Dehorned; Pain Meds

[The goat life]

Good evening,

My 8 month old had his horns removed by the vet today. All went well, however i noticed this evening that he is grinding his teeth and a little heavier breathing. I am assuming that the meds they gave him at the vet are wearing/worn off. Is there something i can give him for pain?

thanks in advance,
T

 

[Alaskan]

Good evening,

My 8 month old had his horns removed by the vet today. All went well, however i noticed this evening that he is grinding his teeth and a little heavier breathing. I am assuming that the meds they gave him at the vet are wearing/worn off. Is there something i can give him for pain?

thanks in advance,
T

After such a big operation... I would hesitate to give him anything.

I am sure he feels lousy and in pain.. but I feel that since you can't explain to him the importance of staying still... it is actually good that he feels lousy and in pain.

I do realize it sounds bad....

Lots of blood goes into horns... you want him to take it slow... not bounce around and cause the healing wound to bleed.

You do NOT want him to feel so bad that he goes off of his feed.

I would see how he feels in the morning... hopefully not too bad, but bad enough to not horse around.

He is young, so it should heal fast.

 

[The goat life]

After such a big operation... I would hesitate to give him anything.

I am sure he feels lousy and in pain.. but I feel that since you can't explain to him the importance of staying still... it is actually good that he feels lousy and in pain.

I do realize it sounds bad....

Lots of blood goes into horns... you want him to take it slow... not bounce around and cause the healing wound to bleed.

You do NOT want him to feel so bad that he goes off of his feed.

I would see how he feels in the morning... hopefully not too bad, but bad enough to not horse around.

He is young, so it should heal fast.

that makes sense. He is still eating pretty well. I will leave him be and see how he is in the morning.

thank you!

 

[The goat life]

He is doing fine today. He is still eating and kinda rummaging around not doing to much though. Lots of naps. Attached is a pic of his brothers giving him kisses when he came home from surgery

 

[Alaskan]

He is doing fine today. He is still eating and kinda rummaging around not doing to much though. Lots of naps. Attached is a pic of his brothers giving him kisses when he came home from surgery View attachment 89153

Eating well is the biggie.

Lots of naps are good, they will help him recover faster, and naps mean he isn't bouncing!

I would think it would take a week for him to get back to his old self... and at that point bouncing about should be fine, and not a big risk.

Keep us updated!

 

[The goat life]

Day 3

He has been pretty low key. Isn't drinking as much as i would like to see. He has a clear liquid coming from the area where the horns were. Looks like drainage; however he trys to wipe it off and his ears are down. I try to dab it with a paper towel and he comes unglued. He is grinding his teeth pretty good also. He has been eating hay; however passed on his grain today.

 

[Alaskan]

Day 3

He has been pretty low key. Isn't drinking as much as i would like to see. He has a clear liquid coming from the area where the horns were. Looks like drainage; however he trys to wipe it off and his ears are down. I try to dab it with a paper towel and he comes unglued. He is grinding his teeth pretty good also. He has been eating hay; however passed on his grain today.View attachment 89173

If he refused grain... and since there is drainage, might be good to call the vet and see what the vet thinks.

 

[The goat life]

So the dehorned saga is over. Took him to the vet Monday and they sent me home with pain meds and i gave him penicillin this past week. By Wednesday he was feeling pretty good; back to causing hate and discontent. Alaskan; thank you for the support and advice. Being new to the goat life it was helpful.

To everybody out there that might look at this forum before or at the start of your goat life; if you want to dehorn your goat; do it when they are young. Seeing my little buddy blowing air bubbles out of his head was very bothersome (and I’ve been in law enforcement for 30+years.) when they get older, not only does the blood vessels go into the horn; but so do there sinuses. Essentially when i watched him breath through his nose, i could see it out the top of his head also. No wonder he was miserable. The vet did apologize for not sending me home with pain meds. He had done so well through the procedure and didnt fight them at all, they assumed he was going to be OK.

 

[Alaskan]

So the dehorned saga is over. Took him to the vet Monday and they sent me home with pain meds and i gave him penicillin this past week. By Wednesday he was feeling pretty good; back to causing hate and discontent. Alaskan; thank you for the support and advice. Being new to the goat life it was helpful.

To everybody out there that might look at this forum before or at the start of your goat life; if you want to dehorn your goat; do it when they are young. Seeing my little buddy blowing air bubbles out of his head was very bothersome (and I’ve been in law enforcement for 30+years.) when they get older, not only does the blood vessels go into the horn; but so do there sinuses. Essentially when i watched him breath through his nose, i could see it out the top of his head also. No wonder he was miserable. The vet did apologize for not sending me home with pain meds. He had done so well through the procedure and didnt fight them at all, they assumed he was going to be OK.

How is it healing?

Is he forming skin over the wounds?

 

[The goat life]

It appears to be healing pretty good. One of them is already covered over. The other side still has a soft spot, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. He head butted me for the first time the other night since his removal and he just looked up at me. I don’t think it felt very good for him. I notice he stopped head butting his brothers; he just nips at them now when they annoy him.