# Diagnosing a Goat Death



## Pinecones (Apr 25, 2022)

I turned two of my does out into the grassy meadow, where my goats regularly graze, and 1.5 hours later one was dead.  She was 5 y/o, the picture of health.  She just delivered healthy twins 5 weeks ago.  I found her nearly cold on a mildly warm evening, so she probably died within an hour of when I turned her out to graze.  She was grossly bloated but otherwise looked...fine.  It was very confusing.   Her body belched and moaned when I moved it.
 I was present and  attentive nearby while they were grazing, always listening for commotion, and I heard nothing!

I autopsied today, 24 hours later.  She died of a heart  attack.  The top of her heart was collapsed.  Her arteries and veins were flushed with enough blood to clue me into that shortly after  I started skinning.
Normal stuff:
- The herd has been foraging this meadow for many months now without problems, so no sudden diet changes
- No outstanding injuries or medical conditions, nor any history of illness whats-so-ever.
- Body in otherwise excellent condition
- No marks, bruising or damages to her body.
- She had fresh grass in her mouth- no vomit, foam, froth, saliva, bile, or blood apparent.
- Kidneys, pancreas, uterus, udder- everything looked fine.  I even cut the udder open to check thoroughly for mastitis (to rule anything/everything out)
- Digestion looked great  (aside from the rumen being filled with excess gas) from top to bottom
- No sign of worms
- Stools healthy and well formed
- Body/skin was not overheated, bruised looking, or overly flush, even for a heart attack, to me implying she  wasn't chased or experiencing fear


Abnormal stuff:
- collapsed heart
- flushed purple in the lungs
- some pale areas on liver- not white though.  No growths or tumors.  Just slightly pale.  That may have been from letting her sit 24 hours before cutting open, idk.
- 10 goats, no other goats having active issues of any kind -except- one goat had an incident  last  weekend where he came back from the meadow looking bloated and was vomiting white froth.  No weakness or lameness at all, but seemed in pain.  I flushed him with activated charcoal throughout the evening and the next day he was fine, no more bloat, healthy appetite, etc.  This was likewise a confusing, isolated incident.  Fine one moment (I was with him just minutes before this started), and literally  5-10 minutes  later he was bloated and vomiting. 

I thought maybe there's a poisonous plant she got into, but what would kill her in 1 hour or less without even causing her to vomit?! The contents of her stomach looked "fine" to me, smelled fine.  Lots of hay and fresh grass both.   I turned the stomach out hoping to find a culprit of some kind but it just looked and smelled like good green food...

Thoughts?


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## Mini Horses (Apr 26, 2022)

Sorry for your loss.  However, the two incidents do not sound to be the same.  From your description, I expect a heart failure on the doe...not a food issue.  It's puzzling, for sure.  What type of goat?  There is a G6S condition in Nubians that can cause issues such as this. As I understand, heart failures and other, causing short lives in what begins as a healthy appearing goat.   I know mine were tested to know they don't carry.


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## Pinecones (Apr 26, 2022)

Mini Horses said:


> Sorry for your loss.  However, the two incidents do not sound to be the same.  From your description, I expect a heart failure on the doe...not a food issue.  It's puzzling, for sure.  What type of goat?  There is a G6S condition in Nubians that can cause issues such as this. As I understand, heart failures and other, causing short lives in what begins as a healthy appearing goat.   I know mine were tested to know they don't carry.


Purebred American alpine doe.

I've had issues with people poisoning my livestock in recent years.  I guess I was  -really- hoping to find an answer that was 'natural'...


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## Alaskan (Apr 26, 2022)

Pinecones said:


> Purebred American alpine doe.
> 
> I've had issues with people poisoning my livestock in recent years.  I guess I was  -really- hoping to find an answer that was 'natural'...




So sorry!

Is there a local extension office that can help?


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## Pinecones (Apr 26, 2022)

Alaskan said:


> So sorry!
> 
> Is there a local extension office that can help?


I have  no idea, really :/  I'm in Western WA, USA


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## Alaskan (Apr 26, 2022)

Pinecones said:


> I have  no idea, really :/  I'm in Western WA, USA


If you Google "extension office Washington state" a bunch of choices pop up

Call one of then and ask what kind of services they provide, and what services are offered to help with diagnosing cause of death.  Probably too late for this one... I am sure they want fresh samples etc...  but it is good to know ...


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## TheCluckyClucker (Apr 27, 2022)

Sorry for the loss. I hope you get to the bottom of this!


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## Pinecones (Apr 27, 2022)

It seems like, from what I read,  the discoloration in  the liver and lungs could be from the heart failure.   Still perplexed and in shock, somewhat.   I can keep  the extension office might be helpful in the future, but yeah, not so much for this case right now...


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## Alaskan (Apr 28, 2022)

Pinecones said:


> It seems like, from what I read,  the discoloration in  the liver and lungs could be from the heart failure.   Still perplexed and in shock, somewhat.   I can keep  the extension office might be helpful in the future, but yeah, not so much for this case right now...


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