Straight-Up Acres: Gizmo

Let me start by saying Gizmo is ok, but last week we weren't so sure that he would be. Last Saturday he started exhibiting some very odd behavior and was very depressed, which is completely unlike Gizmo. He's usually very outgoing and meets everyone at the gate, but last Saturday he wouldn't come out of his house unless forced to. So, we brought him inside to watch him and after several hours realized he couldn't urinate. He was "posturing" as the vet describes it, which means he was stretching out his back legs (kindof like a dog does to stretch) and contracting his abdominal muscles to try and urinate. Poor little guy just couldn't go. So, we called the UT Large Animal Hospital (part of the University of Tennessee) and they said to bring him in immediately for emergeny surgery and not to pick him up or carry him by his stomach (might rupture). Yikes! So, we rushed him down there and he got an ultrasound on his bladder which showed some small masses so they prepped him for surgery and gave him some amonium chloride to break up the crystals. While waiting for his time to go into surgery (a cow in distress was first on the cutting table) he pee'd. Yeah! So, they decided to wait and not do surgery and by Monday he got to come home. But Tuesday night he stopped peeing again, so we brought him into the house and watched him overnight. Man he's one lucky goat. Our bathroom was like the Four Seasons for him, but he still couldn't pee. So, Aaron took him into the hospital and they watched him for a few hours, but he started to show more signs of distress, so they did the surgery. They've called every day to let us know his progress and he's doing well. Yesterday he pee'd on his own through normal means (not through the tube). It sounds like we'll be able to pick him up in the next couple of days. We all miss him a lot here, so we can't wait. Here are a couple of pics

Seriously, how cute is this goat?