Goat-O-Rama Kids of 2020

[Saph]

Sending major strong vibes to poor little Butterfly!

[Nanno]

Yeah, she needs them. She's perky and she's eating well and she's peeing but she still hasn't taken a poo yet. Hopefully she'll go soon or we'll have other problems. She is able to stand and sort of walk around with mincing steps if I set her on her feet. She has a hard time getting to her feet on her own power, but sometimes if she pulls hard enough with her front legs she's able. It's encouraging that her legs are mechanically able to work, even if she's too sore right now to move much. Now if we can just get her bowels working!

[Nanno]

Good news. Butterfly pooped this evening! She's standing better and can shuffle along for a couple of yards. She's very determined and I think this little gal is gonna make it! I'm guessing she'll live in the house for at least a week, but I have high hopes she'll pull through if we keep up the TLC.

[Nanno]

At some point I need to post some photos of Rita's little babies. They are absolutely ADORABLE!! Beautiful colors and very healthy little chunks. We've been so busy with Butterfly that we haven't even named the poor things yet and have hardly paid any attention to them. But today I made a baby goat palace in our basement and I plan to start having supervised play dates with all the kids in there tomorrow. George needs some buddies he can roughhouse with because his sister isn't cutting it, and Butterfly needs other kids to watch and inspire her to try to get up on her own and play. She shuffled all over our basement this morning. She still can't really rise on her own, but once she's up she moves about pretty well considering. She's still got her curiosity and is doing her best to get into things despite her limitations.

[Nanno]

We spent time with Rita's kids this afternoon and let all the babies have a supervised play date. It was a lot of fun, and Rita's kids ended up with the names Zelda and Sonic. Butterfly continues to improve and scooted all over the yard this afternoon. She even climbed a hill! She got up 3-4 times on her own, which was a huge struggle, but she did it! She even partially lifted her hindquarters one of the times instead of pulling herself up fully by her front legs as she's been doing. I think this little gal has a great chance of making a full recovery.

George is absolutely wild. He's been cooped up with his sister a lot and she's kind of boring right now, so every time we let him out he goes bonkers. It's hilarious! I can't wait to post photos and some video I took but it will have to wait. It's getting late!

[Nanno]

I really need to post photos soon! Butterfly is running around like a racehorse, but she's obviously not running "normal". She puts a lot of weight on her front legs and hitches her hind legs along together. I think it's probably painful for her to move her legs independently since it likely torques her pelvis. However, she is mechanically able to move them separately because I've seen her do it a few times when she wasn't moving too quickly. Her left leg seemed stronger when she first got hurt, but now her right leg is the one she primarily walks on. Sometimes when she runs her left leg flops over and hooks over the right hock so she's running with crossed legs. It looks a little ridiculous, but she's mostly keeping up with the other kids. She can't hop or climb yet, but she's sure trying! We are starting to leave her out with the herd for a little longer each day now that she's mobile enough keep up and to get out of the older goats' way. We're still keeping her in the house at night, though, and we'll continue to do that until she's able to jump in and out of the shelters.

George is already turning into a beast! He's a big, strong, long-legged boy and very active but also a little clumsy (or maybe just too brave). He tries to jump higher than he actually can and often ends up bouncing off his target and landing upside-down on his back. He rolls over, pops back up, and sometimes tries again. Nothing seems to keep him down. I only wish his sister weren't hurt because she would absolutely give him a run for his money!

[IdahoNancy]

That is great news. I hope she get stronger every day.

[Nanno]

Butterfly continues to improve each day. She can walk now instead of just shuffling her hind end, and she runs as fast as the other babies but with her hind legs together like a deer. She usually only runs on the right hind leg, but she's dotting the left down more and more often. Her pelvis still looks uneven, but I'm really hoping that as it continues to heal it will even out in time. She wags her tail now, which she couldn't do for the first week. She can't hold her tail upright yet (only straight out), but I think it's partly because her rump is at an unnaturally steep angle. I'm not sure if this steepness will be permanent or not. It seems like it's less steep now than it was, and that the angle occasionally flattens out when she stands or moves a certain way. However, it's rare enough and subtle enough that I can't be sure. I'm terribly impatient for her to heal "yesterday" but I keep reminding myself that it's only been a week and a half since her accident and she's already RUNNING! And today she was also doing some small leaps, climbing rocks, and she even climbed up and down a set of stairs at church this morning. (Yes, I bring her to church since I can't leave her unsupervised at home yet.)

[Nanno]

I have a funny story from Butterfly's vet visit. The clinic does not allow customers in the building, so masked vet techs were coming outside to get people's information and take animals into the clinic. I handed my little baby over to Doc so he could take her inside for x-rays. About half an hour later a vet tech unlocked the door and furtively beckoned me inside the building. I fixed my masked in place and ducked covertly inside. She quickly ushered me through and locked the door behind me. The tech bustled me past the lobby and into the dispensary where I was ordered to wait "RIGHT HERE!"

About 15 minutes later, Doc came out to talk about the x-rays, but he couldn't show them to me in the lighted dispensary.

"Do you mind coming to the back?" he asked, shifty-eyed, with a guilty tone to his voice. I told him I didn't mind a bit and followed him through, but it felt like we were in a spy movie or carrying out a museum heist. We snuck stealthily through the building as if to avoid prying eyes. It was like being back in college when we would find ways to sneak into locked buildings just for the heck of it. The slight twinge of guilt. The thrill that someone would catch us doing something off-limits.

Doc and I squeezed into the small x-ray closet and he closed the door. The second we were out of sight, he whipped his mask off, took a deep breath, and whispered furiously, "I'm so over this COVID business!!"

I couldn't help laughing. He's an older man who has had some recent health scares. I'm sure everyone is constantly on his case about keeping his mask in place at all times. Before we exited the closet he was careful to hitch his mask back into position. The whole experience was like "Pandemic Theater" and I know I wasn't the only one in the vet clinic who felt that way.

[Charlie Horse]

You forgot to mention the xray results