Whe we adopted Jack, our AfghanX Billy, my husband and I both decided to "whack" Jack, for various reasons. I called around and only one vet within a reasonable driving distance did goats. I dropped him off yesterday morning, they said call around 4:00. I did, and siad they were still cleaning him up. "why? Did he soil himself?" "No there's just a little bleeding. He should be ready to go in about 40 minutes. I pick him up, and there is blood everywhere. His entire back half is bright red. The vet won't talk to me, so I put him in the car, and immediately call my regular vet. She says to get him home and wrap an Ace bandage around his rear. I get him home, he is still dripping bright red blood. I trim hair, clean as best I can, neisporin the crap out of it, and wrap it very tightly. Luckily he is so gentle, or I probably would have gotten the crap kicked out of me. He did seem to feel better with the bandage on, and di eat and drink, but them immediately laid down. This morning he was still down, but chewing cud and bleated back when I said good morning. I have him isolated in my re-coop room of the barn. I'm soooooo angry. I've left three messages for the vet to call me. I'm really upset, and worried, and feel just awful. Any suggestions?
Now that he's home and settled, I would march right back to that vets office and ask what the crap exactly happened and why the goat is still bleeding. Make sure he had the shots he was supposed to have, did they get everything stitched back up right, etc... I wouldn't leave until I had some satisfaction and a refund. Make sure you take pics of everythign in case something happens to Jack and you have to go to court.
Ugh. I've heard SO many of these stories from vet castrations... You need to let it bleed, within reason, to clean the wound. Go ahead and get him started on PenG to ward off infection. Banamine will also help with the pain, but you'll have to get it from a vet. Keep up the wraping job and neosporin, I'd say...and make sure he's UTD on tet. shots (either antitoxin or toxoid). I'm guessing they left his scrotum as an open wound? If you have flies, please use Swat around it to avoid flies and maggots. Poor guy!
Well, I do not know about goats, and of course I don't know at all about your particular goat, but be aware that at least with horses, the common (maybe universal, I just haven't seen that many castrations) school of thought is to leave it unsutured and let it bleed, because otherwise you get stuff accumulating and getting infected and Bad Things happening. It should not be spurting arterial blood or anything, I mean, but it is possible that the only thing wrong is a blood vessel where the vet didn't expect it causing extra bleeding. (Each individual animal has its blood vessels in slightly, sometimes VERY, different places). I am not saying nothing was done wrong, just offering this to ponder. With horses, also, it is considered important to keep them moving around (including brief, forced walk-trot exercise if they aren't moving enough on their own) to avoid complications from swelling. And, like Kate says, swat is good stuff. Good luck, sounds like he's doing ok now, Pat
My MIL has boer goats. She does the ol' "celery rubberband" around them. She says that doing it any other way is more dangerous for the goat due to infection & severe bleeding.
Wow...the vet wouldn't talk to you? I bet he got paid, though, right? Yeah...if he wouldn't even talk to me about what's going on, he wouldn't have gotten paid. But that's just me and I can be a witch when I want to be. Sounds like a jerk who knows he has the market on that area and doesn't have to be nice to his customers. Grrr.
Can I ask how old this buck is? Older bucks bleed much more when casterated than youngsters. MUCH more. Dripping is normal for a couple of days with even youngsters. He will have pain and swelling. Encourage him to move, walk him if you have too. One of the biggest concerns in this type of operation is cutting too deeply and cutting into the abdominal wall. You should never find anything "hanging" out of the incision area. With horses, cold water hosing at least twice a day is always used to flush out dirt, shavings and help reduce pain and swelling. Good luck with him. If you are really concerned about him, have any other vet look at him. They will be able to decide just what is going on and if it is normal or not.
OMG. I am so sorry to hear about your poor fella. We had ours banded and I completely regretted my decision after I read about it further. (I was new to goats). I would definitely go after this vet. That is completely irresponsible not to talk to you. I would report this. and take pictures. Please let us know how he is doing. :|
We have always use a band on our lambs, goats and even calves. Never have had an issue doing so. Only thing is to do it within the first few days of birth. Otherwise those nuggets grow very quickly. Dilly
It sounds like the vet hit a bleeder and didnt want to mess with it. I band my Nigerians and La Manchas when they are 8 weeks old so that the urethra has time to grow. I have banded older goats also with a calf bander and a much larger band that is used with that. I would give him some Banamine or some Bute if you have it. Dont give him asprin as it will cause more bleeding. It is normal for them to bleed if they do the cut and pull method. With the flys we have I always band mine and give them a Tetnus antitoxin to be safe. I would give hima shot even if he is UTD on his shots. The banamine will help with the pain and some swelling as its a anti-inflamitory. Sorry you had such a bad deal on your goat.
