Rocky, The Champ - living with a cleft palate
So here starts the story of Rocky, the Champ, the little black and white goat. He was born the runt, and due to insufficient movement in the womb, was born with club feet, a very small tongue and, as we discovered after a couple of days, a cleft palate. We noticed he couldn’t nurse or really suck, so we tried to feed him the bottle which after several tries he and us managed to successfully do. So far so good. But once we were aware of the cleft palate, our first ever, we were devastated, because all research and info just didn’t give a good prognosis. We bundled him up and with many tears at the farm took him to our fabulous down to earth and always very direct vet to have the little champ checked out and if needed to euthanize if he was suffering. But he came home alive! Club foot = minor deficiency, little tongue = no problem, heart and lungs good, eating, peeing And pooping and an incredible will to live! He needs a chance the vet said, yes, the cleft is large, but let’s give him a couple of months, and maybe the University of Gainesville can do surgery, just don’t breed him! We prayed for a ray of hope and here it was. We are just such suckers for an underdog and he has such a zest for life.
It won’t be easy and it may end in heartache but we consider every day with him a gift and are learning from this little being how to live life to the fullest even with challenges in your path. We will post many updates and hope you will join us in our journey with the little champ!
5 comments
Hi . We had twins born 3-12-23 and the runt has been kind of rejected by her mom . So I started giving her a bottle she would drink some but like she should. Her sister is thriving and a nut lol . The runt ( waffle) has come down with pneumonia Kansas weather is stupid . Anyhow I have brought her inside got meds started . Yesterday I realized she has a cleft palate and this has been the cause of her issues . She is so skinny but has a will to fight . She drinks water just fine so I have decided to just Put her milk in a bowl she gets more in her that way . She nibbles on grass and a little grain . It’s definitely trying but I will not give up on her . ❤️
We believe our little goat that was born Valentine’s Day has cleft palate. Can I ask what kind of bottle you had success with? Thank you so much!
I was talking to a friend of mine about one of the triplets my herd Queen delivered on 1/3/23. I’m thinking the little runt has a cleft palette. How do I determine if my little Moe (Moe, Larry, and Curly from the three stooges)
I have a 2 month old baby with a large cleft palate. She drinks fine wondering what to feed her. She loves paper! Sneezes some out. Curious what to feed. Thanks in advance
Hello I’m researching goats with cleft palate as I just happened to get one. Mines a bottle baby about 3 weeks old right now and doing fabulous so far her cleft is small to me. I have to make a vet apt. But I was wonding how little champ did? Hopefully he’s still going