Cupcake Earned a Nickname!

“Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:”  Leviticus 4:23

I've often thought about the magnitude of slaughtered farm animals in Old Testament times under the sacrificial system.  The amount of blood, dead animals, flies.  I am so thankful that we don't live in those times any more!  If you read the book of Leviticus, there were very strict rules for the types of sacrifices, how the sacrifices should be made and what were acceptable sacrifices.  For one thing, sacrifices must be males, the firstborn, and those without blemish.

Cupcake is Agnes' firstborn goat.  However, she would be fortunate had she lived in Old Testament times, for she is a female AND she is blemished.  She would NOT have been put on an altar - however she may have been eaten.  From birth, both of Cupcake's front legs have been handicapped.  It is a condition where the tendons are super-tight and as such, she is unable to straighten her legs.

The poor critter crawled around on her knees.  It was very sad to watch her.  My wife decided to take Cupcake under her wing and give her physical therapy.  We talked about this in previous posts.  Here's an update:  Tricia cut paint rollers in half and made splints.  Then, using a tape called "Dragon Skin," each day she would tighten the splint on each legs to pull the leg closer to the straight position.  In a few weeks, one of the legs is straight, and the other is getting pretty close.

Cupcake is able now to stand up.  When she falls down, however, she is unable to get back up on her own.  The poor creature scratches a big hole trying desperately to get up.  She is able to walk, sort of.  She takes steps with her splinted left leg, but drags her slightly bent right leg behind her.

Now if you take the splints off, her legs are very weak.  This is going to be a long-term project, but little Cupcake has made improvement and we're proud of her.  You may be able to see the look of pride in Cupcake's face as well.  She is happy to not be crawling around on the ground anymore.

Watching her walk around on her "peg-legs" this evening, I began to call her "Peg" or "Peggy."  Who knows, "Peggy" might stick.