This morning started as usual with my eyes glued shut and the little dog, Bok Tui (means Fat Boy in Laotian), burrowing under the covers. Neither one of us wanted to get out of bed.
He has always been super cuddly, loving to curl up under blankets or loose clothing. But he's been more clingy than usual since Valentine's day.
The night of February 13 to February 14, 2021 was the coldest night in several years here in the Texas Panhandle. It was cold for the rest of the state as well. Many people lost electricity for several days. We didn't lose electricity but one of our pipes froze.
The cold isn't why Tui, our little dog, is feeling insecure. At least, the cold isn't directly responsible. No, it's what the cold brought.
When I went out to the milk barn where my two dairy goats were sheltering from the -4°F temperature and the 35mph wind, which made it feel like -35°F, I found a surprise.
JJ, my pregnant doe had given birth to two adorable kids. One, a buckling, the other a doeling. JJ didn't seem too interested in feeding them, although she had licked them clean. She just wanted Joy. Joy is JJ's mama (JJ stands for Joy Junior). Poor JJ just couldn't figure out what was going on. Later I discovered one reason she didn't want to nurse them.
I brought the two babies inside and got them set up in a huge dog kennel crate we keep for just such an occasion. I went out and milked JJ and got quite a bit of colostrum, the first milk that gives babies their immune system. I feed the babies from a bottle. They took to the rubber nipple very well.
After they ate, they fell asleep on my lap. Poor Tui was displaced. My lap, under a blanket, is Tui's spot.
I noticed as the kids warmed up, their ears and one leg each started swelling. They had frostbite! Later that day when I went out to milk JJ I saw the reason she wasn't thrilled to be milked - by babies or humans. She had frost bite on one teat. I worried she would lose it and be ruined as a milk goat.
We took the kids and a photo of JJ to the veterinarian who determined the buckling kid would not have a good quality of life, so we put him down. He said we would have to wait and see about JJ. She might lose the teat altogether or partially. She might or might not be able to produce milk from it. It was just too early to tell.
We brought the doeling, now named JuJuB, home along with some antibiotic spray and a prescription for injectable antibiotics. Eventually her ears fell off and her hind leg atrophied and fell off as well.
She spent hours on end in my lap, eating, sleeping, or just playing with (read chewing on) my hair. Poor Tui would try to join in, but was pretty much displaced.
Despite needing her bandage changed every other day, JuJuB is growing strong and happy. She no longer lives in the house with us, but is outside with her mama and her grandma.
Tui finally has reclaimed his spot on my lap. He still feels a bit clingy in the mornings when we have to get out of bed.
This morning, after I peeled open one eye and shuffled to the back door, Tui surprised me by racing eagerly outside with Angus, our big dog, close on his heels. They immediately started barking.
Grabbing a cup of coffee I went into the garage to fill the dog food bowl and one bucket of goat feed and the other bucket of bird feed (for my chicken hen and my turkey hen). The dogs came racing in, full body wagging, circling around, and making tiny leaps into the air.
I immediately knew what they had been barking at! I knew because my eyes started watering and my head started hurting and my nose tried to curl in upon itself.
They had been chasing a skunk. Little Tui got sprayed. Even though my lap is free of goat, Tui has been banished to the dog house until he no longer stinks, until my eyes no longer water, my headno longer hurts, and my nose can be right side out again.
The cat is quite content to take his place on my lap.
