Lovable baby boy Merlin was born with a heart defect. He was only 2 weeks old when he was rescued along with 12 little boys from a dairy.
When he arrived, Merlin was sooooo sick, and his chances were slim. He was noticeably the smallest of the babies. Everyone who met him loved him and we all prayed that he would make it. Thankfully, Merlin had a strong will to live! No, at 5 months old, you can hardly tell he was ever the runt!
When he was sick, he was at UC Davis and hospitalized for multiple weeks. During his time in the hospital they detected a heart murmur. The cardiology evaluation showed that he had a small ventricular septal defect. This type of defect should not cause heart failure but could cause abnormal blood flow that could increase his risk of endocarditis or a bacterial infection of the heart. The cardiology service recommended a recheck in 6 months to see what the status of his heart is.
We are so grateful that he has not had any noticeable complications over the last few months, but we are eager to get him back to the cardiologist to determine if this is a lifelong condition and how we can best support him and provide him with the care he needs.
Merlin went to UC Davis and had two plasma transfers and was about to be euthanized when he made a miraculous turnaround. He started drinking from the bottle and months later he is healthy and happy here at goatlandia! He’s a little smaller than he should be for his age, probably due to his rough start, but he’s doing fantastic and is a really sweet guy.
