[NickersNNeighs]

2 yr old Toggenburg, kidded 4 weeks ago, has bloat. Treated with bloat drench this morning, bloat went away, gave her probiotics a few hours later after the bloat went away. I went to barn earlier and she was back to being a balloon. Stomach is tight, sounds like drum when I tap on it. About 1/3 cup vegetable oil in her and massaged, got her to burp a couple times. She is head pressing in the corner and standing hunched, kicking kids away when they try to nurse. I can see movement in her side, wave like movements. Have call into vet but no return call yet. Need help. I do not know how to release the air with a needle, she is miserable and I am freaking out a bit. I have been working with her for over 2 hours massaging. Please help!

She is a rehabilitation case, I have been slowly introducing feed and alfalfa pellets to her, but has been munching alfalfa/grass mix hay a good bit. She gets a flake in the morning and a flake in the evening, decent sized flakes, but kids are also eating. Not all hay is eaten. Was drinking well, up until this morning when she bloated.

 

[Aasiya]

Hi. does your bloat drench have simethicone in it? its the stuff they put in GasX and some other human OTC gas remedies. Give enough to provide atleast 250 mg of simethicone. I am not very experienced with goats (only had them 3 years), but it works pretty fast for me. Hope the others can help more

 

[21goaties]

http://goat-link.com/content/view/96/27/

"Methods of Treatment for Bloat
For goats that are still able to walk, you will need to drench a quarter of a pint of mineral oil or cooking oil down the goat's throat and then exercise the goat (through walking) and massaging of the sides. This most often will cause the built up gas to escape through the mouth or rectum. Once you have gotten the goat relieved of the gas, one treatment prescribes giving a small amount of sodium bicarbonate (approximately one tablespoon) mixed in a small amount of warm water or molasses."

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

 

[Nirmal Bais]

You can punture the rumen(left side)t by syringe and release gas when bloat is at acute level but it need experience but it is not the rocket science.
Keep goat head up nd back down on stairs so rumen don't pressurise the diaphragm internally.

Bloatosil medicine is effective in bloat.

Pinch of sodium bicarbonate is also effective in bloat.

I perform the same

 

[NickersNNeighs]

Just got home from vet, drove her hour and half to my old vet seeing none in this area could return my call. They showed me how to release the gas with a syringe and did an ultrasound, rumen wall looks good. We also rolled her over in case there is an displacement of the abomasum chamber of the stomach, which is still a possibility. Very rare but happens after kidding in some does. (She freshened 4 weeks ago) Gave her selenium, vit b complex, banamine, and running a urine sample. She did belch for the last half hour ride home which is good, but my truck may never recover from the smell, still worth it. Grabbing 1 or 2 hours of sleep and going back out to check on her. So far things are looking a little better, she has water and baking soda in her stall, no hay or grain til this hopefully subsides. She did start chewing cud at the vets which she hasnt done all day, so whatever she ate last has been stewing for a while. Hoping she still keeps heading in the right direction.

 

[Aasiya]

Glad to hear your doe is doing better. Did the vet say to keep her off feed? i heard that grass hay is good for digestive problems, as it provides them with necessary roughage to keep the rumen going, though i dont know for sure in your case.....hope she gets better soon

 

[NickersNNeighs]

This morning wasnt as good. She bloated for the 3rd time, I poked her and got little release of air from her and some froth. Gave her bloat drench again, helped some, her right side is huge. Going to be taking her back down to my vet for iv catheter and slow drip fluids to give her at home. (I worked as a night tech at a vet clinic and am familiar with this). We are thinking possibly an impaction at this point. Please keep my girl in your thoughts.

 

[Aasiya]

So sorry about your girl
its so awful when they get sick; sounds like you are doing all you can at this point. hope the babies are doing well. will certainly keep her in my thoughts

Is she up to date on her cdt shot? i read entero can cause these issues. Also, when my buckling was showing early symptoms of tetanus, he bloated quite frequently. I thought i would lose him, but he pulled through. Goats can recover from some pretty tough situations

 

[NickersNNeighs]

Yes, I vaccinated her with CDT, Tetanus Anti-toxin, Rabies. I just got this girl 2 weeks ago and she is a hot mess. Rehab case, she is really testing my abilities and stamina, but she is worth it.

Babies are a month old, doing well. At least thats going good.

 

[Aasiya]

Good to know about the babies. Are they feeding from the doe?

Just a note, tetanus antitoxin is different from the tetanus toxoid/ tetanus vaccine. It will only provide protection 7-14 days (to be safe, i always go for the minimum). to provide long term protection against tetanus, you should give her the vaccine once she is better and atleast a week has passed from the antitoxin shot.

you did say you gave the cdt vaccine...but the antitoxin cancels out the protection from that, so you might need to revaccinate with tetanus toxoid.....im not sure about enterotoxaemia though...

