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09-28-2016, 04:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-28-2016, 04:51 PM by DownUnder Gal.)
William, my 5 year old boer/cashmere cross wether, had emergency surgery yesterday to remove a stone from his urethra. He was completely blocked so couldn't pee. He was put under general anaesthetic and intubated, x-rayed, ultra-sounded and had his bladder drained. His bloods were normal. His urethral process was removed and although a bit sooky he is now peeing ok, but still in a bit of discomfort as you can imagine. Not eating yet; we think he has a sore throat from the tube. The stone has been sent off for mineral analysis and his urine will be analysed too. The vet is cautiously optimistic of a good outcome given we caught it early. William was peeing ok on Tuesday morning, but when I got home from work on Tuesday evening I knew he wasn't right. I suspect the condition may recur so I need to manage him closely in the future.
I find UC very frustrating because not all risk factors can be managed out of the equation. For example, I delayed having William castrated until 4 months, and he had very little grain in his diet and only up until 6 months. Grass hay, fresh pasture, fresh browse (branches) and the odd vegetable cuttings (always checked for calcium:phosphorus ratio before giving), mineral block, baking soda and occasional seaweed meal has made up his diet for the last 4 1/2 years. Lots of fresh water. I manage all my other wethers the same. No ammonium chloride is given with food as a preventative because they won't eat their hay even if I spray a very dilute solution on it (no wonder, it tastes awful). I might have to drench William regularly with AC going forward, depending on what mineral the stone is made up of. He does have an undershot jaw though, so I suspect that in summer when trying to graze he would inadvertently ingest some silica when the ground has dried out. There's not a lot I can do about that.
I had the best sleep last night after being up for 42 hours straight. Anyway, will keep you guys posted on William's progress. I'm glad we built a new sick bay a couple of months back for Atticus; it's coming in handy!
I find UC very frustrating because not all risk factors can be managed out of the equation. For example, I delayed having William castrated until 4 months, and he had very little grain in his diet and only up until 6 months. Grass hay, fresh pasture, fresh browse (branches) and the odd vegetable cuttings (always checked for calcium:phosphorus ratio before giving), mineral block, baking soda and occasional seaweed meal has made up his diet for the last 4 1/2 years. Lots of fresh water. I manage all my other wethers the same. No ammonium chloride is given with food as a preventative because they won't eat their hay even if I spray a very dilute solution on it (no wonder, it tastes awful). I might have to drench William regularly with AC going forward, depending on what mineral the stone is made up of. He does have an undershot jaw though, so I suspect that in summer when trying to graze he would inadvertently ingest some silica when the ground has dried out. There's not a lot I can do about that.
I had the best sleep last night after being up for 42 hours straight. Anyway, will keep you guys posted on William's progress. I'm glad we built a new sick bay a couple of months back for Atticus; it's coming in handy!
Happiness is a baby goat snoring in your lap