Goat Question

[MGG]

My sister has a goat kid who is being bottle fed because it's mom wasn't lactating well. My question is about its poop. It has REALLY runny poop. Like, it just kind of drips out. We are taking it to the vet tomorrow for another issue (something is messed up with his one leg) and we will ask them, but he smells really gross and we have to wipe him off all the time. Just wondered if you guys had any ideas or solutions to help the poor thing out. Thanks

 

[cassie]

No we haven't. He is in our dining room on newspaper in a pen. Definitely starting to stink Thanks for your reply. We may have to find somewhere else to put him

If he stinks that bad, something is not right. Poop never smells like lilacs, but it shouldn't run you out of the house either. Newspaper is not the best choice. It is very important that new babies be kept clean and dry, and newspapers just don't cut it. I have used shavings and shredded paper. In your case, I think your best bet is to just get some disposable baby diapers. Get the smallest size you can find. They work well. Wet bedding is very unhealthy and it is really hard to keep them dry enough on newspapers. At least I never could.

 

[cassie]

If an animal has white muscle and it is given Bo Se improvement is fairly rapid. If there is no improvement, it is something else. In any event, the Bo Se cannot hurt. I didn't read the more recent posts so I just made the assumption you were talking about white muscle.

 

[cassie]

It's been several weeks, would it have gotten worse? Edit: also, is it ok to be washing his bum with baby soap when he gets it dirty? It's usually only once a day.

You can wash his rear with baby soap. If he is still runny it would be a good idea to have him checked for coccidia.

 

[cassie]

Personally, I think a fecal should have been done to rule out coccidia but if he has been like this since he was born coccidia is unlikely. White muscle can show up at birth. White muscle can cause general weakness. It can cause generalized pain and/or stiffness, can affect one or more legs, and cause cardiac problems including heart failure. I have seen all of these things but not all in the same kid. BoSe is cheap insurance.

If I didn't mention it before, one thing you might try for his digestion is to get some live acidopholis (sp) culture and add it to his milk. It is a beneficial bacteria. You can get it at the health food store or sometimes in the health food section of the larger supermarkets. It comes in freeze dried powder or in liquid form. The liquid is kept in the refrigerated case. I preferred the liquid but I have used both. It isn't very expensive. It will either help or it won't but it cannot hurt the animal.

 

[cassie]

Thanks for your reply, @BloomBunny . He is almost three weeks old, colostrum won't do much good now will it?

There are large pores in the intestinal wall at birth. These large pores allow the antibodies to go through and to get into the bloodstream and provide immunity. These pores close up within something like 24 hours or so. Also, if a baby gets regular milk before it gets colostrum, the milk feeding may cause the pores to close and the later colostrum will not be properly absorbed. One of my vets told me that.

 

[MGG]

We change the papers all the time, but yes it still smells. We weren't sure if the diapers would be bad for him or infect him or something, but if its ok we will pick some up. Thanks for your reply

 

[MGG]

@cassie , have you ever seen a mild form of white muscle disease in kids? He always holds one leg really stiff, ever since birth. We didn't notice it right away, but the stiffness has progressively gotten worse. He is starting to pronate on his other leg and his hoof on that leg now turns it angle. He holds the stiff leg up now, and is hesitant to jump or play now because of it. It isn't painful to him though. Any idea what it could be or how we could help him? We're taking him to the vet tomorrow afternoon, but if we could help him with a cheaper solution I'm sure my sister would be happy. She loves him so much and would be devastated if anything happened to him. TIA

 

[cassie]

We change the papers all the time, but yes it still smells. We weren't sure if the diapers would be bad for him or infect him or something, but if its ok we will pick some up. Thanks for your reply

I got the idea of using diapers from a sheepman who was raising a bunch of bummer lambs. He kept the new ones in his camper.

 

[cassie]

@cassie , have you ever seen a mild form of white muscle disease in kids? He always holds one leg really stiff, ever since birth. We didn't notice it right away, but the stiffness has progressively gotten worse. He is starting to pronate on his other leg and his hoof on that leg now turns it angle. He holds the stiff leg up now, and is hesitant to jump or play now because of it. It isn't painful to him though. Any idea what it could be or how we could help him? We're taking him to the vet tomorrow afternoon, but if we could help him with a cheaper solution I'm sure my sister would be happy. She loves him so much and would be devastated if anything happened to him. TIA

I routinely gave my kids a shot of BoSe for white muscle shortly after they were born. White muscle manifests itself in various ways. Trouble using the legs, stiffness, and cardiac problems are just of the few things I have seen.