# Rescuing a neglected doe



## Ariel301 (Apr 21, 2010)

I rescued a doe in bad shape last week--from an animal sanctuary, of all places, where she was being neglected.  

Snow White is a LaMancha. The owner of the shelter said she was three years old, and her teeth look about right for that age, so I'll trust that it is true. She is extremely thin, I can see every bone in her body. She was covered in lice, and very wormy. The lice had left her with completely bald patches on her sides. Her feet were so overgrown that she was lame and had bedsores from her sharp toes rubbing on her and scraping her up when she laid down. She also had some foot rot and a couple of abscesses in her hooves from walking around with sharp bits of gravel stuck in the overgrown parts. And to top it all off, she's about 4 months pregnant. The owner did not know she was pregnant, but I noticed she was filling in her udder and I can feel the babies moving inside her belly. She was so stinky she needed three baths with really nice smelling shampoo in one day to get rid of the awful smell (the sanctuary smelled from not being cleaned and having 50+ bucks running around and she brought the smell home with her!) 

She's a sweetheart though. Loves to ride in the car, we found out--I wasn't planning on bringing anything home that day, but she was so miserable looking I couldn't leave her there even long enough to go home for the truck and trailer. She was also apparently trained for packing at one point. Hopefully I can get this nice girl back in shape. 

Here is her 'before' picture






Her feet, after two sessions of trimming. I forgot to take pictures before I started. You can see in the first picture on one pastern that it is all pink and raw--she's got sores like that all over. 









And here she is after a full day of foot trimming, bathing, shaving, and de-lousing. She's clean and more comfortable, but still has a long way to go. She needs to be de-wormed and brought back to a good weight. She's a touch anemic from all the parasites. I hope her kids are ok. She looks to have a pretty good big udder, and has kidded before.


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## aggieterpkatie (Apr 21, 2010)

Oh my.     Don't you just want to punch people who do crap like that?  

I'm glad you got her and she (and her kids) are going to be safe now!  She's definitely going to need some good groceries now. Hopefully there won't be problems with toxemia or hypocalcemia because of her poor condition!  Keep us updated on her condition!!


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## Roll farms (Apr 21, 2010)

That poor girl....

I'd give her some ivermectin asap. 

Good on you for taking her in....

Sanctuary...? 
Mmmkay.


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## ()relics (Apr 21, 2010)

yeah Ivomec, Vitamin B complex, and maybe some Iron....not said all the hay she wants and a good supplemental feed maybe even with a fat additive...Slowly on the diet changes though...She will come around...I would treat her legs with "blue ointment" or any mild iodine topical treatment to prevent infection from her open sore areas and it also _Slightly_ deters some of the flies that will find those areas to their liking.
...Rescues shelters may be good for dogs and cats, though I have my doubts about that too, but are certainly not experienced enough for farm animals....JMO...


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## glenolam (Apr 21, 2010)

That poor girl!

Makes me think of how we came across our first dog, Aspen, who is now 6 - we wanted a black lab, but didn't care if it was from a breeder or a mix, so when I saw an ad for Black Lab pups $50 I figured we'd check it out.

We got to some man's house and he brought us into the back yard where his black lab girl was tied up to a tree, skin and bones and crying for her pups. The pups were in a dog house that had a small kennel attached, filled to the brim with feces, puke, flies and old food.  He said they were 6wks old and he was only feeding them dog food mixed with raw eggs and milk sick)  He said the mom had 13 pups and there were about 10-12 pups there....all with huge bellies from the worms infesting them.  There were black ones, tan ones, and one who was white with tan spots of all things!

I wanted a tan one, my husband a black one, but the only one who had the energy to come up to us was the white one with tan spots.

I told the man we weren't prepared to take a puppy home and we'd be in touch and he replied "well, I have a box you can put IT in".  We took her home in a heart beat and that night I called animal control.  By the time they got there the next day there was only 4 puppies left and they all were taken from him.  My local vet said he saw about 5 pups the same age and symptoms, so I'm guessing her brothers and sisters went to good homes.

We're only sorry we didn't take anyone else home.


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## ksalvagno (Apr 21, 2010)

That was really great that you would take her in. You are doing a great job so far. She is in good hands.


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## mossyStone (Apr 21, 2010)

I am so glad she found you!!! Bless your heart!!!!!
She looks better already.......



Mossy Stone Farm

Pygora's ,Nubains, Bantam Marans, Red Bourbon Turkeys

and Ducks


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## Ariel301 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks! She came from a sanctuary for farm animals, and the lady running it was fairly knowledgeable, just very sick, very poor, and had too many animals. The fencing was all built out of pallets, junk, old cars, and baling twine. She had a beautiful Great Pyrenees dog out there that I would have taken home too except that I can't afford what I know it would cost to fix her up. She had a broken hind leg just dangling there, and it was cold to the touch--so it would mean amputating it. I keep telling everyone I know about the dog, hoping someone will be able to get it. I think I'm going to go back in a few weeks for a Boer buck that I saw out there, he looked to be in decent shape, and I was in the market for one anyway. 

