New goat mom in North Mississippi/Warning about Cloverhaven Vet

[Andrea Powell]

I'm Andrea and I just became a new goat mom! He is a two month old Nigerian Dwarf named Prince Archie. He stays in our house now, but still loves to romp and play in a pen connected to our back porch. Before anyone gets upset about me keeping him indoors, let me explain our situation. Archie was a jumping, screaming, playing little kid, until our neighbor dog began to play a little too rough. I didn't see it happen, but the vet said the the marks that showed up on his rear were definitely teeth marks. It didn't look like much at first. Just a small tooth hold in his left hind. We took him to Cloverhaven in Tupelo MS. She says there is no need to clean the wound, that it will heal on its own, and merely gives us a shot to give him once a day. About five days of this goes by and it is beginning to look much worse. Being furious that she didn't help my poor baby, I took him to another vet in Booneville, MS. The one that ultimately saved his life. When we arrived, his small wound had actually grown. Nearly tripled in size. Mr. Cunningham immediately brought us back into his exam room. As soon as I placed Archie on the table, he realized something was wrong. The previous vet, my fiancé, and I had missed nearly a softball sized wound on his back. His dark hair covered it amazingly well. By now, It had been nearly two weeks since the accident. He shaved his entire backside and had to scrape out nearly two pounds of rotten flesh. WE are now giving him shots very day, ointment, and fly spray. He is healing at a wonderful rate, but if we wouldn't have taken him to Dr. Cunningham, we wouldn't have our goat right now. Please learn from my mistake. If you are in the North Mississippi area, do not go to Cloverhaven in Tupelo. Thank you for reading.

 

[Poka_Doodle]

Greetings from Colorado!

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome. Sorry you had to deal with a dog attack on your goat. Dogs are the #1 killer of small livestock. Also sorry the first vet didn't do a thorough exam when you brought him in. I'd guess it's because she was concentrating on the wound you brought him in for. I know that's not a good excuse. The same thing happens in hospitals where injuries are missed because concentration is on another injury that's more apparent or serious. It's still a doctors responsibility to make sure other injuries aren't missed.

I hope that you'll build a strong, secure enclosure for him so that can't happen again. Hope he heals up OK. You didn't mention, but goats, being herd animals, really do best when they have another goat as a companion. Glad you came by, hope you'll keep us updated on his status, and maybe share some pics.

 

[Sumi]

Welcome to BYH Thank you for sharing your story and sorry to hear you and your goat had to go through that! I'm glad to hear the little guy is on the mend now.

 

[Ferguson K]

So sorry to hear about your little guy! Glad he's doing better, and welcome to BUY from the great state of Texas!

 

[Andrea Powell]

Thanks to all of you for the warm welcomes! @Latestarter We have a good few small animals and have never had a problem out of this dog. I thinks its just because my goat was new and the dog could tell he was scared. We have now built him a large fence that connects to our back porch. We put a good few toys in the back yard for him to play with when he recovers. The vet advised that we keep him inside until he is healed, since it is such a large wound. He is doing spectacularly well, now that we have the right medicine. We are taking him Wednesday to get part of it sewn up. He is playing with my shoe as I type this reply. His attitude is much better. We are planning to get him a goat companion, but as of right now, he has our small dog, Remington, to play with. They are best friends. They sleep together, eat together, and never separate. As soon as our dog leaves the room, Archie is right behind him. And I believe the main reason the first vet missed the larger wound is because she is new and we showed up about an hour before they closed. Still no excuse. She has since been fired. Apparently, she made mistakes like this regularly.

 

[Andrea Powell]

 

[samssimonsays]

Glad he is healing up and so sorry you are going through this! Someone I sold a baby bunny to had this happen from a small scratch from a dog even after cleaning it and doing everything right. You just never can be too safe.

 

[samssimonsays]

Oh, and welcome from northern minnesota!

 

[Latestarter]

Holy crimeny! That is horrendous! The poor little guy! I'll give you credit, with a wound like that, many would have simply put him down. He's got a bit of recovery time ahead of him for sure. Have the dog owners offered to help with some of the costs? This isn't going to be cheap...