Help: Possible Anemic/Worm Problem with 5.5 year old Alpine

[Nanno]

YAY!!! I hope he continues on this exciting trajectory! It's just plain scary when an animal can't stand up.

[Rocky723]

Wednesday: He continues to improve and move a lot more. Yesterday we got him up and walking for a short period. We used some large straps to stabilizing him a bit at first and to make sure he didn't fall. It was not graceful but he did walk. One of his front legs he did not use too much as far as full weight bearing. His hind legs he used completely fine. He has been in the sling everyday for the past week for about 1-1.5 hours each day. He looks significantly stronger and healthier. He continues to eat and drink just like a goat. He seems to enjoy bashing heads and horns with the other goats when they come into the shed and bother him.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

[IdahoNancy]

Sending positives thoughts your way. Your alpine is at his peak age. I hope he continues to progress, sounds like he has a mind to get up and go and not give in. What is the goat's name?
Thanks Irene, we do enjoy our goatie boys.

[Rocky723]

IdahoNancy, thanks again.  His name is Sparrow.  

We have had some positive signs the past couple of days.  

Thursday:  We got him up to walk in the pasture again.  He walked/stood on his now for about 25 minutes.  

Friday:  This morning was amazing.  When I went out to feed all of them I walked into the shed and he was standing up on all fours on his own.  He then walked out of the shed on his own to eat.  He stayed out of the shed for about 35 minutes and then went in on his own.  He has come out a couple of more times since this morning to eat and drink.  His walking is not graceful by any means.  He is still limping pretty significantly on one leg. But the fact that he is up multiple times on his own today is just awesome.  We are very excited to watch him the next few days.  Apparently, he has decided to just stand up.  His tail has been wagging like craze all day as he has been moving around. 

He has been the alpha male with our goats and to see him feeding in the pasture with the other four and taking on the role of alpha male again was really cool.  He was pushing and ramming the others around like he normally does.  Again, not graceful. He fell once int the snow on his face but just got up and started playing and establishing dominance again.  

Much appreciated.  I'll keep you posed.

[Nanno]

So awesome!!

[Rocky723]

Monday Evening Update:

Saturday and Sunday:  Sparrow came and went as he pleased from the shed to eat and water.  He has really turned a corner in a positive direction.  He is acting totally normal other than his limp.  The limp seems slightly better but not anywhere near 100% yet.  He doesn't seem to complain about it at all.  He has actually "ran" across the pasture to see us a couple of times.  It was not pretty/graceful at all but he was trying to "run" to some degree.  

Monday:  Today he even put his front hooves up on one of our fences when we came out.  That is also a positive and improvement.  

We are excited to see how he recovers the next few weeks.  It has been very cold and snowy for us which keeps the goats a little less active.  Just the fact that he is basically able to care for himself 100% now is amazing.  

We will keep you posted.  Next update will probably be after the holidays.

Happy holidays and enjoy.

[Nanno]

I'm so glad he's recovering so well! You've done a great job nursing him back to health! This makes my heart happy.

[Charlie Horse]

It turns out he just had the 'vapors' this whole time!

[IdahoNancy]

What is vapors? It so nice he is getting better. He is young and some good years ahead.

[Rocky723]

Update Post Christmas:

Sparrow continues to improve. He is still limping on one front leg. He doesn't seem to mind but does not walk normal yet. He won't fully extend that one leg and walks with it bent. We have looked at his hooves and doesn't seem to have any issues with any of them. He will try and run a bit but it is not very fast. He acts totally normal and interacts with the other goats just fine. His eyes are very pink again (probably a solid 4 on the FAMACHA scale).

We don't have any reason of concern other than his walking. He definitely is walking better compared to the last 10 days. Hopefully that will continue to improve.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.