Goat owners- need help

[mad for mini's]

My little pygmy buck tore half of his hoof off today, almost the whole side and clear up to where it attaches at the hair line. He has blood all over, it is still bleeding a little but not much. I cleaned it up as good as I could which got it to bleeding again but what else can I do for him ? Can I give him Banamine like the horses for the pain ? I want to try to wrap it to keep it clean but I'm not sure any covering will stay on, maybe duck tape ? Any suggestions for the care of it and will it grow back ? My poor little guy, I feel so bad for him.

 

[~Dan]

Oh my, so sorry for your little guy.

Can you maybe use a tiny mini protective boot and then put tape on under it??? just a suggetion, dont know about banamine.

 

[Jill]

Poor little guy!!!

Check out this site... it's like LB but for goats. The folks there may have some good advice:

http://www.goattalk.com/

 

[mad for mini's]

Thank you for the link Jill, my goat book says nothing about injuries like this. I did give him a tetanus shot already but I'm not sure what to put on it when I wrap it, an antibiotic cream like neosporin ? I have him shut in a clean stall right now to keep his feet half way clean. I also found out how he did it, we have sheet metal siding on the barn and a small hole developed under it where his foot slid under and he either got caught or when he pulled it out, the siding sheared his hoof away.

So a warning to anyone with this type of siding, make sure there are no spots where an animal can get a foot under. The hole he stepped in was possibly made by a rodent trying to get into the barn.

 

[dgrminis]

You can give a goat banamine... Just do it by the weight like you do a horse. I would wash the wound out good with running water if you havent already -- will clear out all the old blood and anything that has worked its way in there... If you have some vet wrap and guaze I would recommend that to bandage it up and a wound spray of some sort to help keep infection away... Make sure and change the wrap at least every other day if not every day... Good Luck!

 

[mad for mini's]

Thanks DGR, I did rinse the hoof off with cold running water, applied antibiotic cream and covered it with guaze and made a boot out of duck tape. We'll see how long it lasts on him. I hate seeing him like this, he is normaly a very friendly boy and comes to me when I call him but now I can't get near him and I have to corner him to do anything with him. He settled down after I dressed his hoof so maybe that helped the pain. Now , will the hoof grow back ? And what happens if it doesn't ?

 

[Hosscrazy]

Did you call your vet? What did he/she say?

Liz R.

 

[mad for mini's]

I don't have a vet that will do my goats, my horse vet does strickly horses and my dog vet doesn't do livestock anymore. The only other vet near me that does livestock is so bad that I wouldn't take a dead cat to. He is really awful.

 

[Jill]

How is your guy doing this morning?

 

[mad for mini's]

Buddy is feeling much better this morning, the boot stayed on ! Hopefully when I change it the next one will stay on as well. He is hobbling around on it and back to his friendly self. His appetite was never affected at all, so that is good. Now I just hope that it doesn't get infected and heals quickly for him.

Edit to add photo of Buddy

He is a pretty small pygmy, he only comes up to my knees.

 

[dgrminis]

I am not positive but I "think" that the hoof should grow back -- it may grow back in differently shaped so you may have to watch it and make sure you trim it to keep it formed the way it should be but I would think it should come back.... If you change the bandage daily or every-other day you can rinse it with the water and reapply the cream each time that will help alot in keeping infection away -- Also I know you said you gave him a tetnus but you might consider giving a little Penicillian to help keep infection away. We had a goat get a puncture wound several years ago and I believe that he got 1cc of penicillian twice a day for a week (he was a small pygmy goat though)....

Good Luck...

 

[Bluerocket]

You may want to put a "dry dressing" like Wound Heal on it instead of keeping it with moist dressings. Don't want proud flesh developing.

Goat Talk is a great place to go - they have lots of experience and advice.

Good luck!

JJay