# Goat with horrible dog bite



## goatstafson (Nov 20, 2007)

Hi everyone,
A friend of mine had a dog attack a few weeks back. Her Nigerian buck was killed, her Nubian buck was severly injured and a doe was also hurt fairly badly. The Nubian bucks ear was nearly torn off and he has very deep puncture wounds down his neck and around an eye. He has seen a vet, but we need other options. I haven't seen him just yet, but it sounds like everything is badly infected.

On Monday, I am going to go over and clean all the dead tissue out/off. After that maybe it will have a chance to heal.

Anyone have any wonderful words of wisdom? Something special that would help it to heal?

I am especially concerned about this bucks pain level during the procedure and afterward. If all goes well during the procedure, he should be okay afterward with aspirin, but I don't want his to have this before because I don't want him to bleed while we remove the dead ear. Any other pain meds that we can get over the counter? We have exhausted vet options.


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## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

I have had a similar incident. Same type of wounds. Except I had cleaned them out several times a day with peroxide, so they didn't get infected. I gave my wether arnica and aspirin(once the bleeding stopped) I thought we would lose him, he was in severe shock to the point of having seizures, he also cried in pain whenever he would move. i kept him in a large dog crate, and he got free range of the "people's" side of the barn. 

I would give your friends guy banamine, to help with pain, and probably start him on pen.


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## getchagoat (Julie) (Oct 5, 2007)

IMO pen isn't strong enough. You need nuflor or naxcel, something along those lines. Nuflor you can give every 3 days, up to 3 doses total. We are using that on our buck that had a fight with the fence trying to get back to the does we took away. It's nasty and nuflor is doing the job. I agree with the cleaning. Iodine is an alternative to use for that and there's a spray that is foamy you can cover the entire area with. Banamine is good for pain and the shock/stress of it all.


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## cute kids (Oct 5, 2007)

you say he saw a vet and this is now a few weeks old. what did the vet do? has this poor guy already been on antibiotics? you may now need a different one, if he was, for it obviously didn't wipe out the infection. i am sure you know to dilute the peroxide so as not to cause more tissue damage; i am sorry that i do not know the proper dilution.


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## cute kids (Oct 5, 2007)

also, if these wounds are deep puncture wounds, you might want to pack them with strips of gauze that you will remove/repack daily to allow them to heal from the inside out. this allows any secretions to 'escape' and to not be trapped inside the healed wound to cause abcesses. the outside skin remains open longer this way, but this is what you want. the hole will become shallower and fill in from inside to the outside.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Keep the wounds clean with peroxide and make sure they aren't infected. I've never dealt with dog attacks but I've seen my share of puncture wounds on the goats and dogs. Your #1 priority is to get rid of any infection that is there, you DO NOT want the wounds to start healing over if there is still infection. If it has been a couple weeks and they are badly infected, I don't normally recommend this but I recommend you get them on a good anti biotic to prevent something worse. Tetanus antitoxin should have been given after the attack happened.
When the infection is taken care of, take goldenseal root powder mixed with olive oil and put it in the wounds. This will help with any infection that is there, prevent infection from forming and it will help to heal the wound. Calendula also helps to heal the wound together but Calendula will heal a wound together so fast that it won't give the infection a chance to expel itself.
When there is a dog attack the first remedy you should give is Aconitum for shock and stress, Arnica for pain, Ledum for bites and punctures, and Hypericum for tissue damage and repairing tissue. If there is excessive bleeding, Phosphorus will help control the bleeding(from personal experience, Phosphorus is a lifesaver) All of these remedies work together.
Good luck.


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

Liz - 

Did you get ahold of Dr. Woodke on Saturday?

He made need a drain put in and all the necrotic tissue to be taken and leave only the granulated tissue exposed. 

This should really be done under anesthesia..... because it is going to hurt like H#((! 

If you granulate the tissue on your own, you will need a sterile scalpel blade to scrape the tissue. You can also use chlorhexidine, they sell at the farm / garden store by the fair grounds. Same isle as the vaccinations and dewormers. gallon jug and blue. Can't remember how much they sell it for, or you can call a vet and ask to buy some.

I agree that a strong antibiotic is going to be needed and that the best thing for the punctures are to make sure the infection is out before they heal - or it is a whole new ball of wax.

Does this person live in the same area as us? Do you want me to come buy after work tommorrow night???

Email me if you need me to stop by or call me!


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## goatstafson (Nov 20, 2007)

No I didn't call Dr. Woodke. My friend was able to get some pain medication and a new antibiotic from the vet that saw the buck originally. That vet said that, this was the most she could give them legally, so I didn't want to call Dr. Woodke and put her in a weird position. Which she would be in if I asked for something more. 

They have already spent several hundred dollars on this whole thing and sounds like it is pretty much a lost cause, but we are going to cut away all of the rotting flesh and give it one more chance before he is put down. This is a really nice Nubian buck and since they have already lost their Nigerian buck, they are really hoping to save this guy.

I have a drain and all the dressing materials. I have done this on horses with them awake, so hopefully we can manage it. I don't think this guy would wake up under a general.

They are in Spirit Lake, so not real close to us.


