Does this look like a sprain?

[Nanno]

This morning Delilah came up completely lame. She will not walk on her left front foot at all if she can help it, and if she must step on it she just dots it down. You can see from the first picture that it is noticeably larger than the other foot. The swelling is very stiff and all along the whole foot from the top of the toes to above the fetlock. The tops of her toes are swollen too and look bruised. You can see the purple bruising because it shows through her white hooves. The bruising also goes up above the hooves into the front of the pastern. At least, it looks very red-purple to me. I don't know if she sprained it somehow or if she's got an abcess forming. It doesn't look or feel broken, and she didn't protest too much when I was feeling and moving it. It's obviously sore when I handle it, but not broken sore.

I gave her a little Bute for the inflammation and pain and I also gave her a shot of penicillin in case there's infection (or to prevent one from starting). I haven't wrapped the foot and I see no reason to ice it since it's freezing outside and we have about 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground, so I figured that's probably all the cold pack she needs. Is there anything else I should be doing? Does this look like a bad sprain to you, or does anything else come to mind? I'd appreciate any input.

   
   
   

[Charlie Horse]

Best guess: Sprained somehow. If a small bone was broken, I'm not sure a vet could do much for it other than immobilizing it better. I know they cant do much for broken foot bones in humans, anyhow. She probably needs to curl up in front of a wood stove and be made comfortable and be offered the finest produce and greens.

[Nanno]

I'm afraid if I bed her down near the wood stove and wrap her foot in a bag of frozen peas, we'll be finding peas all over the basement for the next two years.

I just remembered something from long ago that makes me wonder if she may have picked up a cactus spine. This reminds me a lot of the time Cuzco's foot suddenly swelled exactly like this and he wouldn't walk on it at all. I thought it was broken and had a vet out to look at it. The vet thought it was a thorn (even though we couldn't see anything) so he packed the hoof in pine tar to act as a drawing salve and then wrapped it tight and told us to leave it for a few days (I think). It's been 12 years so the details are hazy, but I may also have soaked his hoof in hot water and epsom salts for a few days after we took the pine tar off. In any case, it did the trick. Delilah's no better tonight, and if she doesn't improve by tomorrow morning I may pick up some pine tar at the hardware store and see if that treatment helps. If she has a cactus spine I'll never be able to find it to pull it out by hand (if there's even anything sticking out).

[Taffy]

Ouch! You know, if you bring Delilah in and let her relax in front of the wood stove on the couch the gig is up. She won't want to go back out to the cold cruel world.

[Nanno]

Delilah is much better this morning. She's still lame, but the swelling is down and she's putting weight on it today. Her fetlock joint is still hot to the touch, but I'm happy to see her limping around on it instead of hopping pitifully on three legs or laying by herself in the shed. I gave her a little Bute again this morning and we'll see how she goes on.

It's very interesting to note that yesterday for the first time the other girls were all nice to Delilah. They let her occupy the shed all day (she and Jezebel are usually chased out except during extreme weather), they let her eat at whatever hay pile she wanted, and they generally just left her alone. Jezebel took the opportunity to bond with the other three girls for the first time since she couldn't play with Delilah and they were all getting along pretty well. I didn't know goats would ever show sympathy like that so I was really surprised at how nice everyone was. This morning the three dominant girls allowed Delilah and Jezebel to help them crowd the gate when I came in to feed. This is a first. I wonder if it will last after Delilah heals?

[Nanno]

I'm happy to report that Delilah is almost recovered.

[Taffy]

That's fabulous news!

[Nanno]

It's a good thing I didn't bed her down by the wood stove and ply her with goodies or she probably would have sprained the other one the minute I put her back outside!

Delilah is suddenly much friendlier to me. She and Jezebel are our skittish ones. I don't care what anyone says about bottle raising--if you don't take time to do more than just feed them, and if you don't continue to spend time with them after they're off the bottle, they're liable to end up just as shy as the dam-raised kids are generally known to be. Delilah didn't like me fussing with her hurt foot these last couple of days, but I could tell she knew I was trying to help her. She would flinch, but she never tried to pull away.

Today for the first time Delilah followed me around the pen just to hang out. Usually she and Jezebel stay in the background and let the other goats do all the following. I threw hay down and instead of eating she came over and nibbled my jacket and sniffed me up and down while I filled the water trough. Jezebel stood in the background and looked at her like she was crazy. Both the girls are looking so much better than when we got them. They've filled out and fattened up, they've put on muscle, their hooves look good, and their hair is thick and soft. I'm pretty sure they've grown a little bit taller too.

[Taffy]

Sounds like you and Delilah have turned a corner in your relationship. Try offering peanuts in the shell to her and Jezebel. It made all the difference in the world with Banjo. He'd started to be more friendly, I treated him with peanuts, gave him more 1 on 1 time away from the herd (he's low man on the totem pole) and now he is right there with everyone else for attention.

I agree about dam vs bottle raised vs continued attention. Nothing will ever replace the time and attention you give a goat. That goes for when they're older, too.

[michael]

Taffy, When you give peanuts does it matter if they are salted?