Sunny the uni-horn

We are very blessed to live near a top notch veterinary college which periodically has clinics that are open to the public at no fee, so that the students can gain experience.  Last week I took two does for ultrasounds and on Monday I took Sunny for the annual de-horning clinic, to see what, if anything, could be done about his scur.

There is no fool-proof method to prevent scurs, which are small pieces of horn that grow in after a goat has been disbudded.   If caught early they can sometimes be easily removed and the horn bud reburned.  (Which is what happened with Rio's scur.) But in Sunny's case, his scur appears to be from the two horns merging into a single x shaped horn, that is larger in diameter than any disbudding iron.   The scur is fairly flat on top and very slow growing so it really isn't a danger to him or to us.  

It isn't very tall at this point in time, but the base is actually wider than it appears at first glance. The instructor said she had never seen anything quite like it before and took numerous pictures.  And after much debate about the best way to tackle its removal among the students she finally said, "Here is an option no one has mentioned yet, we do nothing."    She then pointed out that while it looks small, its width would mean removal would create a rather large gaping wound on Sunny's head, and would probably do more harm then good.  I agreed with her assessment - the last thing I need to be dealing with is a gaping head wound!

Dr. V. asked me to bring him in again next year so she could evaluate it, and give a new crop of students something to puzzle over.   Most likely all we will ever do with it in the future is a yearly trim with a Dremel tool.

Sunny sure didn't like walking into the building, but once inside he stood like a champ and let the dozen or so students all get a close look at him.  He even stood still for the complimentary hoof trimming.   I told them any time they wanted to do a hoof trimming clinic I would be happy to host them on the ranch.  :)    Oh and I may have a couple of students try and come for some of the kiddings this spring.   I'm doing what I can to encourage the next generation of vets to pay more attention to learning about caprines!

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