Beth' el Acres Farm

     It all started with a phone call from my friend Toni on Aug. 2, 2009, something was wrong with her doe, Shannon. She was down and wouldn't get up. Toni was frantic, I offered some suggestions but nothing fit what she was describing. She had made a call to Dr. Best who would be there as soon as he could. Shannon was still eating and drinking, that in itself, was a good sign. When Dr. Best arrived, he immediately saw that Shannon had busted her cannon bones on both back legs- just snapped them completely. Toni was just devasted. She called me and didn't know quite what to do - Shannon may have to be put down. I said," Whatever you do, don't put her down- let me try first? I have some experience with this." Doc returned home and made some custom splints for her little cannon bones, and later returned to Toni's with his mobile xray machine- what an amazing little machine that was! We arrived at Toni's in time to help Dr. Best set up his xray unit. The questions now were- How bad are the breaks? and Will Shannon have to be put down? If the breaks were clean Doc said go ahead and try to give her time to heal but if the bones were shattered or splintered he would recommend euthanasia. Dr. Best gave Shannon a little shot so she would relax and not move. Mark held Shannon in the position that Doc requested and he took xrays at different angles of each leg. Now Doc wrapped each leg fully then taped on the custom splints. Doc would return home and call Toni with the news of the breaks.

The call came from Doc and the breaks were clean. Toni said yes to our offer of bringing Shannon home with us and try to get her legs to heal properly. She was to be placed in a home-made sling device that would support her body keeping  all her weight off of her hind legs.  More questions remained. Would Shannon have the fortitude and grit to fight this? All goat owner's know that a goat can go down and not get up again- Would Shannon get up again? Would she walk, run or play again? My question was- would she survive? 

Mark immediately went to work gathering supplies to build the sling upon our return home with Shannon. As she laid on hay recovering from her sleepy shot, Mark worked around her in the barn setting up ropes from the rafters. He sent me on a mission to find something that would be suitable to serve as the body support. I found an old thick Christmas table cloth that was heavy and the material was tightly woven.  Mark folded it until it was four layers thick. We took it to the barn laying Shannon on it; this would help us make the patterns where her legs would go. Mark had a job cutting four holes through that thick of material. When he was done, he nailed the material to two long round sticks (looked like shovel handles). We layed Shannon upon the sling carefully placing her feet and legs through the holes. Mark attached rope with his famous knots to the four ends of each stick.  As Mark slowly raised the back of the sling supporting Shannon, the family supported her front end. By now, Shannon was recovering from her sleepy shot, yet she offered no resistance- she seemed to know somehow that we were trying to help her. Her rear was supported and Mark worked his way around to the front, again working his famous knots and in no time Shannon was suspended from the barn rafters. Her front feet only had access to the ground. She had a big tub for her hay and a bucket of water which she could reach. Her sling had enough material out front to support her neck and the tub offered support for her head so she could sleep. It was done- time would tell...Shannon was placed in a sling on August 3.

Several times a day Shannon was massaged top to bottom with special attention given to her legs to keep her blood flowing, her temperature was checked and she was just given an overall thorough check. Things moved along very well. In fact, so well that Shannon learn to move her front legs pushing her tub out front and she would stay with legs stretched out on her tub using it as an ottoman. After the first week past by uneventfull and moved into the 2nd, she started trying to move around alot more- turning her head so far to the left or right and sticking it out through the leg hole. At this point we decided to take her out of the sling and see how she would manuever around. The splints were a little longer than her hooves so there would be no direct pressure on her feet. We let her out of the sling. At first she didn't know what to do, so she laid down. We put her hay near her to eat but moved the water a little ways away to force her to get up and excersize. We watched, daily measuring the amount of water she was drinking, so she would stay hydrated. She was moving rather well when I decided to put her hay in the feeder a little farther away. She got to the point of moving really quickly, to the gate, especially when we brought her pellets. We wondered how her legs were mending inside. It would still be two more weeks before we found out.

The day came when Dr. Best showed back up with his portable xray machine. He gave Shannon her little sleepy shot. He took off the tape and splints and did all the x-rays and off he went. We waited anxiously for his call to see how Shannon's legs were mending. Later that afternoon the call came. Her legs were mending amazingly. Doc said he'd never seen anything like it- he was very impressed with our swing and her recovery.  He said to leave the splints on 4 more weeks just to strengthen the new bone growth area and don't give her anything that she can jump on and off of. With that good news, Shannon was able to go back home to Toni's and we are awaiting the day to remove her tape and splints around the first week of October. This was a great experience to watch Shannon as she struggled to overcome her dilema. She never gave up and though I tease about it being the Irish in her, as she was born on Saint Patrick's Day, I really know that the hand of God was upon Shannon. He created her, He knew her and he mended her. Though our Faith may have been tested- He came through for Shannon and Toni...Hope you enjoy the pics.....Update- Shannon is now flying around back at home with splints removed. She has just the slightest limp on her leg that was broken near her ankle- she even runs!!!!

                1.)  Mark securing the knots on the sling.                                              2.) Mark giving Shannon a good luck/get well kiss.

     3.) Dr. Best and Toni taking xrays.                                            4.) Shannon taking a nap.

   5.) Dr. Best taping on splints while Toni assists.                                      6.) Shannon  up and awake.

                                                                                  Thank you Dr. Best!!!!!