Sadness Here at Yooper Goats

Today I write a post that breaks my heart. At 2:30am on September 29th, 2012, I lost Dulce de Leche. She crossed over the rainbow bridge in my arms. I tried everything in my power to make sure she stayed with us, but it was not enough.

Dulce de Leche came down with a case of frothy bloat. The link provided about it explains it how it applies to beef cattle. However, because goats are ruminants, the cause and effect are the same.

When I first noticed her acting strange, not so bouncy and happy, slightly bloaty, I did what I could to make her get rid of the gas, relieve the pressure. Giving her baking soda, rubbing her sides, and walking her only relieved a little pressure. And I could not get a hold of the vet who lives five minutes away. So I got on the phone with a livestock vet on call with a clinic an hour away. I packed up Dulce de Leche to meet her at the clinic. There, Dulce was tubed (which is when the bloat type became obvious), her rumen cleaned out, and she was given both bloat release and mineral oil. The vet was actually quite confident Dulce would be fine, because she was very alert and curious.

I got her home and settled her in a stall. By this time, she was exhausted. But at 2am, the bloating returned with a vengeance. I tried so hard to relieve the pressure, but she suddenly went limp in my arms, she stopped breathing. I did CPR on my little girl, until my mother came with a stethoscope. No heartbeat. My Dulce was gone.

This year has been a crushing year with goats. Both the girls I got from Aletha of Happy Tailz Farm are gone. I feel a crushing guilt, because those precious girls should have had a very long and awesome life with me. But instead, I have to report they are gone.

Suzie and Yoko are still confused as to where their friend went. My father, who is visiting, was kind enough to bury Dulce for me. Before he did, I wanted to let the other goat girls see her, sniff her. You know, in case they understood their herdmate was dead. I think it helped.

So yea, pretty miserable past few days, because I miss my darling Dulce so much. But I need to stay strong for the others. Artie and George, Yoko and Suzie. It feels like a piece of my heart is missing though.

Here are the pictures I uploaded from my camera. The last taken of Dulce. I'd taken her and Suzie for a walk to some sandbar willow on the property. Sandbar willow grows shrubby and brushy, not tall and treelike. And goats sure do love to nibble on it, especially the bark. They are pictures of her as happy, healthy goat, how I hope to remember her, rather than her on that awful night as I tried to breathe life back into her.

She was getting so big!