Rescuing a neglected doe

[Ariel301]

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.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

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!!

 

[Roll farms]

That poor girl....

I'd give her some ivermectin asap.

Good on you for taking her in....

Sanctuary...?
Mmmkay.

 

[()relics]

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...

 

[glenolam]

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.

 

[ksalvagno]

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

 

[mossyStone]

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

 

[Ariel301]

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?

 

[chandasue]

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.

 

[ksalvagno]

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.