A Very Goaty Update

Gertie's visit to the vet this past Wednesday went pretty well. She was diagnosed as having a respiratory virus and a case of lice - lice which are mercifully species specific, per our vet, thank goodness.

She gave Gert a shot of oxytetracycline, an antibiotic, and an oral dose of ivermectin, which is a wormer/lice treatment. We were also sent home with one more needle full of antibiotics for Gert and a dose of the ivermectin for each of her brothers, so that we can hopefully, with the help of the cold weather, eradicate the lice altogether. I gave Gertie her second shot of antibiotics today and she hobbled around and shivered for a bit afterwards, which made me feel like a big meanie for causing her discomfort and also made me wonder if I had somehow screwed it up and made her worse. But Bill and I hung out with her and the boys in our lovely 20 degree weather until she was back up and about and snarfing up her grain and apples. I am optimistic that within the next week or two she will be right as rain again.

As far as having the vet confirm the pregnancy, we weren't able to. The doc said that ultrasound was really the only way to go, but of course, it's expensive and that they'd have to shave a decent sized patch of fur off of Gertie's side to get the instrument to make sufficient contact. No thank you, not in this weather! So instead we're officially back to staring at Gert's lady business every day to see whether or not she comes back into heat. If not, then that means we've got babies on board.

So, all is essentially well again with our four-legged fuzzballs, and we have a wonderful new goat vet, Dr. Hoaglund, who I would highly recommend to any Thurston County area goat owners. She keeps goats herself, and very clearly knows her stuff. We might well owe Gert and her baby/babies' life to her, which is why we're going to stick with her, even though she's changing clinics. She also recommended that I read this book to get myself fully geared up for Gertie's pregnancy and delivery, and for caring for her babies. I feel like I am informationally always behind the eight ball a little, so I'm going to storm the library and scoop up every last goat book that I can find and read like a fiend for the next 4 1/2 months.