He was off standing by himself the other night, shaking his head now and again. Godzilla, being the lead gander, is rarely away from the gaggle so I knew something was up. Got him cornered, picked him up (which he does NOT love, natch), set him on the shelter roof, and saw that his right eye was inflamed and appeared to be pussing over. YIKES! Godzilla is the first of the geese Spouse and I raised by hand, and thinking there was something wrong with my feisty boy about tore my heart out.Our vet was able to squeeze him in the very next day. Thank you Dr. Sheffield, and all the wonderful techs at the Wimberly Veterinary clinic! [By the way, the slide-show on their web site's main page includes a pic of an awkward looking teen-aged Billy-Bob, with some gosling fuzz still attached to his head.] Looks like Godzilla has an inflamed wound on his inner eyelid, a treatable issue thank goodness. Here's where the fun starts, however: I'm to squeeze antibiotic ointment into Godzilla's eye three or four times a day for the next seven to ten days. That means:
- cornering him somewhere,
- picking him up (and trying to avoid getting wing-beaten in the process),
- getting him settled on a flat surface and relatively high up so I don't have to bend over,
- keeping him held safely in place while juggling the antibiotic ointment, and
- holding his head still for the treatment.
[Pic: Godzilla in the carrier (reviewed earlier) on the way home. Of all the geese, he's been the only one to insist on standing and watching everything on the drive. The others sit until the car stops. He's my big goozul!]
Can you try tossing an old blanket over him and kinda swaddeling him like a papose? Make him an eye patch and take a picture! that would be a riot!
ReplyDeleteJust read that there is a potato blight hitting the potato crop, esp. in the N. E. in home gardens.
love the photo!
ReplyDelete@MEB: potato blight? Oof! Between that and the wheat fungus, it could be some expensive/hungry times coming up soon :-(. Good idea about the blanket, will have to try it out!
ReplyDelete@virgotex: hee! Glad you like it!
MEBs suggestion is great, just treat him like a cat and wrap him up in a blanket for treatment. Sometimes animals know we're trying help, and just sit still for it. I hope this is the case.
ReplyDeleteNo blight on our potato crop yet (Vermont) but they say it is coming. *sigh*
@Chance: so far, he's been pretty mellow once he's been caught. Keeping his head still for the eye ointment is a bit of a struggle, but heck, I'd struggle too if someone was trying to put their fingers near my eye :-).
ReplyDeleteI hope you're both able to avoid the blight. Yikes!
Sounds like fun! (better you than me)
ReplyDelete