do like an 18ga for PenG, but a 20ga will usually work OK without having to backflush too much....ya know, if you WUSS OUT on the 18ga.  

 

It also depends on the brand of PenG, apparently.  I had someone on another board say they had more trouble pulling Durvet PenAqueous through a 20ga than other brands, which mirrors my experience that Durvet's PenG is a little.......chunky.  

Anyhow...go on and break out the stovepipe.  

Something that usually helps me is, when I'm uncapping an 18ga needle, I make a "shhhhhhwwee" sound like a samurai unsheathing a sword, then look the goat dead in the eyes and say "This s*** just got real."

Your results may vary.


----------



## ksalvagno (Jul 27, 2010)

I use an 18 gauge needle for the thicker stuff. The size of the needle doesn't bother me anymore. Especially since I can inject the meds quicker.


----------



## stano40 (Jul 27, 2010)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> glenolam said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...









  I Give Up !!!  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Now my wife is at me saying she told me 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 that she ran out of the 18 gauge needles and had to use the 22 gauge.  

I give up ..... really!!


----------



## cmjust0 (Jul 27, 2010)

You give up, huh?

Do you _really_ expect any of *us* to believe that?  

     


Let us know how the bigger needle works.


----------



## glenolam (Jul 28, 2010)

stano40 said:
			
		

> I Give Up !!!  Now my wife is at me saying she told me that she ran out of the 18 gauge needles and had to use the 22 gauge.
> 
> I give up ..... really!!


So, yer going to blame the good ol' wifey now huh?!?


----------



## stano40 (Jul 28, 2010)

glenolam said:
			
		

> stano40 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not if I have a death wish and starts reading this thread.


----------



## glenolam (Jul 28, 2010)

Awww - spoken like a true and tried husband!


----------

