Billy kid alpine goat panting and face-planting

[goats-n-oats]

Hi Cassie and Mystery chicken, took Morris to the vet. She said he has urinary crystals from too much grain. She noted he was panting (closed mouth) the entire time during the visit, so she thinks his panting is from stress. She did not have an explanation for the blue gums. His lungs sound good but she prescribed penicillin just in case. I mentioned white muscle, polio, lungworm, weak heart to her: she did not think any of these things were present but was willing to prescribe BoSe, do a fecal test for lungworm. I already got him the b complex gel for polio. Said he does not look overweight to her. This was a licensed vet at a state university. Thanks for all your ideas! I'm really glad I checked with this forum.

 

[cassie]

Hi Cassie and Mystery chicken, took Morris to the vet. She said he has urinary crystals from too much grain. She noted he was panting (closed mouth) the entire time during the visit, so she thinks his panting is from stress. She did not have an explanation for the blue gums. His lungs sound good but she prescribed penicillin just in case. I mentioned white muscle, polio, lungworm, weak heart to her: she did not think any of these things were present but was willing to prescribe BoSe, do a fecal test for lungworm. I already got him the b complex gel for polio. Said he does not look overweight to her. This was a licensed vet at a state university. Thanks for all your ideas! I'm really glad I checked with this forum.

Thank you for the update. After looking at the video I didn't think he had white muscle either. He wasn't stiff and he didn't seem to have muscle pain. However, since selenium deficiency is so common a shot of Bo Se can't hurt.

I am certainly no expert on urinary calculi. In all the years I had goats I only had one case in spite of the fact I fed my bucks everything you are not supposed to, like grain and alfalfa hay. The one case i had was in a buck that had been deprived of water for some time. The automatic waterer in his pen malfunctioned and I didn't notice as soon as I should have.

As for the heart, I personally wouldn't rule it out simply because of the blue gums. If that is the problem you will find out soon enough. There isn't a lot you can or should do about it anyway. If the panting continues even after the urinary calculi is taken care of you might have him checked out again simply because if he does have a bad heart you wouldn't want to use him for breeding. Your vet is probably right though. If she listened to his heart and it sounded OK it is probably OK. I think he is a handsome buck.

 

[goats-n-oats]

Hi everyone, just an update - I let Morris play and run with the other juveniles yesterday, and there was no panting at all. Normal breathing. So whatever it was that he got - B complex, penicillin, ammonium chloride - seems to have worked. Thank you all for the helpful suggestions!

 

[cassie]

Hi everyone, just an update - I let Morris play and run with the other juveniles yesterday, and there was no panting at all. Normal breathing. So whatever it was that he got - B complex, penicillin, ammonium chloride - seems to have worked. Thank you all for the helpful suggestions!

Great to hear!! Just be sure to give the full course of antibiotics. Sometimes people stop giving them when the patient improves. That is never a good idea. I am really glad your boy is better.