A Quick Trip to the Vet for Mocha

On Friday morning, we were out early to milk the cows.  We have a routine of separating animals, feeding and milking that resembles a rodeo more than anything else.  While I was settling down with the milking bucket, Tricia exclaimed, "Mocha, what happened to you?!"  Mocha is Agnes' little doeling.  Mocha had a huge gash on her abdomen that pulled her hide back about the size of your palm, exposing bare skin and muscle.  It was not pretty to look at.

I held her still while Tricia tried to pull the hide back in place, but it was of no use.  The goat was acting normally, but I'm sure it hurt!

While I went to work, Tricia loaded Mocha into a pet carrier in the back of the truck and drove her to the veterinarian.  Fortunately, he's just a mile down the road.  He had some other appointments ahead of us, but had us leave her and said he'd anesthetize her and sew it up or it would be a mess.

Shortly after lunch we were called to go pick her up.  After paying $125, we loaded her back in the truck and headed home.

You can see below how Dr. Fontenot shaved her side and then stitched her all up.  He told us she'd heal up and asked us to watch to ensure no flies got around the wound.

Tricia gently carried the little girl back to the pasture where a welcoming crew of cows, chickens and goats were waiting.

Back home with momma and all was right with the world.

I hunted around for the cause of the injury.  Dr. Fontenot said it seemed like the damage pointed to the culprit being either a fence or a bobcat.  After searching, I found a big tuft of hair and new exactly what happened.  If you look above, there is a fencing panel.  On the end of the panel, there are barbs that poke out.  Normally, they are cut off flush, but on this particular panel, there was a 3/8 inch portion that stuck out.  This panel was close to the hay bale, surrounding a young oak tree.  We surmise that the kids were being kids and a cow pushed her into the panel, cutting her open.  I removed the hazardous panel to ensure we'd have no further trips to the vet.  It's always an adventure, I tell ya!