HELP! Goat got into Chicken Grower/finisher and possibly in labor OR Bloat?

[cassie]

I'm not familiar with Beano. It is my understanding that it is for prevention, not treatment of gas. Give penicillin in the mouth only if you think she might have entero. I haven't read the entire thread, but if her tummy feels tight, give the penicillin orally. Otherwise, don't. Gas X and entero antitoxin are two things all goat owners should have in their medicine cabinets at all times

 

[Icedangel11]

Her tummy isn't tight. According to the Mod on Goatspot they suspect pneumonia.

But she is doing better. Though her fevers staying at 105.2 for the most part. I'm using cool baths and an ice pack to cool her core, but it's not breaking.

 

[cassie]

Getting a goat wet is not a good thing. I wouldn't be bathing her or wetting her down to reduce the temperature. The problem is not the fever. It is the cause of the fever that is important. Meaning the infection. I think the mod is right about pneumonia. Goats, particularly kids, are very prone to pneumonia.

 

[Icedangel11]

It has been really humid outside. And the temps go from 90 in the day to 67 at night.

I just put water up to her hocks and let her stand in it. I wouldn't drench her in it.

I'm considering using a low dose aspirin to reduce her fever. Fiasco farms says 325 MG per 10 pounds of weight. I have the 81 mg pills, so if I just give her two of them (162 mg) or three of them (243 mg) it might work to get her fever down?

 

[Icedangel11]

Glad to say some of her color has returned to her, at least.

 

[cassie]

Don't try to reduce the fever. There are two reasons not to. One, if you do manage to reduce the fever by aspirin or anything else that does not affect the infection you will think the goat is getting better when in fact she is not. The fever will subside when the infection gets under control. The second reason not to artificially reduce the fever is because in many cases the high body temperature will help kill the bacteria causing the infection.

 

[Icedangel11]

Well, I already gave her the pill, just for the night. It was really high and she wouldn't stop shaking. It's helped her in that sense. Plus my dog just chwed up my thermometer, so she could go into dangerous territory and I wouldn't be able to tell.

I'm going to keep the course of the antibiotics, I'm not sure what else I can do.. I might try and see if I can't get into the vets tomorrow or something. The penicillin G I'm using is made to treat pneumonia, though, so I guess that's good.. Should I worry about her spreading it to the others?

 

[cassie]

Penicillin either works or it doesn't. When it works, it works great and it is my drug of choice. You should see at least some improvement by tomorrow.However, it does not work on all pneumonias. How much did you give? If the goat is shaking she has the chills. You might put a tee shirt on her. And stop the water treatments. They won't help and will only make a bad situation worse.

 

[Icedangel11]

I only did it once, and then I did stop. she's stopped shaking since she got the aspirin. She got 1 ML injected, and by the time you suggested orally we'd figured out pneumonia.

She is doing much better, though. She's walking more and has a nice red color in her eyelid and started nursing on her own from mom. She was really stressed being away, so I was told it'd be okay to put them together. She just about ran to momma. She only went out after the shakes had stopped. I'm about to check on her again, actually.

Yep. No shakes, no shivers, breathing smoothly and happy as can be.

Is there any way to prevent this in the future?

 

[cassie]

I haven't found a good preventative for kids that young. Continue to give the antibiotic for at least five days even though she is better. If you stop too soon she can relapse. Just continue to watch her. Keep us posted.