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## cute kids (Oct 5, 2007)

good luck to you all as you work to save this poor guy.

i know this is not the time to be worrying about it so much, but when he is fixed and doing ok i would bet the owners would be able to demand restitution from the dog's owners, hoping they know who they are. this is what is done in pa; had to go through this with dear sheep that were attacked by a neighbor's two dogs.

for now, i just hope you can do enough to pull him through.


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## amyrob (Nov 20, 2007)

As a physical therapist, we have to take care of lots of wounds. Packing is the way to go and a drain would be awesome if you could get in it. I would also use half strength hydrogen peroxide and water mixture in a spray bottle to irrigate it every time you change the packing. You can debride with a clean scalpel to get down to healthier tissue but be careful not to make him bleed too much. Tweezers will work well if there is any stringy dead tissue. We saved a teat of our doe this summer and it was nasty. I did use some thick antibiotic ointment form the vet from a dehorning of some goats we rescued just to coat it and keep dirt out. I would caution you on betadine or iodine as once the new tissue starts to bud, it will kill new cell growth BUT it is great initially to clean the wound.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

WOW, I am so sorry to hear this.
I will say what I have before, I gave a girl a wether so she could use him for 4H. He was attacked and left for dead. They finally called me several days later and I went and took him back. I locked him up and pampered him. I never realized HOW BAD HE WAS. One day I went in the barn and I though I smelled something dead. Well it was his back end (leg). I took him to the vet and told them to put him down. They cleaned it up and said no he will be ok. I could put three fists in his back leg hole. It was so bad. Well it was to big of a hole to stick. The told me to clean it out with warm water, betadine (sp), and dish soap.(Tea looking solution with some soap) Wipe it clean several times a day, and spray scarolet oil in it. It worked. He is totally fine and you would never know anything ever happened to him.
They said DO NOT USE PEROXIDE AT ALL. It eats the new flesh that is growing. They said it makes the heal time a lot slower.
Good luck. What I don't understand why the vet said he did all that he could legally. He is that vet, he needs to do all the he can to save the goat.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

WOW, I am so sorry to hear this.
I will say what I have before, I gave a girl a wether so she could use him for 4H. He was attacked and left for dead. They finally called me several days later and I went and took him back. I locked him up and pampered him. I never realized HOW BAD HE WAS. One day I went in the barn and I though I smelled something dead. Well it was his back end (leg). I took him to the vet and told them to put him down. They cleaned it up and said no he will be ok. I could put three fists in his back leg hole. It was so bad. Well it was to big of a hole to stick. The told me to clean it out with warm water, betadine (sp), and dish soap.(Tea looking solution with some soap) Wipe it clean several times a day, and spray scarolet oil in it. It worked. He is totally fine and you would never know anything ever happened to him.
They said DO NOT USE PEROXIDE AT ALL. It eats the new flesh that is growing. They said it makes the heal time a lot slower.
Good luck. What I don't understand why the vet said he did all that he could legally. He is that vet, he needs to do all the he can to save the goat.


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## amyrob (Nov 20, 2007)

Darned if I'm not having to heed my own advice. Maybe I will try the dishsoap mixture. Last night, Tundra, my LGD, got injured. I did hear her barking alot but that's it. The goats were acting wierd, too. She was acting depressed and hurt this am and was limping a bit on her R front leg. I checked her all over. It seemed like there was an old red, area that had beed scabbed on the top og her head and she yelped when I tried to pull the hairs near the scab and the hair was loose anyway from the follicles being scabbed anyway. Almost as if she took a hoof to the head? Or did someone hit her on the head????? She also was bleeding a bit---in heat, I found out. I found a puncture hole about the size of a nickle you could put a marble in on the top of her back like where her shoulder blades come together. It seemed as if she had a spot every inch or so dopwn along her rib cage for 8 inches or so....a swipe of a mountain lion or bear paw??? I doubt it is a wire cut but it is possible. I shaved what I could so I could see. No other actual punctures. Could those spots just be frozen, coagulated blood that just clumped up? I wonder if it is a shot wound? If so, only one hole???????and no exit hole? There have also been wolves around. One had a deer over at the neighbors a few weeks ago and it is a grey one. Did someone think my dog was a wolf? Anyway, I cleaned it out, squeezed to see if there was anymore pockets and then packed it w/ gauze w/ anti-infection goop. It is draining clear. She was resting in the mud room of of the day and wanted to walk in the yard a little. She'll come in for the night and I'll keep at it. Did give a shot of Pen.


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

It sounds like someone might have been playing with a pellet gun or a shot gun from far away. You would be suprised how many dogs we used to x-ray that come to find out were littered with pellets and shot gun pellets. Alot of time with pellet guns there is not an exit, because there is not enough pressure to cause the exit. Same with a shot gun if it was from a long distance and hit something else first.

Usually with a bite, you can noticeable see where both canine teeth bit. If you don't have that pattern, then I would guess a pellet gun.

Hope the LGD is doing better. 

If you can get ahold of some Nolvasan solution or scrub, that is the best for the puncture wounds and flush a couple times a day. Do not pack. Then apply a triple antibiotic cream with NO steroids in it.


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## mystic's_mom (Oct 5, 2007)

Any news on this buck? :? :?:


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