Star Gazing Farm, Maryland: How to Help

How to Help: Veterinary Surgeries

Update 2/10/09: Rosalita was given a blood transfusion on Monday in order to get her strong enough for surgery. She was operated on today, but the surgeon found a tumor the size of a cantaloupe in her uterus. It had attached itself to her cervix and bladder, and thus was deemed inoperable. Sadly, we made the most humane decision: to have her euthanized. Because New Bolton Center is a learning hospital, we offered them the option of using her body for study and they harvested the uterus for that purpose. We will have her cremated and will hold a service for her here at the farm in a few weeks. Rest in peace, sweet Rosalita. †

2/7/09: Two of our beautiful animals are currently sick and staying in the hospital up at New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania. Both have critical conditions.

Rosalita is a Boer goat - possibly crossed with Cashmere, because every winter she grows the softest, creamiest coat. She was brought to us from Tails of Hope Animal Sanctuary after she was picked up by Howard County Animal Control, back in 2002. She was a tiny, petite little shy thing. She quickly grew into a "linebacker goat", built packed and solid, and ready to wham any sheep who looked at her crosseyed.

She has distinct favorite friends: Spenser (sheep) is her favorite, seconded by Graham, a full blooded Boer goat with whom she usually sleeps side by side. Because she is so shy, most people don't get to know Rosalita very well. But she adores being caressed under her chin and on her face, lying stretched out in the sun, and simply quietly enjoying her best friends and her peaceful life.

On Friday, January 6 she began bleeding vaginally and showing signs of great distress. I rushed her up to New Bolton Center, where they performed many different tests and found through ultrasound that she has an extremely large tumor in her uterus.

They have stabilized her and will perform surgery this week; the tumor may or may not be operable, but we will do everything we can to save Rosalita. The estimated cost for surgery is $900.

Everyone knows Fred. Fred, the welcome wagon sheep, Fred the happy go lucky guy who doles out kisses like they were FREE, who goes to schools and to our other outreach events, and who simply makes everyone happy who comes across his path. Fred has lived here since he was a day old - his mother rejected both him and his brother Huckleberry. They were bottle babies, and very spoiled.

Fred has been dealt a bad lot, however. He has a genetic predisposition to forming stones in his bladder and urethra. In 2008 he underwent 2 very successful surgeries to remove stones; however on Wednesday, January 4 he became ill again, acting lethargic, hiding, and showing signs of straining and being unable to urinate - it was the same problem once again. On the drive to New Bolton Center, Fred laid his head in my lap the whole way, only occasionally lifting up his head to rest it against my chest.

He immediately underwent surgery to remove the bladder stones. He was quite ill; some blood had leaked into his bladder and some urine had leaked into his stomach - he was quite fortunate to have arrived on time at the hospital. Unfortunately, he has another stone that they could not remove surgically and so he will need to undergo laser treatment this coming week to break up that stone, which currently blocks his urethra. The estimated cost for Fred's initial surgery is $1500 and for the laser treatment (for which he will travel to Philadelphia - this sheep really gets around!) is an additional $2000.