The Hard Days

This morning started with the typical alert from Oakley that she was ready to go outside.... and again she couldn't wait for me to be ready to go out with her. So with a sigh, we headed out knowing there was clean-up waiting for me when I got back inside after our pasture line walk. 

But, I got sidelined. We didn't make it on our walk. Instead on our stop to say good morning to Yeti and the boer goat herd, I heard a low moan from inside the barn. This I knew wasn't a good sound. Oakley instead headed into the paddock to romp with Yeti, while I checked on Quinn. It seemed fitting for an overcast, post rainy day morning that the mood in the barn was quiet and almost serene except for the moans of Quinn. This will be a hard day I'm afraid. You see, Quinn has been battling something, what exactly, we're not fully sure of, but it truly started back in December. She would go off feed for a day or two, separate herself from the herd and her daughters, and then after a few days would start to act like herself again. But, as we look back, we see each of these episodes were part of an overall decline. Once the loud one in the barn, proudly announcing her disgust at the speed of service, she became quiet. She's come over and seek a few scratches and body rubs and then off she'd go. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago and you know how a weight loss is suddenly visible.... that's where we were. She was starting to show weakness in her hind legs, and virtually stopped eating. She would take nibbles out of our hands, but no longer pushed her way in for some grain against the others. The decline was fast. Our wonderful veterinary team for our goat herd at H & H Veterinary Clinic came out and agreed we were fighting an uphill battle and we should make decisions. Aryn took on the decisions for this one and wanted to know what she was battling before deciding to put her down. Blood work and fecal labs showed she was very anemic, but truly didn't have anything alarmingly high in her fecal results. Decision was made to try a blood transfusion and a round of meds, knowing this was a low chance of pulling her out of this.

The blood transfusion went well. Her blood levels showed a slight improvement and Ziggy our blood donor did great. This was a band-aid to maybe give her body a chance to fight off whatever was happening inside. Quinn had the run of the lower barn, she didn't go far. Would follow Aryn outside for some fresh grass and sunshine on nice days, but this past week she became more unsteady and weaker each day. She would still acknowledge you came in to see her and bring her feed and water and a little hay, but the interaction was minimal. 

And now here we are. Memorial weekend and the morning walk suspended to instead give some love and support to our sweet Quinn. She was one of my favorite momma goats, she cared for her own fiercely, but also watched over the other babies too and didn't mind any of the littles coming up to her for a little snack. Today will be about comfort and most likely goodbyes as we let her go and wait for the sunshine to once again return in the hopes and plans for the future.

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