# Goat not eating, grey gums



## lungewhipqueen (Mar 2, 2014)

Ugh... I have sick goat. She's a 2 yr old Boer/Savanna doe with 33 day old twins. These are her first kids. All has been well until day before yesterday when I noticed she seemed a little off. Just not as active as normal. She still came for dinner with the herd and ate her grain but didn't seem overly excited about her hay.

Yesterday she was CLEARLY not well. She still wanted her grain but wouldn't touch her hay and I never saw her drink. She stood in a corner away from everyone and eventually laid down there. I put her in a stall with her kids, gave her an extra heat lamp since the weather turned nasty and cold again yesterday evening. Gave them fresh hay, water with electrolytes  and grain.

This morning the water hadn't been touched, she still had all her hay and she was sternal, but wouldn't get up. We brought her and the kids inside (I have a little pen in my laundry room).

She has an elevated temp and even though she had great color 30 days ago, her gums are grew now. I went ahead and dewormed her with Cydectin this morning. She's not interested in grain and I've not seen her drink anything but she is still peeing. So I don't know if she's dehydrated or not. I have seen her nibbling very small amounts of hay occasionally. When she poops she doesn't have nuggets, it's just one sticky mass. She's been inside for about 2 1/2 hours and she's still on her feet... so that's good. I haven't seen her let the kids nurse, but their sides aren't sunk in and they appear to be fine at this point. She's seems to be focusing inward, but she is alert to her surroundings. She's not glassy eyed, she's not grinding her teeth. She just looks like she doesn't feel good.

At this point I wouldn't have suspected Ketosis, but could that be a possibility?
As far as worm load, I realize kidding creates a heavier load but could she really have gone from beautiful dark pink gums to grey in 30 days from parasites? She's always had amazing resistance.
My other thought was possible toxins. One of my llamas was acting almost identicle last week. He's fine now. Honestly, I just thought he was on his way out since we think he's quite old. But now that she's acting this way, I'm wondering if it's possible that there was a poisonous plant in my last round bale? I have 9 adult goats, 2 llamas and 6 kids all eating from the same bale. It's gone now and no one else got sick, but... 

Any advice would be appreciated.


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## AshleyFishy (Mar 2, 2014)

Grey gums tends to mean shock. White means anemia.

Which could be ketosis, coccidiosis...well many many things actually. What does her breath smell like? Was she treated for coccidiosis recently? Have you tried drenching her with molasses water or red cell? Do you have any keto test stripes? Did she pass all the after birth? 

I would call the vet immediately.


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## Baymule (Mar 2, 2014)

For a home made re-hydration remedy, mix 5 tablespoons sugar with 1 tablespoon salt in a quart of water. Use a syringe to trickle it down her throat. The sugar and salt form an electrolyte solution. It works real good on people too!


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## lungewhipqueen (Mar 2, 2014)

Thanks guys, she's hanging in there tonight. She finally let the kids nurse this afternoon. She finally got a decent drink too.

If I had a decent goat vet, I wouldn't be asking you all for advice. In my experience though, the vets round here don't think of these goats as pets or valuable... they're commodities and in apparently in their opinions... aren't worth very much.

This particular goat is very valuable in my herd though, and I happen to think a lot of her. I really feel deep down that this is a parasite problem.. which bums me out. But she is better than she was this morning. She's had fluid, is still picking at her hay here and there, the kids look good... so I'll continue to monitor her as I've been doing.

Baymule... would your mixture be in addition to or in replace of an electrolyte mixture? She did finally drink some today but if I feel she's not getting enough, should I syringe in your mixture or syringe in the premixed electrolytes I have for her?

AshleyFishy... she did pass all the afterbirth and everything has been fine until two days ago. She hasn't been treated for anything, ever. She's been totally healthy until now. I haven't drenched her with anything, just gave her the cydectin this morning. But as for her breath... I have almost no sense of smell... so I couldn't guess what her breath smells like. :-( Like... my sense of smell is so faint, it's a recurring topic of conversation in my house. I don't smell the dogs, don't smell the cat box, don't smell things burning... it's great for me really!


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## Baymule (Mar 2, 2014)

I didn't know if you had an electrolyte mix or not. My remedy will work, it's amazing how fast it does work for dehydration. I am glad she seems better and I hope she fully recovers.


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## lungewhipqueen (Mar 3, 2014)

She's looking better still this morning. Far more alert and doesn't seem to be focused inward. She drank about a gallon of plain water through the night and she's actually letting the kids nurse regularly today. She still won't do more than taste a kernel or two of grain but she has eaten a small armload of hay. I noticed when she pooped last time that she's starting to form nuggets again too. They're all stuck together, but they're nuggets.

I'm not real sure what else to do for her. I'm just watching and keeping my fingers crossed.


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## Baymule (Mar 3, 2014)




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## Goat Whisperer (Mar 3, 2014)

Hoping your girl is getting better!


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## lungewhipqueen (Mar 4, 2014)

She's still hanging in there. Nibbles just enough hay to keep her functioning but only sniffs at grain. She always looks interested when I bring it. She'll stick her nose in the pan and get one or two little nuggets and spends an inordinate amount of time chewing that first little taste... then she walks away and leaves it.

I have been hearing her cough quite a bit in the last two days but she has no discharge of any kind. It's just a dry, hacking cough. I need to take her temp again but won't be able to do that until this evening when I have extra hands to hold her.


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## Goat Whisperer (Mar 4, 2014)

You may want to give her some probiotics, it will really get her rumen going again. You may want to give her some goat nutri-drench, that stuff works miracles! Nether will hurt her!


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