Rescue & Adoptions

Healthcare with Heart Stories

Despite Curveball, Zoop Survives Bout with Mastitis

Think of it as a high five. Except with horns and about 150 pounds behind it. Celebratory head butts abounded in our goat barn one day this spring, the playful gestures meted out by a special lady who almost didn't have a welcome home party. Four-year-old Zoop rejoined her friends at our New York Shelter that afternoon, happy to be back-and happy to be alive.

Zoop had a tough winter and spring. Normally personable and friendly, we found Zoop in the goat barn one day acting depressed. We were shocked to see that her temperature had spiked up to 104 degrees. We rushed her to Cornell University Hospital for Animals, where the diagnosis didn't look good.

Zoop had mastitis, an inflammation of the udder uncommon in female goats who had not been bred. The doctors felt the mastitis may have occurred due to a "false pregnancy," a condition where the physical and physiological signs of pregnancy occur, but impregnation has not.

Vet staff milked out Zoop's udder, tested the milk to determine the specific agent causing the mastitis, then started her on a course of antibiotics to deal with the infection.

But things moved from bad to worse. The strength of the antibiotic used to treat Zoop's mastitis turned out to be adversely affecting her kidneys. No other antibiotic options were available, and we were forced to discontinue the current treatment to prevent kidney failure.

Zoop was given fluid therapy to get her kidneys back on the right track. But, once she was taken off the antibiotic, Zoop's infection immediately came back and her temperature went through the roof. Doctors recommended-and we chose-the last-resort option: a full mastectomy.

Zoop came through her surgery with flying colors. Now, she's free from infection and her kidneys are up and running-just like she is. Zoop's in the swing of things in our goat barn, and hasn't missed a beat.

But we should've known Zoop's strength and resiliency would see her through. It's what brought her to Farm Sanctuary in the first place. Zoop was rescued in 2003 off the winter streets of Denville, N.J. She walked on her knees then, and required intense care and therapy to regain the use of her limbs. Fitted with a prosthetic leg as a result of an amputation due to those early days, Zoop has shown time and again what a tough survivor she is.

So raise a hand to offer this determined young goat a symbolic high five-she won't leave you hanging.