Just now, I received the results of the necropsy on the angora.
Here is what the veterinarian said in his email.
Necropsy showed no signs of trauma or obvious disease. Rumen was full and normal feces was present. No indication of choking. As far as lightning there was no evidence of burns on the carcass. In addition no bruising or wounds were found. We do not intend to send any tissue for histopathology. The cause of death is undeterminable from gross necropsy.
So now I don't know what to feel. Part of me is relieved that her digestive system was operating normally and that she had a full rumen - although I wasn't worried that she wasn't getting enough to eat - those goats could eat up a storm! I'm glad she didn't show signs of choking. I am also glad there was no sign of lightning damage, although that would have at least made me feel like it was a quick and relatively painless death, and one that I could not have foreseen.
I'm glad there was no bruising or wounds, because that means the other goats didn't get over-zealous in their play and somehow injure her fatally. Some of them can be rambunctious, although I would not have thought they could be that bad.
Additionally, there is no sign of trauma or obvious disease.
So, calling all goat owners! What would you feel like faced with this news? No obvious disease, no trauma, no wounds, no digestive problems. What could have caused this death?
I'm confused and sad. I had hoped, sad as it was, that the necropsy would tell me something that would allow me to say to myself "Claire, you did all you could. This was beyond your control." but I do not have that luxury now. This will eat away at the corner of my mind.
I am thinking I will take one of the other little girls to the Iowa State University clinic in the spring and get a "general" physical, including bloodwork. I want to know if there is any underlying problem that couldn't be detected in a necropsy. If it had been CAE or something similar, she would have experience a period of decline. This was not like that. She was fine one day, gone the next.
I really would appreciate any thoughts from those with goat experience.
11 comments:
Not sure how in-depth their necropsy was, but speaking from experience, one thing that normally doesn't get checked out without specific reason to is the brain. Maybe something went wrong there...
Also some don't open the heart if appearances are normal on the exterior of it, so it's still possible that she had a heart attack like you said.
Not sure this helps any but I wish you the best and I don't believe there was anything you could have done *lots of hugs*
So sorry to read of your kid loss Claire, sure sounds like the beating of the hail on the roof just scared the life out of her. Hope that you feel better soon... xxx
*hugs* I'm sure you did everything that you were suppose to. Maybe she was just meant to go?
Cat
Like JLB said, it could have been brain or heart-related. Just like people, sudden health-related disasters can occur, like heart attacks, aneurysms that burst, strokes. Not common, but still possible. You DID do everything you could, dear. In spite of EVERYTHING, our friends and family still die, eventually.
It's so disheartening not to have any conclusive reason. This happened once to us with a horse. That was before we knew about EPM and now I think that's what killed her.
Don't be beating yourself up. You know that you did the best that you could have done.
Hugs to you....
Clare, as a non-goat person I'm timidly (ha!) stepping in here. I feel that the vet ruled out anything that you might even remotely feel responsible for. You are great animal owners-lovers. If it was brain or heart, there was nothing you could have done. It happens all too often in human life, too. The aneurism no one knew about, sudden heart attack, the unexpected stroke. And if it was fright - hail on the roof - there was still nothing you could have done. The hail happened. Go hug the rest of the animals and yourselves. Nancy
I also suspect something like a stroke. If it was anything that could have been prevented I would expect that it would have showed up in the necropsy. Don't blame yourself, and remember that she lived her final weeks loved, happy, and comfortable.
This is the hardest part of raising animals. I am so sorry that you didn't get any definitive results. You can take comfort in the fact that you did everything you could. Take care!
Oh Claire I am so sorry you didn't find the cause. But that does show it was out of your control, nothing you could of done. Your a great goat momma! What about the heart? Anything? I wish I had something helpful to tell you, this must be hard for you all.
Claire: We don't raise goats, just the llamas and then we have horses. I lost a horse suddenly right before Christmas 2007 and they couldn't give me a reason as to why he passed but I did know that nothing I would have done differently would have changed the outcome. Grief is okay in these situations, guilt is not. Please let that part of it go and realize that we are going to lose some no matter how hard we try not to. Big hugs to you!
Hi Claire - I'm sorry about your loss, you know I know about animal loss...It's good you did a vet diagnosis, and I would hold yourself up that you went to that trouble, many wouldn't. I agree that a brain exam might have revealed something, but I doubt you ever would have known exactly. We just don't always get answers from nature. You learn from these things, but sometimes what we learn is we don't have control.
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