A few weeks ago I lost Nymphie, our special favorite and the first kid born here. I always knew that I would lose a goat one day- after all, "if you have livestock, you will have dead stock". I thought that when it finally happened, it would be illness or kidding complications or injury or old age. But Nymphie went into anaphylactic shock after getting a shot of vitamins, and she went from happy and healthy to dead in seconds. I knew what had happened, it is a rare reaction but a tiny risk every time a shot is given to a goat although it happens most often with vaccines and antibiotics. The only way to save a goat in that situation is to already have a syringe of epinephrine (which is prescription, so you would have to have convinced a vet to sell you some) loaded and ready to go in order to be able to administer it in time. I haven't worried about it much because I've never had to use antibiotics and my goats get a bare minimum of shots - anything I can administer orally instead, I do. Now, I have a bottle of epinephrine on hand, for my own peace of mind.
Not only was it a shock to lose a goat like that, but Nymphie was my baby, the one goat that we would keep no matter what because she wasn't livestock, she was family. She didn't suffer, and she had a wonderful life, but it took a while for me to grasp the concept of a world without her. I was heartbroken. I still am.
The thing I loved most about Nymphie was how joyful and in the moment she always was, and I am trying to take that lesson to heart. I have raised many goats at this point, and I am certain that there will be more goats but never another Nymphie. She was the best.