Since we brought her home, Snowy has had some not quite normal poop...not sure if it's from the worms or from getting more food than normal. It's not quite diarrhea, but almost. Very soft and frequent, not pellets at all but more like cow pies. She's getting dewormed this week when my dewormer order comes in, I order it online. She's getting as much alfalfa and grass hay as she wants to eat, plus a pound of sweet feed in the evening top dressed with corn oil, which she gobbles in seconds! I've given her some B vitamins and iron, and I think I'll get her some probiotics too. She doesn't seem able to eat much hay at a time, she nibbles a few minutes and then walks away for a while. She probably didn't get more than a few bites at a meal before I got her, so she's not used to having so much. 

Any more tips on fattening her up as fast as I can without making her sick?


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## chandasue (Apr 21, 2010)

Oh that poor dear! Good job on the rescue. I hope you can nurse her back to health. Looks like she'll be really pretty once she puts on some weight.


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## ksalvagno (Apr 21, 2010)

Unfortunately, it is a slow process to fatten an animal up Her stool is probably loose for numerous reasons which you have mentioned. I would get the probios into her as soon as possible.


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## Horsefly (Apr 21, 2010)

Someone please correct me if I am wrong about this but I don't think you should be feeding her sweet feed right off the bat.  I know a goats digestive system is different but I do rescue work with neglected horses and it's a few months before we will give sweet feed if at all.  The reasoning being is if the animal isn't used to all the sugars and stuff it could shut down it's system (likewise if fed to much to soon) and cause other more serious problems.  I would try and find a feed that is just pellets with no molasses.  We had one but I can't remember the brand.
The corn oil is really good for helping get her coat back in shape.  You don't have to get special probiotics either.  Just get some accidopholis (spelling?) from any store, is pretty much the same thing and cheaper, I would give 2 capsules a day (morning night) on top her feed.  That will help get her system back on track. 
I haven't done goat rescue before so somebody please tell me if any of this is wrong.  You are doing a great job for her!  It's wonderful you took her in.  Just keep hay for her and be patient, she will be in tip top health soon enough.


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## freemotion (Apr 21, 2010)

I rescued a similar doe over a year ago, and my instinct says to back off on the sweet feed until she has normal poo.  And get the probios into her at every opportunity.  She needs to get that rumen up and running, and needs coarse vegetable matter for that....hay, pasture, browse.

You can make your own live probios.  I like live better than dried, but the dried work well, too, if they are not too old and were stored properly.  You can get more bacteria by making it live.  Of course, I am a bit off the beaten path in many ways.....


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## aggieterpkatie (Apr 22, 2010)

Sweet feed will be fine in small amounts, and as long as lots of forage is offered.


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## chandasue (Apr 22, 2010)

freemotion said:
			
		

> You can make your own live probios.


How do you make your own? I was thinking the same thing that the dried probably isn't as good as something like kefir or yogurt. I've heard of people giving kefir to their goats but I've been hesitant to do so.


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## ()relics (Apr 22, 2010)

I like the probios idea...But if you are going to give her any sort of dewormer you should wait until your treatment is over before adding probiotics...And , I would think at this point , deworming is the most important step in recovery...You can introduce all the probiotics you want but if there is a large worm load present you won't be solving any of her problems...She will continue to be anemic and scour until the worms are thinned out...Then start to rebuild her digestive system with probiotics...Again alot of hay and water.....jmo...
    But I will tell you, from experience, horses are not ruminants...not goats...They are much more difficult to bring back from the edge....
     the best homemade probiotics?  Grab one of your healthy goats while you see them chewing their cud. Force their mouth open and get some of it out.  Feed it to the animal that needs the rumin stimulation...again  jmo
  Sweet feed?  Probably ok in small amounts....Better a pelleted feed with a Decox or Rumensin added just in case there is a high coccsidia level...At least for awhile until all her problems are under control


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## glenolam (Apr 22, 2010)

I'm not sure if you have this in your area or not, but Blue Seal makes a feed called "Sunshine" - it's a dry feed, not sweet feed, and smells just like sunflower seeds (I'm pretty sure there's sunflower seeds in the grain mix).

Once she's stable this feed will help bring her coat to a beautiful shine and smooth feel.  When I brought my doe home she was very stressed for about 2 weeks.  Went down to skin and bones and rough, dry, horrible looking coat.  I gave her some of the Sunshine and she became so shiny and silky that it looked like she was a new goat.


