Goats Have Colds

I had an eventful afternoon - panicking. My goats want me to have a heart attack, I think. When I let the goats out to pasture, I noticed Flopsy wasn't excited, and instead of grazing she just lay down. Well that's not normal. 

I checked her out, turning her eyelids back and opening her mouth, and her mucous membranes are quite pale. She hasn't been wormed in a while and that's one of the signs, so I got the worming paste (safe during pregnancy) and wormed everybody. But when I got back to Flopsy I saw that her eye was all goopy, just like Nutmeg's was the other day! And, and! Xana was acting bizarrely, panting with her mouth open and sides heaving. What is going on with my goats? I took their temperatures, and Flopsy had a fever of 106.5, which isn't as high as it would be in a person (a goat's normal temp is 102.5) but is still quite high. Xana's temp was 104.2. 

Maybe I wouldn't have been so concerned if I hadn't just lost a goat the day before yesterday. I called the after hours vet line and talked it over with a vet who knows me and my animals. She called the vet who saw Nutmeg and spoke with her, too. That vet remains convinced that Nutmeg did indeed have a urinary calculi, and it is just coincidence that a virus of some sort is sweeping my herd right now. It's most likely your basic cold, which goats get just like we do. Xana is probably hot and uncomfortable, since the weather took a dramatic turn for the warmer today, and she's about a week away from delivery. I'm just supposed to keep an eye on them and call again tomorrow.

My vet bill is getting rather large. Did I mention I had the vet out to look at the pony? I was hoping she'd be able to give me an approximate due date, but no such luck. I did learn, however, that almost all horses are born between midnight and 6 am, and that if her water breaks and the baby's not out a half hour, it's an emergency. That means if I think she's in labor I have to sit up with her all night. Rosie Pony needed a couple of vaccines before giving birth, and there's no way I was going to stick a needle in her, mean and nasty as she is right now. Even the vet didn't like doing it.