# Lame Goat



## salm0trutta (Mar 21, 2010)

One of my 6 mo. old (90lb) weathers came up lame in the front right leg 2 1/2 weeks ago. There also was a small (1 cm) abcess on the neck above the same shoulder. I was monitoring this as I am pretty sure it was the injection site of the CD/T shot. It has since gone away with betadine and hydrogen peroxide. There was no obvious injury that I witnessed, and they haven't been out on any hikes for months. They came from a CAE free doe (tested) and "claimed" CL free herd.

There is no swolling, no stiffness in the joints and nothing obviously broken, nothing in the hoof. The goat runs fine when the grain is brought out or is startled (appears to put full weight on that leg - in an emergency), so I am not thinking anything is broken. The rest of the time he just limps around on it and doesn't like to put weight on that leg.

1 1/2 weeks ago I had a vet (dog type that used to take care of goats at a zoo) look at the goat and thought it was the shoulder, I tend to agree. The vet gave the goat a shot of cortisone - but not much has changed. I have kept the goat seperate in an 8'X8' enclosure since, and somedays I can't see the limp - but today its obvious (however he escaped yesterday during dinner for some unsupervised goat play, ugh!). Still eats and drinks fine.

Any thoughts or experiences? Do I need x-rays (unfortuneately we don't have a good goat vet here)? Do these things tend to go away - if I can keep him restrained? Or do I have a meat goat? I was surprised by the number of people who had goats with broken legs that turned out fine - so maybe I am making more out of this than necessary


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## imported_Ozark Lady (Aug 25, 2010)

I hate it, when animals are obviously in distress and you can't find a reason!
Personally, I wouldn't jump the gun.
If you wrenched your shoulder, would it heal in a week or two?
Would it be permanent injury? Who knows, huh?

I would just watch him, and as long as it gets no worse, I would figure it is healing. Just takes time.

You did mention he is a kid, most kids end up limping at some time or other, simply youthful exuberance, I wouldn't worry, not yet. And I would give him limited play time with the others, just no king of the hill type games for now. And continue giving him some alone time to recover and not over do it.


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## DKalakay (Dec 24, 2009)

This past winter one of my goats started slightly limping with no obvious injury or cause. I continued taking him on daily easy hikes which he managed fine although he still limped a bit. Same as your case in that in an "emergency" like grain being fed, he could move just fine. I kept thinking it was either in his shoulder or his hoof was trimmed incorrectly. Turns out though that he did have a fracture. I wish I had the x-rays done earlier so I would have found out earlier. The vet was able to cast the leg and it is straighter than the other front leg now. Many vets can send digital x-rays to Universities to get an opinion from those more in the know about goats and fractures and treatment options. 
Denise


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## imported_Ozark Lady (Aug 25, 2010)

Hey vets aren't the only ones, who miss it sometimes.
I had my right hand examined twice, and each time, "oh it is a deep bruise".

Finally, the bone popped all the way out of place, and with x-rays it showed it had been broken and healed and broken over and over for about 3 months, and doctors just never saw it! Finally, I got a cast on it, and it got well, no more breaking it, once it healed well!

You know, chiropractors only charge about $20 for an x-ray, wonder if you can find one to x-ray your kid?


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## salm0trutta (Mar 21, 2010)

Just an update. My goat was kept separated for 5 weeks. After a recent hoof trimming I noticed a "soft" spot on the hoof. Appears to be a spot (pea sized) that was infected at one time. Likely a thorn or similar that lodged in there - but I couldn't see it. Now seems to be OK and the soft spot looks like it will grow out fine.

Thanks for the help. See I over reacted- again!


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