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I have 3 pet goats down at the barn-2 girls and a boy. Sonny, my male dwarf Nigerian Goat had to be put down at 9 pm on Sunday evening. He was only 4 years old. We found him on the ground writhing in pain and screaming about 8pm when we went to put them to bed. He was fine in the morning. He was fine at 4 pm. Just fine. It is unbelievable that in 4 hours he would collapse in such intense pain and have to be put down. I don’t know how long he had been down but they say that once a goat goes down with bloat, they only have a couple of hours before they die. I called my farm vet and we brought Sonny to the vet’s house that night. Lucky for me, Dr. Callahan, who owns Pecos Veterinary Clinic, actually lives right off 285 and close to El Dorado so the drive was short. Dr. Callahan is an angel to let me come to his house on a Sunday night. I had to save Sonny the only way I could–to put him out of his misery–to save him from any more pain. How short life can be. It’s a shame it was snatched from Sonny at such a young age.

I really loved Sonny. He was such a character with his ‘sparky’ personality. More like a firecracker. He would leap and twist in the air almost clicking his heels like a Leprechaun when dinner was served. He would like to boss his sister goats, Bella Rosa and Hunwee around and try to hog all the food and attention. Everyone thought he was pregnant he was so fat. He was a great companion to his sister goats who are missing him too-we are all in shock now. But he was like a puppy dog too, following me around, stopping to lean on me hoping for a scratch between his horns- always coming up to greet me. He would act all brave and macho until a dog would come to the outside of the corral fence and then he would freeze and get all shaky, hiding behind Bella Rosa who is black and is a quiet strong goat. We all know who really runs that group and it wasn’t Sonny. Nevertheless he was a pistololi, a loose cannon with a fun-loving attitude. I’m going to miss that little guy-my handsome boy.