Lets talk about goats!

[cassie]

For bloat I use a 30 ml syringe and corn oil with a little molasses added.

http://www.goatworld.com/articles/bloat/bloat.shtml

The trouble with corn oil and other oils is that if the goat aspirates some of the oil into the lungs it will cause a mechanical pneumonia. In other words, you cure the bloat and kill the goat. GasX is safe and I can tell you from experience it works a lot faster than oil or any of the medicines made for bloat I like thera-bloat. It is more effective too.

 

[Fancychooklady]

The trouble with corn oil and other oils is that if the goat aspirates some of the oil into the lungs it will cause a mechanical pneumonia.  In other words, you  cure the bloat and kill the goat.  GasX is safe and I can tell you from experience it works a lot faster than oil or any of the medicines made for bloat I like thera-bloat. It is more effective too.

Yes I think you have said that in the past. I have never aspirated a goat and find the oil works well.

 

[cassie]

Yes I think you have said that in the past. I have never aspirated a goat and find the oil works well.

You pays your money and you takes your choice. If you prefer to use oil rather than just administer a pill that is certainly up to you. It's your goat not mine. Just a comment. Although you have so far never had a goat aspirate oil doesn't mean you won't. With a big struggling animal all bets are off. In my opinion, it's an unnecessary risk, but that is only my opinion. I was just offering what I have found through experience to be a much safer treatment for bloat. However, you have to use what you are comfortable with. I won't argue with that.

 

[goats rule 101]

Okay so my wether smokey is not getting better. This morning he had more foam in his mouth otherwise seemed fine. I had to get to school so all I had time to do was feed them and leave. Well now that I got home he can no longer jump onto the spool and was crying out a little bit. He's still interested in food so I fed him again. We're going to the store as soon as my mom gets home to get whatever can help him. Could you please tell me what to get? We want to just give him some gasX then wait a couple hours to see if that helps. And if it doesn't, should we give him penicillin? What else can we do for him and what all should we get? Thanks so much!

 

[goats rule 101]

Also, my wether is still chewing his cud (not teeth grinding) but I haven't seen him pee or poop since yesterday morning. I also noticed that if I put him on a spool, he grunts as if it hurts when he jumps down.

 

[H Diamond]

Have you called your vet? I realize they cost money, but it's part of it. It's hard to diagnose a goat you can't see.
Also, take his temp again today for us.

 

[goats rule 101]

His temp was 102.7 Its gone up a little. We don't think he has bloat but gave him some gasX now anyway.

 

[H Diamond]

I'm still leaning towards pneumonia I think. Another possibility could be some type of poison. Are you sure he didn't have access to anything toxic to him?
I would start him on some antibiotics anyway. My choice would be oxytetracycline though.

 

[cassie]

There is a possibility he has a displaced abomasum, meaning one of his stomachs has flopped over to where it doesn't belong. Try putting him on the ground and rolling him completely over a couple times. Sometimes that works. If when you roll him over he belches that may mean you have solved the problem. If when you roll him over once and nothing happens try rolling him over the other way. I also have known old time dairymen to chase a cow with a displaced abomasum around the field. A brisk run has been known to fix a displaced abomasum. The alternative is surgery where the stomach is put back where it belongs and stitched in place. You might google displaced abomasum and see what you find.

 

[cassie]

I forgot to mention he may well have pneumonia. At this point bloat is not the problem. If he is bloated it is because of something else going on. The fact he is chewing his cud makes me think the problem is more likely to be pneumonia rather than a DA because I don't think animals with a displaced abomasum eat or chew their cud.The fact that his temperature is going up is another inducation of pneumonia or other infection.