Can you Really???

[KatharinetheGr8]

I think I have a goat with bloat. She was pretty uncomfortable last night and didn't get up to greet me with the rest of her herd last night when I went to visit with them.

I am very new to goat raising. My husband and I moved back to his hometown when other plans to move elsewhere after he finished his biology degree fell through. When we moved back, we received 7 chicks to raise and were told that we were in charge of the well-being of a dozen Nigerian Dwarfs who were tenants on his grandmother's pastures. She only lives about 1 mile away but is unable to provide daily care to the goats, however she does not own the goats, they are owned by a third party who simply leases the pasture. The owner only stops by occasionally. Their pasture is bare. The "stream" that supposedly runs through the pasture no longer contains running water - only a rancid puddle.

Being the caring people we are, we have been allowing the goats to graze on the yard and the brush on the periphery. We graze them about an hour a day - just until they start to get in trouble. Then we put them back in their pasture. I put a galvanized tub in their pasture with clean water. The only way I can get them back into the pasture is by shaking a bucket of corn grain. They follow you anywhere with that. So I shake the bucket, get them into the pasture, then give them a few handfuls - no more than 4 cups for all 12 goats. I'm afraid this change in the quality of food, or the corn, has given one of my girls bloat.

I'm on my way over there now. I really hope she made it through the night. I've read on here that I can safely give her GasX. Is that so? How do I administer? Just open the gelcap and put the contents on her tongue? I'll massage her rumen and walk her around to get things moving. Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I prefer baking soda because it can easily be mixed with water and slowly squirted down the throat using a large syringe, without a needle on it of course, I will also follow up with some vegetable oil using the syringe again, to kind of clean out the system, go slow and make sure they are swallowing it and it is not going in the lungs.

I also provide baking soda dry, and free choice right next to the goat minerals.

 

[KatharinetheGr8]

We gave her baking soda solution and she drank about a quart of goat electrolytes. We were able to get an antibiotic (tetracycline) in her, too. Now we're just hoping she improves some. Should I still try some oil?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

At this point the oil will move most things through so the antibiotics and electrolytes would be move out, so wait and see, I certainly would provide them all free choice baking soda, it can help keep small digestive upsets from becoming something major, and it keeps the highly acidic rumen from getting too acidic.

 

[KatharinetheGr8]

Thanks! We will be sure to do that. She is resting, but hasn't improved much yet. I guess we keep pushing the electrolytes, getting the antibiotics in her, and hope she improves. Thank you for all your help. I'm lost when it comes to goats!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What exactly are you seeing, lethargy, if it was bloat she should have responded by burping and feeling better. Generally if a goat needs antibiotics it's give as a shot, sounds like you are giving it by mouth, perhaps a bit more about what is going on with her would help to figure out what is best. Hopefully she hasn't developed enterotoxemia, or overeaters disease, which can be caused by grain consumption. Wait to hear more.

 

[cassie]

As for Gas X I never used gel caps. I just used pills and shoved them down. I would do the same with gel caps. No reason to open them. I started using Gas X after a neighboring goat dairyman told me about it. I found it to be a lot more effective than the usual remedies. I don't like oil for bloat because it is too easy to get it in the lungs. The Gas X works a lot faster anyway. Baking soda is an anti acid. If the goat has a digestive upset like from too much grain it can be helpful. The grain produces lactic acid buildup and the soda will neutralize the acid. I haven't found baking soda particularly helpful for bloat, but maybe other people's experience has been different. Have your goats been immunized for entero? If not, or even if they have, get some entero antitoxin and give it. Sooner is better. It sounds like your goat could very well be suffering with entero. If she has entero there will be a rapid improvement after giving the antitoxin. At any rate it can't hurt. Entero can be either acute or chronic. In the chronic form the goat can be sick for several days and either die or get better on its own. In the acute form the course is very rapid. Penicillin is the antibiotic of choice in the treatment of entero. The bacteria that causes entero is clostridium perfingens. Penicillin is effective against clostridia. If you need a more detailed description of entero let me know. Unfortunately that is something I have had a lot of experience with. Where I used to live it was a very common problem because of the soil conditions in the area. Something else that can cause bloat is a displaced abomasum. I haven't had much experience with those but my vet told me that rolling the animal over sometimes gets the abomasum back where it belongs.

 

[KatharinetheGr8]

Thank you everyone for your words of wisdom. Unfortunately our goat went to the big pasture in the sky last night. We did all we knew to do, and we were with her making her comfortable right until the end. She was having a difficult time, and I told her it was okay to go. That was the last breath she took.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry, it seems to be the way with goats, they are tough, but tender.

 

[cassie]

Without seeing the goat it is difficult to say for sure what happened, but it really sounds like she had entero. Have your goats been immunized for entero? If not get a vial of CD/T from the feed store or livestock supply. CD/T is for clostridium perfingens (entero) and tetanus. It is given under the skin. Initially, you give two shots. You give one and then the second about four weeks after the first and then a booster annually. Entero comes on suddenly and it is a true emergency. In the acute form the goat can be dead in two hours, maybe less from the onset of symptoms. In the chronic form it may go on for a few days. Treatment is clostrium perfingens antitoxin. Penicillin, thiamine, banamine, and cal dex can be given also, but without prompt administration of the antitoxin the chances of survival with entero are bleak. Of course the goat may not have had entero at all. One of the few things I don't miss about having goats and other livestock is the heartbreak caused by losses such as this. Take it from someone who has been there and done that, I am truly sorry.