Pets!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I did it again, almost killed one of my pets. Not on purpose of course. Two days ago Witty and Jake got into the girls and chickens fence. I closed the door to the barn so Witty wouldn't go in there and stink it up. It never crossed my mind that he could squeeze through the approx. 6 inch by 12 inch doorway to the chicken coop. Somehow he finagled his way into the coop and ate the chicken food AGAIN! I didn't really know how much he ate because the chickens had already eaten some and I hadn't looked at the feeder lately. I was hoping it was almost empty. By Sunday morning I knew differently. When I went out to feed the goats Witty's stomach was distended, he had diarrhea and couldn't use his front feet properly. In short, he'd poisoned himself with chicken feed. Off to the internet to see what I should be doing. I put water and baking soda in a large syringe and force fed it to him every 2 hours along with some other things. I also gave him two different shots. Within a very short time his feet were back to normal but he was still very lethargic and I could tell he was in terrible pain. He became afraid of me, knowing every time I came near I was going to be giving him a shot or forcing stuff down his throat. Poor guy. James had to help a few times because I just couldn't do it myself. After calling Witty's previous dad who has much more goat experience and a calming voice, I gave him some GasX before bed. This morning I gave him another GasX and by this afternoon he looks like he's made a complete recovery. He still has the poops, I think, but he has so much more energy and an appetite.

I keep thinking how much harder goats are to raise than dogs but then another friend brought back some memories of when I had to dump peroxide down dogs throats to bring up foreign objects they swallowed. Also, I was remembering how one of the dogs from my childhood had a flipped stomach and didn't survive. If it wasn't for all the joy we get from our pets it wouldn't make any sense to put ourselves through all this, would it?