Next month will be my 51st anniversary of having Nubian dairy goats. When Jennifer was born, in 1974, good goat vets were unknown in my area. Veterinary schools barely mentioned goats.
If something went wrong, the goat owner had to deal with it. So, I bought a good veterinary book for small livestock. I still have it, old as it is, and still look things up in it. It was written by a practicing vet and is a fairly reliable source of information.
I also have a clinical goat veterinary book. It’s rather technical, more a textbook than a reference book. A good dictionary is helpful with it.
Just Google It
What I find out now, is that most people just go online for information. When La Nina was born, my vet books weren’t much help, so I tried online. I am so glad I read up about the problem in my clinical book first.
La Nina was born with her front legs drawn back. They would not straighten. Online advice was to give a BoSe or selenium shot and brace them.
That shot is for Johanne’s disease. La Nina does not have this disease and did not need such a shot. There can be side effects from this shot, if it is not needed.
Nina’s problem was either from inbreeding or being curled up wrongly before being born. The latter usually affects the rear legs which tend to a stretched tendon the kid grows into in a few days.
Because her tendons were so tight, it did take a month of braces before the front legs straightened out. She is quite normal now – spoiled rotten and into everything.
Good Goat Vets Now
Over the past years I have had some really good goat vets. I learned a lot from them. They are sorely missed now.
Large animal vets are getting rare. Large animals like cows and horses can hurt you. Even sheep and goats can do a lot of damage. Treating them often means a farm call requiring an expensive truck set up to carry medicines and equipment.
Cats and dogs come to the clinic. They bring in a lot of money. The hours are regular. Both vet clinics in my town treat only cats and dogs.
My nearest goat vet is about a hundred miles away. I am again left consulting my vet books and doing my own work. The books are my first reference, then I go online with enough knowledge to know whether or not what I’m seeing is reliable.
New problems come up regularly with any livestock. Good vet books by practicing veterinarians should be on any goat owner’s shelf.