I have sort of a silly prayer request......

[jen6889]

This seems kind of silly to be posting, but I just have to share with my DOD family. One of my goats is sick, I think... His name is Zap. He's been a roller coaster as far as health/strength goes since his "good friend and protector", Billy (formerly our most dominate male) passed away in May. Zap looks like he'd be the second most dominate, but he isn't at all. Billy was the one who kept the other goats from picking on him. To make a really long story as short as I can, his health seems to have taken quite a turn for the worse yesterday and today. I suspect it is probably just old age, as I am told by the vets that male goats (that aren't "fixed") only live 5-7 years and Zap is nearly 6 years old now. He is very weak - yesterday I found him laying on his side, stuck. He could not get up without help. Later in the day, I didn't see him. Finally decided to go look for him and found he had fallen in the wood/stump pile down in the woods (the pile they pushed down in the woods from when they cleared the house). He was laying perfectly still and was unresponsive. Any of our other goats could have gotten up out of that no problem, but he was stuck. I had to pull out logs around him (some of which I had no idea could be moved by one person!) and dragged him out by his horns. He finally stood up, I checked him over for broken legs, ribs, etc and watched him to make sure he was alright. Well, this morning, I looked out the window to see him laying half in and half out of his "house". I quickly got dressed and went out to check on him. He was just laying there on his side groaning. I tried twice to get him to at least lay upright, but he complained and laid right back down on his side. I finally got him to stay up and after maybe 10 minutes he tried to stand with no success. Some time later, he managed to push himself up on his hind legs only and did his "business", then laid back down. I cannot get him to eat hay or take water. He will eat grain though. He has been like this all morning and frankly, I don't see him making it to the end of the week. My husband is in IL right now. There really is no vet out here for a goat and there is no way I can move him myself, and besides, the stress of a 2 hour trip to the nearest vet that will treat a goat would most likely kill him. I'm not really sure what it is I am hoping for - that he gets better or goes on now (and quickly with no suffering). I couldn't see him making the move to IL in his condition. I've seen this coming for months now. I've already had two other goats of ours get sick and die in the last year. It's not an easy thing to watch and you just feel so helpless. I don't like the thought of putting an animal to sleep - I never believed it was my right to take any life, but after seeing the other two, I wouldn't hesitate if he was THAT bad off.
I guess really what I would like to see happen is that God takes him quickly with as little suffering as possible. I would love to keep Zap around forever, but we all know that won't happen. Also, I need a little strength too. It's heartbreaking to see anyone - human or animal - deteriorate in health like that. Maybe I'm silly, but with the other two, I sat with them most of the day and sometimes into the night, I bottle fed them water, I put old blankets and towels over them to keep the chill off, etc. Zap will be no exception. If you could say just one little prayer for us, I'd really appreciate it! I will let you know how things turn out.

[kualalumpar]

I am sorry to hear of anyone/thing suffering, I hope things work out for the best, with least suffering for Zap. That has to be tough to deal with. It is so compassionate of you to be so taken with Zap's comfort.

I cannot imagine no vet nearby will care for a goat ....then again, maybe I can ... it reminds me of a vet I called when my son's hamster escaped and got stuck in (and unfortunately consumed!!) some insulation .... receptionist laughed and said it is a $6 hamster, get a new one and the boy will never know. Ha, yeah right, not to mention it is a living creature.

Best to you in dealing with this, and for Zap as well.

PS: BTW, it isn't a silly prayer request It shows your compassion. A very good prayer request

[jen6889]

Just want to say thank you to anyone who said a little prayer for Zap. He passed away sometime in the night. I am glad this was over so quickly for him. I don't think I could have stood for watching him like that again today. He had quit eating entirely, refused attention, and just wanted to be left alone by yesterday afternoon. He finally got to his feet and then just stood there. I can't believe he stood in the exact same spot for over 3 hours! I guess maybe he was afraid of falling over on his side and getting stuck again if he laid down? That didn't work though, because he fell over anyway. I would too after standing for 3 hours straight in the same spot. He slept all day long, yes, even the 3 hours he was standing, so I assume he had no discomfort. When I last checked on him around midnight, he did take some water from the bottle and then went right back to sleep. That was the only time he took the water from me. That was just his personality though.. he's "Mr. Big Macho Man" and didn't care much for being "babied". Just pat him on the head, maybe scratch his ears and then get out of the way. He can do it himself....
I'll miss him horribly, he was one of my favorites (and the best behaved - only one that never even tried to get out of the fence), but I know it's better for him this way. We're moving in a few weeks and I seriously doubted he would have made that 14 hour trip to our new house.