[FarmGirl18]

I went out to feed the goats this morning, and I noticed that one of my Nubian girls had her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. Kind of weird looking so I examined her further and it's like the whole side of her jaw is really swollen. It looks like she has a big ball of cud in the side of her mouth. And she kind of had some "cud" dribbling out the corner of her mouth. I'm thinking possibly she may have got hit really hard in the jaw by another goat. Any suggestions? Is there something I should do for her? She was able to eat her grain ration, despite the swelling. And seems to be feeling just fine. I can get some pics if that would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[kelebek]

I would monitor her, and a shot of dex wouldn't hurt to help with the swelling if you have it.

Does she have a temp at all? Is she drinking water?

My concern would be that she is not drinking water and then gets dehydrated.

If she seems to be eating and drinking, and no temp, then monitor.

 

[getchagoat (Julie)]

I was thinking dex as well. Can you look inside her mouth and make sure she doesn't have an abcess or something? If it just came up today though, it probably is just swelling from a hard hit or something.

 

[eliya]

Could she have something stuck in her mouth? I have heard of goats getting some object too large in their mouth - then they can't chew properly and they may have their jaw crooked.

 

[FarmGirl18]

Her temp is normal. I looked inside her mouth and didn't see anything abnormal. Eliya, that's kind of what I thought first like she might have a ball of cud stuck in there or something lol, but when I checked there wasn't anything. I really think she must have gotten butted. Kind of weird though that her tongue hangs out when she's not eating. Do you think that it's maybe numb or something?

 

[eliya]

Could be, that does sound kind of strange. This seems to just have happened overnight? If so, I would guess that it is something fairly minor and will clear up on it's own. If it is something else, well, it would be hard to say.

 

[FarmGirl18]

Yes, it seemed to just happen overnight. I didn't notice anything yesterday.

 

[sparks879]

Watch her eye on that side of her face. Does it apear in different then the other other eye. Like she can blink but its droopy or anything like that. Is she drueling? We had a doe last year that had either a sliver get in her face or an abcessed tooth. It basically paralized the entire side of her face. The tounge hanging out is a sign of not being able to keep it in. Are her lips droopy on that side? when she eats does food fall out of that side?
beth

 

[FarmGirl18]

Actually Beth, before I even read your reply I've been really thinking that the side of her face is paralized. She is drooling when she chews her cud, and will just leave a hunk of it in the side of her mouth and dosen't seem to know it's there. Also I've noticed the the ear on that side just hangs limply down, she dosen't hold it erect like the other one. The whole side of her face looks droopy. What should I do??

 

[StaceyRosado]

is this her left side? Sounds like a stroke. Not sure of the recovery rate or what you do for it or not. - not much help here am I

 

[goathappy]

It sounds like a stroke or something. Does she have any other function on the one side of her face?

They were talking about this on a Yahoo list recently, and somebody said they had a goat do that and it was caused by and ear infection.

 

[FarmGirl18]

I'm begining to think that it may be a minor stroke. Yes Stacey, it is her left side. As you can see from these pics from this morning, there's really not alot of visible swelling. Just the fact that her face still seems paralyzed.

 

[getchagoat (Julie)]

Did you call your vet about this?

 

[sparks879]

she looks exactly like our doe did. other then my doe was an alpine. We started spraying her mouth out with warm water two or three times a day, getting the cud out of there. You may want to check to see if she has an abcessed tooth as well. or it could be a swollen saliva gland. We never really figured out what mamas problem was, she lost a lot of weight but we just kept cleaning her mouth out and giving her extra grain, soft grain like rolled oats that she could chew easily. We dried her off as well. Let her body concentrate on healing. It could possibly be a minor stroke but in my experience a goat that has a strok has more problems then her face, it tends to be down the entire side of the body. It took months of special care and extra love but moma finally came out of it and she healed nicely and went on to have more babies.
How old is your doe?
beth

 

[FarmGirl18]

No I haven't talked to the vet *yet* but I certainly will take her in if I feel the situation warrants it.

Beth, she is 3-1/2 years old. She is dry right now and due to kid the end of Febuary. I'm going to take your advice and spray her mouth out, I didn't think of doing that. She dosen't seem to have a problem chewing, she gobbles down the grain and hay just like usual, except she's kind of "slobbery."

 

[sparks879]

it wouldn't hurt her to start her on ten days of penicilian. Pen is mild enough that it won't hurt the kids, if she isn;t having trouble and not losing weight then i would leave her be. Just watch her closely and if you think she starts losing weight pull her out and let her have her own bowl of grain, maybe some cooked oatmeal. That would be easy to chew. Have you looked in her mouth to see if she has a pocket forming there or something? She seems to young to need her teeth floated but i know its not unheard of. I know its not an easy thing looking in a goats mouth, if you have the vet out they can help you. The easiest way i have found to hold their mouth open if pull their tounge to the side. Pull it too her good side and hold it out of her mouth, she won;t bite her own tounge, horses are the same way. Her mouth will probably stink really bad, sinse there is not only cud but cud that may have been sitting there a few days.
keep us posted. Im curious to see what the vet says, as we never had one out due to lack of goat experience around here.
beth

 

[enjoytheride]

Have you tried pricking her ear to see if she has any sensation? If she doesn't, it's not paralysis. I thought that ea infection thing was interesting. If it is, then it could be urgent as that can lead to the infection getting to the brain. Good luck- those pictures were really interesting.
Sounds stupid but did you try sniffing in her ear? I have no idea if an infection inside the ear would smell but ?

 

[dobe627]

I don't know if this will help but I know from working at a small animal vet that an ear infection in a dog can cause similiar things to happen. A dog with a bad ear infection can "go down" with vestibular syndrome, where they just lay there and theres eyes go goofy. Not the same I know but ear infections can cause alot of symptoms. You should notice an odor though, unless its down deep. IF this is the cause an antibiotic would clear it up unless it is down far. Good luck hope your girl gets better. Cathy

 

[sweetgoats]

WOW, I have no he;lp at all, but I would NOT give her any antibiotics for this. I would contact the vet. She sure is a sweet looking gal. I hope it clears up. Pleas keep us posted.

 

[FarmGirl18]

Thanks for the imput everybody. She's doing really well today, acting totally normal, other than the continued "paralysis" on the side of her face. I'm watching her really closely, and I'll keep ya updated. If it was some kind of infection, wouldn't she be running a fever? Because her temp is normal.