constipated goat?

[cassie]

Hi. My husband and I rescued two borour/alpine .one Nanny and a Billie. On Feb 2nd 2018 it was 25 degrees. We did not know she was pregnant. Low and behold at 6am my husband comes barreling in with this tiny wet bundle.He is now nine and a half months old and we don't know a thing about goats other that they love weeds. Pepper, the baby developed bloat and became toxic. He was acting drunk and falling down so we brought him in. We started praying and laying hands on him praying in the spirit. Miraculously he made it thru the night, we rushed him to the vet almost 40 miles away. They said he would probably not make it thru the night. He was there three days and two nights. They brought him back and sent home four shots of penicillin . They said to give him oil and baking soda. We did as instructed. After we gave him the only oil I had, canola, he stopped pooping. When we brought him home he was more energetic. I noticed by the mid afternoon he hadn't pooped. Now he is sluggish, walking like he's drunk. And his eyes were rolling around. I have him an inema. And he pooed. But he is still constantly walking aimlessly. He is running into things. And when I stop him he pushes hard.what else can I give him?. @I have Epsom salts. Kero corn syrup and fleet suppositories .he's not drinking on his own . He refuses it . But he'll still take a bottle. I got powered goats milk and make it as directed. Ill water it down a little to give him more water.

The running into things sounds like polio. Polio in goats is not like polio in humans. It is a thiamine deficiency. Goats with polio act like they are blind. They run into things and they may push their head against the wall. The apparent blindness is caused by swelling in the brain that pushes on the optic nerve. They push their head against the wall because they have a headache. For polio you need thiamine. You have to get thiamine from the vet but you can give large doses of vitamin B complex until you can get the thiamine. If it were my kid I would also give it a dose of clostridium perfingens antitoxin. The kid may have enterotoxemia, and entero and polio often occur at the same time. The clostridium perfingens antitoxin you should be able to get at the feed store or livestock supply, but the BoSe and the thiamine must be obtained from the vet. Another thing that might help is a dose of BeSe. BoSe is for a selenium deficiency which causes white muscle. In other words, if it were my goat I would give thiamine, clostridium perfingens antitoxin, and BoSe. In all the conditions I mentioned, time is of the essence.

 

[DFlowers]

The running into things sounds like polio. Polio in goats is not like polio in humans. It is a thiamine deficiency. Goats with polio act like they are blind. They run into things and they may push their head against the wall. The apparent blindness is caused by swelling in the brain that pushes on the optic nerve. They push their head against the wall because they have a headache. For polio you need thiamine. You have to get thiamine from the vet but you can give large doses of vitamin B complex until you can get the thiamine. If it were my kid I would also give it a dose of clostridium perfingens antitoxin. The kid may have enterotoxemia, and entero and polio often occur at the same time. The clostridium perfingens antitoxin you should be able to get at the feed store or livestock supply, but the BoSe and the thiamine must be obtained from the vet. Another thing that might help is a dose of BeSe. BoSe is for a selenium deficiency which causes white muscle. In other words, if it were my goat I would give thiamine, clostridium perfingens antitoxin, and BoSe. In all the conditions I mentioned, time is of the essence.

The running into things sounds like polio. Polio in goats is not like polio in humans. It is a thiamine deficiency. Goats with polio act like they are blind. They run into things and they may push their head against the wall. The apparent blindness is caused by swelling in the brain that pushes on the optic nerve. They push their head against the wall because they have a headache. For polio you need thiamine. You have to get thiamine from the vet but you can give large doses of vitamin B complex until you can get the thiamine. If it were my kid I would also give it a dose of clostridium perfingens antitoxin. The kid may have enterotoxemia, and entero and polio often occur at the same time. The clostridium perfingens antitoxin you should be able to get at the feed store or livestock supply, but the BoSe and the thiamine must be obtained from the vet. Another thing that might help is a dose of BeSe. BoSe is for a selenium deficiency which causes white muscle. In other words, if it were my goat I would give thiamine, clostridium perfingens antitoxin, and BoSe. In all the conditions I mentioned, time is of the essence.

 

[DFlowers]

Hi Cassie, thank you for such good advice. We took him to the vet . They kept him for two days and one night. They diagnosed him with the toxin and the bloat. They sent him home yesterday with four shots of antibiotic and treated him for the toxin at the hospital. They never mentioned anything about polio. I will definitely call them tomorrow and ask them about the polio. They did say something about an antihistamine. Does benadryl work? And how many mg to give him? He also is walking a little stiff with his back left leg. But I'm thinking it's because that is the leg he gets a shot in. He doesn't want to lay down . It seems he won't rest. I understand the bloat made him sore and he is in pain. When he does lay down he had a hard time getting going. The vet said that he would be weak. Does polio developer that fast? He didn't have this before he got sick. I had to give him an enigma and he went poop. Shortly after he was ready for a bottle. What can I put in his milk to help with the constpation? I've raised everything from a snake to a squirrel , kittens ,puppies etc. I've always give them about a half tsp. Of Kero syrup. Will this work or beings that it is corn syrup, will it harm him more? Thanks for all the good advice. He was treated for the toxin in his gut at the animal hospital and they pushed fluids and antibiotics.

