Dodgy CL results-- Advice?

[Taffy]

It's amazing how much joy these goats can bring to our lives. Even as we're frustrated with something they're doing we're still laughing at the same time. Lilly was a lucky goat to have lived with the two of you. Right to the end you were thinking of her welfare. I hope your many memories of Lilly help you through this difficult time. She'll never be forgotten.

Thanks for the support you guys. It was a very rough day, and it's going to be hard for me to pick up those packages of meat tomorrow too, but I believe we did the right thing. It's terrible having to put down a young and apparently healthy creature so full of life who was also a friend that trusted me.

Lilly has always been the "class clown" around here. All the goats come happily to their pens at night and walk dutifully through the gate--and then there was Lilly. She would stand near the gate but just out of reach, and when I would lean over to grab her collar she would bolt in the opposite direction and take off in a series of joyful leaps and bounds with her tail curled playfully over her back. She would run behind the house and then peep out at me from around a corner with a taunting, and delightfully mischievous "catch-me-if-you-can!" look on her face. Sometimes I'd end up making three circuits around the house in pursuit of the wicked, jolly little beast. It didn't help that she was by far the fastest goat in my herd, even after having babies. She's the only goat who could catch up to Daisy-dog and overrun her (which she sometimes did on purpose, the little terror!).

Besides "Silly Lilly," we also called her "The Ninja Goat" because of her crazy antics. She would run in an arc up the side of our house and I even saw her run straight up the wall and do back flips off it on occasion. Sometimes for no apparent reason at all she would start dancing and leaping backwards on her hind legs and then bolt off like someone had set a firecracker under her tail. She was always on the move and always at double-speed. I always said that if I were breeding race goats, Lilly would be my prize filly. For all the flaws in her conformation, she sure was an athletic little thing, and so full of the joy of life. And more than any goat here save Finn, Lilly LOVED people. We were her idols, and she never got too big to try and climb in my lap. She's going to be sorely missed.

[Phil-O-Rama]

I miss her. But with half of our herd (soon to be more than half!) being her descendants, we won't soon forget what she gave us.

http://www.goatorama.com/?m=201405

-Phil

[Saph]

My heart goes out to you, Nanno and Phil. You have been so kind and generous in starting and moderating this Forum, the least we can do to repay your kindness is by showing support and sympathy as you go through this sad experience.

Just yesterday, I was working in the garden, and listening to a podcast on my Mp3 player. I was taking a break & bending over to do something, when one of my goats came up, & before I had a chance to do anything, bit the cord to my earbuds clean in two! It's times like that, that I need to remind myself, that despite everything, I love these goats and can't imagine life without them!

Again, I am so deeply sorry for everything you have gone through. May the memory of "Silly Lilly" be a blessing to you--Saph

[Nanno]

Update on CL vaccinations:

Delilah and Snickers got their first shot two weeks ago and their booster today. I thought they were going to be reaction-free when they showed no lumps or sore spots for a week, but apparently this vaccine can have delayed reactions. Snickers developed a hard lump on his neck after 5-6 days which slowly went down over the next 5-6 days. There's still a little hard knot but no longer noticeable unless I'm feeling for it. Delilah had an even longer delayed reaction. She was fine until about three days ago or so when I noticed she was acting slightly "off" and seemed to be holding her neck a little funny when she would turn her head. But I saw no swelling and she was eating well, so I thought nothing of it until this morning when I brought her in for her booster and I took a really good feel of her neck. Today I could actually see some swelling on that side and the whole muscle on the left side of her neck is very stiff and hard. I can't believe it would take this long for the injection to cause a reaction, but I can't think of any other reason why she'd have a problem in that spot.

When I did boosters today I gave them higher up the neck on the opposite side. I read that it's recommended to give this shot SQ "as high as possible on the neck," so I gave them over the muscle behind the ears. There's actually a nice little spot with very loose, soft skin up there, and the goats reacted less to the needle poke there than with the shots I usually give lower down. I hope it's an ok spot to give an SQ injection.

I also gave first shots to all the other goats except Jezebel (who is pregnant) and Petunia (whose milk we're drinking). Cuzco will have to be done again. He was the only goat who did NOT have soft, thin skin high on his neck. I pinched some up and barely got any. I went for it anyway and ended up getting the needle all the way through and squirting the vaccine all over the outside of his neck. I'll try him again next week and try to find a softer spot. The problem with Cuzco is his skin is so thick and tight everywhere that it's hard to give SQ injections. I almost always do IM with him. On the plus side, he's so tough he doesn't even notice when I give him shots no matter how thick the needle or the serum. He's the only animal on my place that doesn't care if I give him penicillin shots. Go figure that "Mr. Ornery-About-Everything" is the easiest one to give shots to!