Cold Weather, pet peeves, cats and hypothermic goats

I have had a long day....

As some of you know I am a vet tech for a mixed animal practice.. I
have been planning my gripes all day.. here they are..

* In this cold weather.. check your livestock, pets, any animals
that are outside 2-3 times a day.. make sure they have open unfrozen
water and access to it at all times. Check everyone and make sure
that they are eating and drinking and have proper shelter to get out
of the wind and the weather.. it doesnt have to be heated. A 3 sided
shed away from prevailing winds is usually adequate. We had to deal
with many animals at work today with severe dehyration as they have
not had access to water in the last few days. Even try to put water
out for the wild birds a few times a day. If you have calves or
lambs/kids to be born soon, make sure you check MULTIPLE times a day
and you have a warm stall to take them to if there is any problems..
that you have colostrun you can heat up and learn how to tube
PROPERLY!.. have a stash of old blackets and towels you can pop into
the dryer to warm animals with. 2 liter bottles you can fill with
hottish water to slide between the back legs near the femural artery
to warm the animal faster.

* If you have an animal off feed and listless.. TAKE ITS
TEMPERATURE.. you have a thermometer if you have animals, right?
Know the temp for your livestock species.. is the temp low? We had a
goat that was listless, was not eating...the temp on her goat was
97F.. it ought to have been 101-103F.. it was hypothermic.. I had
her bring it into her house and warm it up for a few hours.. get
some feed into it and put it in her stall bedded down with lots of
hay (we dont have straw in this country-honest) and put a vest on
the goat with a fleecy wool on the inside to help maintain body
temperature..

* Spay and neuter your pets.. even if they are 'merely barn cats'..
at this point.. I almost advocate the rubber boot and pocketknife
method.. (dont though).. I had to euthanize 6 cats today.. a litter
of a mom cat and her 4 kittens that were now 4.5 months old and had
been on the waiting list at the SPCA to be taken in since the
kittens were 7 weeks old. Before you hate the woman who brought them
in, they were strays that showed up at her house and didnt leave
after the kittens were born.. and I know for a fact that she tried
what she could to find homes for them and tried to get the SPCA to
take them.. The other cat was a cat the lady could no longer keep
and it was a registered Silver Persian.. she also couldnt find a
home for it and the SPCA could not take it either.

* Meaning to stress this again.. water is an animals most important
and cheapest FEED. They will drink without eating, but they will not
eat without drinking. Just as they need water in hot weather, they
need it in the winter to make their "thermostadt" work properly. If
it freezes.. water for 20 mins in the morning.. again at noon and
again before bedtime.. in the case of my rabbit crocks.. I ket them
have water 15 mins 3x a day and when the 15 mins were up I dumped
the water into a waste bucket.

* Watch out for frostbite.. we had a cat who came in for another
problem today, but last year it got its ears frostbit off.. it had
NO ears.. it is common for it to happen to baby calves here too..
they actually have 'calf hats' to protect ears. Watch all your
animals for the 1st sign of distress. In this cold weather it is a
killer.

tenzicut