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## freemotion (Apr 22, 2010)

chandasue said:
			
		

> freemotion said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Here is one discussion, there are many here and on ss...it is post # 83:   http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=53802#p53802


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## SarahFair (Apr 23, 2010)

Wow! Im glad you got her!
Shes looking awesome!!


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## Ariel301 (Apr 29, 2010)

Hahaha I wouldn't say awesome. But she looks happy at least.  I need to get some new pictures of her, she's probably put on several pounds already. She'll never make a show goat, but she supposedly milks good, and that is what counts for us. She's really starting to fill her udder in now.

I started her on the sweet feed gradually, increasing it a little more each day, but still pretty quick. The last owner's method of feeding grain was to throw about four handfuls onto the filthy ground in a pen of 200+ goats...so I doubt she was ever getting any. I worry about her not being able to support her kids since she's literally got no reserves left in her body. I think she really needs the carbohydrates from the grain; I don't normally start graining my does until after they kid, but I'm making an exception for her. I've already had four dead kids this year, don't want more! We don't have the blue seal feeds around here. Sweet feed is really the only thing here that is "affordable"...if I want anything else, they would have to special order it and I would have to buy a whole pallet and it would be way pricey...not that the sweet feed isn't pricey as it is here in the desert where nothing edible grows. :/

She's been dewormed really good with ivermectin, but is still pooping A LOT, though it's starting to get more solid looking.  I've never seen a goat poop so much.


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## Ariel301 (May 5, 2010)

An update on Snowy:

She kidded yesterday morning, prematurely. She had two healthy bucklings early in the morning, and we found them already born. One was on its feet and nursing, the other laying still partially in its sac in a corner. The dirtiest corner of the pen, of course. It was alive, fortuntely, but hypothermic. We got him warmed up and cleaned and bottle fed him some colostrum, but Snowy does not want him at all, so I will be bottle feeding him. He is barely able to stand, and can hobble maybe a couple of steps before he falls. He's alert, responsive, and eating like a horse though! He has a touch of scours this morning, so I'll be keeping an eye on that and treating him accordingly. The other buckling is out in the pen with Snowy, he is walking around ok, if really wobbly and sleepy. Neither have their teeth anywhere near erupted. I've seen teeth that just have a thin film of gum left over them and they come out in a couple of days, but these boys are not even close to that. I don't know how early they are, but probably not too much, since they're fully functional otherwise. 

They are TWO POUNDS each. My bathroom scale would not even weigh them, I had to use a postage scale! At least mom and babies are all alive and doing pretty well though.  New pictures coming shortly.


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## ksalvagno (May 5, 2010)

Great to hear that everything went ok. Too bad she doesn't want both of the boys but after everything she has been through, I guess it is understandable. You may want to give both bucklings a shot of BoSe. Sounds like they could use it.


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## Ariel301 (May 7, 2010)

Well, I have sad news.  The second baby that Snow didn't want did not make it. He only lived about 48 hours. I am not sure what went wrong exactly. His diarrhea cleared up after a couple of hours--I think he just overdid it at his first meal, as he had 10 ounces of milk all at once. I was keeping him in the house in a basket with a heating pad he could lay on, as well as a sweater on him because he seemed to get cold pretty easily. He was drinking fine from a bottle, and a greedy little pig about it too. He would drain a 4 ounce bottle in minutes and cry for more! The second day he spent a few hours outside lounging in the sun with his brother, and then I brought him back in when the wind picked up. He was getting the hang of standing up on his own, but still not able to take more than one or two steps before falling down. About dinner time, he started to get really unusually sleepy, and had no interest in getting up or eating. He did seem to enjoy being held and petted, so I carried him around in my arms until bedtime. I tried to give him food before bed, but he wasn't interested in nursing. I had to force feed him with a syringe, and he let most of it run out the sides of his mouth instead of swallowing, and he was very limp, but all his vital signs were normal. I found him dead in his basket in the middle of the night. I could not find anything physically wrong with him, maybe he was just too weak to survive. 

The remaining kid is doing fine though. I've moved Snowy and her baby into the main doe pen where she has quickly worked her way up to second in the pecking order and she spends most of the day hogging the hay feeder and the best shady napping spots. I think she's going to make a very nice comeback.


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## freemotion (May 7, 2010)

Sorry for your loss....


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## ksalvagno (May 8, 2010)

Sorry for your loss. But glad to hear your doe is doing well. It sounds like there may have been something more wrong with the little kid than you knew.


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## glenolam (May 8, 2010)

I'm glad you got _her_ well enough to kid!  Imagine what she would have went through had she been left at the "sanctuary"!

Well wishes with the healthy buckling.  I'm sorry to hear about his brother - guess nature has it's way....

Good luck too!


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