Ah yes, being a responsible pet owner means that you do everything you can to make sure that your pets are as healthy as can be. Even if that means forking over some dough and doing things that make your squeamish.
Ellie was first, so we brought her into the vet last month. Exam + several vaccines= $200 Ouch!
Harley is this week. Fortunately, I got a $10 off coupon in the mail, so maybe that might help take the edge off.
We give the goaties their vaccine ourselves. This in total costs us about $10 including the cost of needles and syringes. Last year was a little traumatic. Our goat breeder told us to lift the skin between the shoulder blades and administer the vaccine Sub-Q (under the skin). Sounds easy, right? After all, you've probably seen your vet give your dogs/cats vaccines that way all the time. Now try that with a tiny wiggly goat with no extra skin. Not so easy, and I couldn't do it. So I held down my baby goat while my husband gave the vaccine.
But I am 1 year older and wiser and have joined multiple goat forums and yahoo groups. The trick? Goats have extra skin at their armpit, not between the shoulder blades like a dog. So this year it was my turn.
I asked my husband to distract Oreo by giving her some scritches. I lifted the extra the skin right above her armpit, and then .... done! No flinching, no fighting, no big deal! She handled it like a trooper. So we gave her a peanut and she was on her way. Next was Butters and she also got a peanut.
You can tell the vaccine made them a little sore, but they are doing great!
All this reminded me that we need to expand our goat medicine cabinet. Which should include:
- Ivomec... we use herbal de-wormers, but this is good to have on hand.
- Nurti-drench
- Probios
- Electrolytes
- Sulmet
- Thermometer
- Triple Antibiotic Cream
- Needles/Syringes
- Drenching Syringe
- Pepto-Bismal
- Epi-Pen
- Bo-se
- Copper Bolus
- And last but not least... our vet's phone number pre-programed and written down.
Take care of your critters!
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