Our Goats Need a Medical Shed

Over the past two weeks, we have had multiple veterinary cases in our goat herd. The first was Harriet. We discovered what looked to be a very large abscess on her side. This appeared very suddenly. Dr. Rivett recommended that we bring her in to the clinic to drain it and to do an ultrasound. On Wednesday, January 21, we brought her to ECLAP.

It was determined that Harriet had a hernia that required surgery. Harriet is now back at the ranch and has a drain. She was very happy to be back with her best friends Gidget and Aretha. We put shavings in their shed in hopes of preventing infection and are giving her medications.

Things are looking up for Harriet. Dr. Rivett checked on Harriet at the ranch later that week. Thank you so much to Dr. Rivett and the amazing team at ECLAP! Through Harriet is recovering well, it would have been wonderful to have a safe and secure area where she could be isolated. This would provide a better environment to monitor her condition.

On Tuesday, we had to say goodbye to Borrego.

Last weekend, Borrego became suddenly lethargic. ECLAP came to the ranch immediately. We continued to administer fluids over the weekend. He seemed stable, so we planned to bring him to ECLAP on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, he had significantly declined. While at ECLAP, it was determined that Borrego’s abdomen was full of fluids. Medication was not helping his condition. We suspect that either na abscess had burst or he had cancer. With Borrego’s declining state, we knew it was time to say goodbye.

Borrego came to the ranch in 2018. California Highway Patrol found this six month old goat in Anza Borrego. None of the ranchers in the area recognized him, and he wasn’t claimed by his owner while in the care of County of San Diego Department of Animal Services. So, he came to Horses of Tir Na Nog, and fit right in with our goat herd.

We will truly miss Borrego, and we know that his goat friends will miss him as well. We are saddened to have to say goodbye to him at such a young age.

When we first saw that something was wrong, we should have been able to isolate Borrego so that we could monitor his resting, urination, appetite, etc. We did not have a place dedicated to do that.

Goats and sheep that require medical treatment need a safe place away from the rest of the herd to recover, while also being protected from predators. We need a small medical shed dedicated to these residents. We have an aging population of goats and sheep. This shed would serve an increasing recurrent need.

We need your help and generosity to raise $3,175 to build this dedicated medical isolation shed. Please help our goats and sheep in their time of medical need with the best medical care and resources possible.