Checkers HATES shots UPDATED

UPDATE: We gave everyone their second round of shots, and - much to the chagrin of my husband, who was going to video tape the meltdown - Checkers did not freak out. We had a new strategy for Checkers and it worked beautifully: We stuck the needle in as before, but gave him a few seconds to do the whole "a fly just bit me" shimmy. Once he went back to eating his grains, we started pressing the plunger on the syringe VERY slowly so the medicine didn't come out too quickly. That's it. Super easy fix, right? So if you have a goat who handles shots as badly as Checkers does, try this before giving up!

ORIGINAL POST:

We gave our first round of shots a few days ago. My mom has given Sub-Q shots to dogs before, so she was here to show me how it's done. Cooper held the food bowl for each goat, and I held their bodies still while the deed was done. Val and Winnie were champs. They didn't flinch, make a peep, or really seem to notice. They were content to eat as long as we let them. But not Checkers. To say that he didn't take it well would be an understatement. Halfway through the injection, he started twisting and screaming. Mom finished and pulled the needle out just as he started kicking. I let go of him and watched in horror as he lost control of his legs and fell on the ground. He threw his head back and it seemed like muscles all over his body were tensing up and then releasing. Then it kind of faded away, and he finished the bowl of food I had for him. The whole episode probably took no longer than 30 seconds, but it felt much longer than that. I felt so bad for Checkers, especially knowing I couldn't do anything for him.

I am very glad I did as much research as I did before giving the shots. Somewhere in all those websites, I remember reading that someone else's goat was "possessed and lost all control of his body" for a few minutes immediately after getting the shot. It was one comment on a random blog I can't even remember the name of, but as soon as Checkers started screaming and collapsing, I thought of that story.

It has been 3 days since I ruined Checkers' day with that shot, and I've seen no signs of any permanent damage or lingering pain. What's more is that the morning after we gave everyone their shots, I saw some dead worms in their poo. Mission accomplished!

Now I just have to work myself up for the next round of shots in about 9 days. I'm doing somemore research to see if there is anything different I can do to make Checkers more comfortable. I'll take a video next time, just in case.