 

[cassie]

He may be constipated because his gut isn't working. My mother used to put karo syrup in the formula for all babies of whatever species to keep the bowels moving along. Glycerine infant suppositories work well too. I have no idea why your vet is suggesting an antihistamine, but benadryl will work.

Vets who are not familiar with goats may not recognize polio, Polio causes some truly bizarre symptoms in goats and if not treated promptly and aggressively it can be deadly.

I am assuming your goat has or had entero. I am also assuming that because of the entero it now has polio. Enterotoxemia is caused by a digestive upset that allows the causative organism to proliferate. The clostridia produce a toxin. Thiamine is produced in the digestive tract. For that reason, whatever caused the entero caused a suppression in the production of thiamine, hence the polio. For entero you need to give clostridium perfingens antitoxin. Sometimes more than once. A course of penicillin is helpful because it is effective against the clostridial bacteria that cause entero. To treat entero, we first gave a shot of clostridium perfingens antitoxin followed by a dose of thiamine and then some banamine if she was in pain. Then we put the goat on a course of penicillin for five days. It sounds like your vet did all that except for the thiamine. If your goat is still acting like he is blind, he needs thiamine ASAP.

By the way, almost all shots for goats should be given subcutaneously, not in the muscle. That isn't just my opinion. That is what the vets at the vet school at UC Davis told me to do.

This post is a little long. I hope i didn't tell you more than you wanted to know. Good luck with your baby.

 

[DFlowers]

He may be constipated because his gut isn't working. My mother used to put karo syrup in the formula for all babies of whatever species to keep the bowels moving along. Glycerine infant suppositories work well too. I have no idea why your vet is suggesting an antihistamine, but benadryl will work.

Vets who are not familiar with goats may not recognize polio, Polio causes some truly bizarre symptoms in goats and if not treated promptly and aggressively it can be deadly.

I am assuming your goat has or had entero. I am also assuming that because of the entero it now has polio. Enterotoxemia is caused by a digestive upset that allows the causative organism to proliferate. The clostridia produce a toxin. Thiamine is produced in the digestive tract. For that reason, whatever caused the entero caused a suppression in the production of thiamine, hence the polio. For entero you need to give clostridium perfingens antitoxin. Sometimes more than once. A course of penicillin is helpful because it is effective against the clostridial bacteria that cause entero. To treat entero, we first gave a shot of clostridium perfingens antitoxin followed by a dose of thiamine and then some banamine if she was in pain. Then we put the goat on a course of penicillin for five days. It sounds like your vet did all that except for the thiamine. If your goat is still acting like he is blind, he needs thiamine ASAP.

By the way, almost all shots for goats should be given subcutaneously, not in the muscle. That isn't just my opinion. That is what the vets at the vet school at UC Davis told me to do.

This post is a little long. I hope i didn't tell you more than you wanted to know. Good luck with your baby.

Thanks for the info. He has started to staring out. But seems worse at night we put him out during the daytime to get some good ole vitamin D from the sunshine.He was raised in the house since birth. His mother rejected him. Not to mention it was February 2 2018 and it was 25* outside! Anywho, he was running around the house ,getting into everything ,as usual. Acting totally normal then I gave him a water bottle and he wouldn't take it. So I added a scoop of powdered goats milk. And five minutes later he started dropping his head and acting sleepy and woosie. I put him in hi s kennel and he laid right down. The bloat is gone. And he is on his last shot of penicillin come midnight tonight. I will call the v e t and get the thiamine Monday and get the proper dosage. I caught him eating dog food. So what I need to know now is what to give him too build his blood. I was told iron tablets but when he went down, he became skin and bones very very quickly. What can I give him to rebuild his muscle and fat? And don't worry about your replies being too lonG, as you can see, I am a chatty Nancy.lol!

 

[cassie]

Thanks for the info. He has started to staring out. But seems worse at night we put him out during the daytime to get some good ole vitamin D from the sunshine.He was raised in the house since birth. His mother rejected him. Not to mention it was February 2 2018 and it was 25* outside! Anywho, he was running around the house ,getting into everything ,as usual. Acting totally normal then I gave him a water bottle and he wouldn't take it. So I added a scoop of powdered goats milk. And five minutes later he started dropping his head and acting sleepy and woosie. I put him in hi s kennel and he laid right down. The bloat is gone. And he is on his last shot of penicillin come midnight tonight. I will call the v e t and get the thiamine Monday and get the proper dosage. I caught him eating dog food. So what I need to know now is what to give him too build his blood. I was told iron tablets but when he went down, he became skin and bones very very quickly. What can I give him to rebuild his muscle and fat? And don't worry about your replies being too lonG, as you can see, I am a chatty Nancy.lol!

If he has polio, once he gets the thiamine and responds to it, the other issues will resolve themselves. Personally, I would not give him iron unless the vet tells you to. The fact that he is eating dog food is a good sign. It is not the proper feed for a goat but it won't hurt him in small quantities. He needs nutrition. Just make sure you have him checked for parasites and worm him if necessary. I wouldn't worm him until after he recovers from the polio though. From your post I get the impression that he is no longer acting like he is blind. Is that right?