 

[toth boer goats]

:nod::up:

 

[toth boer goats]

Sorry she is ill, sending prayers for her.

 

[NickersNNeighs]

Good to know about the babies. Are they feeding from the doe?

Just a note, tetanus antitoxin is different from the tetanus toxoid/ tetanus vaccine. It will only provide protection 7-14 days (to be safe, i always go for the minimum). to provide long term protection against tetanus, you should give her the vaccine once she is better and atleast a week has passed from the antitoxin shot.

you did say you gave the cdt vaccine...but the antitoxin cancels out the protection from that, so you might need to revaccinate with tetanus toxoid.....im not sure about enterotoxaemia though...

Under vet order I was to give cdt and tetanus. I will boost the tetanus as soon as I am able too. Thank you.

On another note we drove back to my vet this afternoon. Fecal came back - infested with strongyles and coccidia. She has been dose with strongid (to be followed up woth cydectin in 3 weeks) and sulfatrim. Also on d-panthenol, penicillin, calcium, probiotics, banamine, draxxon, and IV fluids every 12 hours. She had 2 vets assessing and treating her. 2 vets I trust with my life. Her temp dropped to 99.7, warm fluids given, warm coat while fluids were given in the barn (I have a pulley system set up for fluids, half bath had nothing to hang a bag on) and she is now in my half bathroom getting warm and will stay there for as long as it takes. Please note, I have only had this girl for 2 weeks, she was one of two goats returned to me from a "CAE Sanctuary" who got kicked off their rental property. Both does have issues, both were bred, returned with lice, severely underweight and apparently other major issues. Yes documentation is being kept, and complaints will be filed.

Babies were feeding from her, they were born
2 weeks before I got them so I had no control over pulling them from her at birth. They are now on the bottle as she is not producing enough milk to sustain them.

This is a picture of my girl tonight. She is fighting, so I will fight alongside of her for as long as she is willing.

 

[Sara+pumpkin]

You're doing a great job! Sending prayers️

 

[Aasiya]

Yes, you are doing everything you possibly can for your girl. I pray that she pulls through.
Glad to know you have vets that you trust working on her....they are so hard to find. Stay positive, and even if things dont turn out ideally...the goat will know that she was loved and cared for:hug:

shame about the 'sanctuary' though....i certainly hope they never get their hands on an animal again

 

[NickersNNeighs]

UPDATE: Temp 101.7 as of 2:30 a.m., bloat is stable as in it hasnt filled up what I was able to release, stomach is squishy and I can see rumen and intestines working, we have some small burps and toots going on. She is now nibbling at a small amount of hay and she drank about 2 quarts of warm water. I heard some grumbling in the hind end area, I told my husband I would be SO HAPPY to have to repaint the bathroom walls, I would jump for joy. She hides from me with her face in her hay bucket, but I am sure she feels like a pin cushion by now. Eyes are bright, head is up, REALLY hoping the bloat continues to recede on its own. She seems content and isnt standing hunched over for once. She looks better, not 100%, but there is definitely forward motion.

 

[Aasiya]

thats great! trying to eat is a good sign...hope she has a fast recovery

 

[21goaties]

Keep fighting goatie! :inlove:
Sounds like you are doing everything to give her a chance. :goodjob:

Does she have a name?

 

[toth boer goats]

Yes~!
Good to hear, keep up the great work.

 

[NickersNNeighs]

Her name is Blizzard.

This morning temp was holding steady at 101.9. We have POOP! Some very hard pelleted beans and some formed pellets but in log form. She drank about a gallon of water. When I opened the door she was ready and about plowed me over to get out and search for food. I gave her a small handful of oats (cleared by vet to do so) and she ate more hay. She was chewing cud and burping, which is awesome. Her eyes are bright, IV fluids are on hold for now, catheter can be removed tomorrow as long as I dont need to give more fluids. Vets believe it was a either a type of pneumonia, as her temp yesterday at the vets was 104.7 with banamine on board, or they said it could have been due to the high parasite load. There is a chance she may still bloat, but we think we have it under control. Its been over 14 hours since I had to manually release pressure. She is still on all meds and will continue for the next week at least. Both vets are calling or texting for updates regularly, wouldnt trade them for the world.

Good thing is my husband knows my level of crazy and isnt going to divorce me over having a full size goat in our bathroom, and 5 bottle babies in our living room in makeshift kennels. However, he did mention moving to the barn.