We have two goats, Lucy and Maggie. Lucy is somewhere between 3 and 4 and Maggie is not yet 1. Lucy was given to us free last summer, and there is a lot we don’t know about her. We know she lived mostly with horses and isnt too keen on other goats. We know she has kidded at least once. We know she is a loveable but has hella attutude. We know she came with signs of copper deficiency and has suffered a staph dermatitis infection. That’s about it.

We also know she will compulsively eat hay or straw if it is presented to her. To the point she made herself kinda sick. It’s a condition called haybelly, and it isnt really dangerous, but it bloated her tummy out to 3 times her normal width.

So we stopped giving her hay. She gets dairy ration, and alfalfa, veggie scraps and a little sweet feed. She gets mineral and every day we go out and cut fresh browse for her. Browse is a goat’s natural food anyway. They do eat grass, but it is shrubs and trees where they concentrate their diet in the wild.

Today, we almost lost her. We still could. It’s touch and go. She may make it through the night or she may not.

I came out to do the barn chores this afternoon, and she was laying down, bellowing. This is NOT normal behaviour for her. I gave her her feed and while she did eat it, it was more halfhearted nibbling than her usual straightforward tuck in. It’s 730pm as I write this. I have been out here with her ever since. There have been quite a few moments when I thought she was dying, and I was determined that at least she wouldnt die alone. Husband had the van today, so I couldnt take her anywhere, and she wouldnt have been able to walk out to the road anyway, even if the van was here. So I stayed with her. Talked to her. Brushed her. Prayed for her.

The emergency vet came. He said that the symptoms point to extreme thiamine deficiency. It is dangerous, and she may yet die. He shot her up with it -3 shots in the butt – and I have another to give her tomorrow if she makes it, but right at this moment, it isnt looking good

Her temperature is way lower than it should be, and all she will do right now is lay here with her head tucked back against her body. We have 2 rugs on her to try to keep her warmer, and one of us has been here with her the whole time,but it feels like a deathbead vigil.

He blamed it on the lack of hay. Says she’s way too skinny over the hips and ribs. Which, hey, he’s the professional, I’m not going to say he’s wrong, but not that long ago, she was having large amounts of hay, and was still skinny in those places, just bloated. So I wonder if maybe she has a belly full of parasites. That would mean that no matter WHAT she eats, she isnt gaining the nutrient value from it. If she survives this, we will treat her for intestinal worms. And either way, we will treat Maggie, so this doesnt happen again.

Either way — whether worms or lack of hay, it was entirely preventable. That is what sucks the most. Because we are new to it, we don’t know what we don’t know. And an animal might die because of something we didn’t know to ask. It’s a terrible way to learn.

9pm now. We had to leave the barn for the night. Sleep has to happen, and it is super cold. I hate just leaving her there, but I have to be functional for the kids tomorrow. She has the rugs to keep her warm. Her condition had deteriorated over the last hour. I don’t expect to find her alive tomorrow.

Learning curves really suck.