# Out of town goat poo situation;urgent



## NachoFarm (Apr 20, 2012)

Oh man, we're out of town and my brother is at our farm taking care of our goats.  One apparently had feces smeared all over her little butt.  She looks like shes dropping cow patties instead of normal goat raisins.  I'm not there to help and I don't know what to do!  Is there something I can get my brother to give her to try and help until we're home on Sunday?!  How do I know if it's something serious or just a dietary glitch?!  I'm very worried about her and feeling helpless.


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## elevan (Apr 20, 2012)

How old is the goat?  How knowledgeable is your brother about goats? Can he provide you with any additional info?


_At the very least I would have him add electrolytes (Pedialyte works good) to the goats water._


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## 20kidsonhill (Apr 20, 2012)

knowing the age of the goat would help a lot. 

Dietary scours normally last just a day.


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## NachoFarm (Apr 20, 2012)

She's three months old and he's not knowledgable about goats at all.  From what I could gather, her butt was all coated in poo, ip her tail and such.  And there's loose piles (although not liquid) in the stall.  The only difference is that they were outdoors all day yesterday while I was cleaning the barn.  Should he give her Gatorade or something in the water until we get home?


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## 20kidsonhill (Apr 20, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> She's three months old and he's not knowledgable about goats at all.  From what I could gather, her butt was all coated in poo, ip her tail and such.  And there's loose piles (although not liquid) in the stall.  The only difference is that they were outdoors all day yesterday while I was cleaning the barn.  Should he give her Gatorade or something in the water until we get home?


Do you have any medicines for coccidiosis? or any safeguard wormer available to for him to use?  I suspect it would be coccidiosis, although your other choices would be other types of worms, or bacterial scours. 


If she was here I would treat her with the following. 

Spectam Scour guard for bacterial scours(oral)
Sulfa-dimethoxine for coccidiosis(oral)
pepto-bismo or kaolin-pectin for indegestion and soothing the stomach,(oral)
Penn G shots(injectable)
Vitamin B(injecrtable)


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## NachoFarm (Apr 20, 2012)

I don't have any of that on hand.  Is there a big problem if I wait it out?  If its just dietary I don't want to bombard her with meds.  Plus I'm not there to make any of these decisions.  Is there something I can give her, see how she does and if no improvement then call the vet on Monday?  Is that a reasonable plan?


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## Roll farms (Apr 20, 2012)

Severe coccidiosis, left unchecked, could kill her or do a lot of damage to the intestinal lining by Monday.

At 3 mos she's the perfect age for an outbreak.  Could it be dietary?  Yep.  It's possible.... Could it be cocci.  Yep.  

Tractor Supplies / farm stores usually carry safeguard.  He can give her that 1x a day on an empty stomach (1cc per 10#) until you return.  That should start treating the cocci.
Have him get a tube of Probios and give her that 1x a day.

But....it's your goat, your call.


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## NachoFarm (Apr 20, 2012)

Will TSC carry the probiotic stuff (brand name?) as well as the safe guard?  They're both administered orally right?


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## NachoFarm (Apr 20, 2012)

Does TSC carry any of this?	

Albon Concentrated Solution 12.5%
Albon Soluble Powder 107 gm pkg
Di-Methoox Concentrated Solution 12.5%
Di-Methoox Soluble Powder 107 gm pkg


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## Roll farms (Apr 20, 2012)

Nope, TSC doesn't carry any of the 'normal' cocci meds (except for Corid, which I wouldn't use to treat, only to prevent ) - but in a pinch Safeguard works for coccidia (according to what some posters here have said, I've never tried it because I keep DiMethox on hand.)

TSC does carry Probios and several other forms of probiotics....cultured yogurt will also work in a pinch.

And yes, both orally.


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## NachoFarm (Apr 20, 2012)

A call to the vet says that since she's not off her feed we can safely wait until Monday.  I hope he's right...


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## elevan (Apr 20, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> A call to the vet says that since she's not off her feed we can safely wait until Monday.  I hope he's right...


I had a goat get severe coccidia that acted perfectly normal - no scours - nothing.  Random fecal tests found it.  There is such a thing as subclinical illness...meaning that there are no symptoms present.  And in your case you have one classic symptom.

Because she's not off feed doesn't mean anything really.

I hope that she's ok until you return on Monday.  Please keep us updated.


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## NachoFarm (Apr 20, 2012)

But isn't it always present in feces to some degree or another? He also said the lack of blood in the stool was a promising sign of just a dietary issue. We did change hay providers this week...I wonder if that may have anything to do with it.  I don't want to go home to a dead or really sick goat...Is the vets opinion totally irrelevant then?  I was feeling better after I talked to him and now not so much.


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## elevan (Apr 20, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> But isn't it always present in feces to some degree or another? He also said the lack of blood in the stool was a promising sign of just a dietary issue. We did change hay providers this week...I wonder if that may have anything to do with it.  I don't want to go home to a dead or really sick goat...Is the vets opinion totally irrelevant then?  I was feeling better after I talked to him and now not so much.


You should never totally disregard the vet's opinion...but you should know that they are fallible and are not always right.

Are coccidia and / or worms always present in the stool?  Generally...the question is at what level.  It can go from having a "safe" amount to an extremely harmful amount in a matter of hours.  

Lack of blood in the stool - this is a good thing.  But it doesn't mean that coccidia or worms aren't the cause of the scouring.

Could this be dietary?  Certainly it could.  And if it is then I would be offering some supportive care...such as electrolytes and gelatin drenches at the very least.

We are all here to help each other...but we are on the internet and not there in person...and it is your farm.  We don't ever like to hear stories of dead animals but trust me I've had to make decisions myself that didn't always turn out right.  The best you can do is take all the information (what your vet said, what your brother has told you and what we've said) and make a call on it.

You could have your brother create an account here and provide us with more details through answering some questions from us and that may help you with your choice of what to do.

If the goat were here I would at the very least provide supportive care as diarrhea dehydrates and dehydration comes with it's own issues.

  It's really hard when you have a sick animal...even worse when you're not there.


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## NachoFarm (Apr 21, 2012)

Ok, well if I can tell him to give electrolytes and gelatin (?) then at least something is being done until I'm back tomorrow and can be more hands-on.  So what would you recommend I use for electrolytes?  And gelatin drenching?  Oh boy, I think that's out of my brothers scope of care.  What exactly does this involve as far as supplies, procedure etc?


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## elevan (Apr 21, 2012)

NachoFarm said:
			
		

> Ok, well if I can tell him to give electrolytes and gelatin (?) then at least something is being done until I'm back tomorrow and can be more hands-on.  So what would you recommend I use for electrolytes?  And gelatin drenching?  Oh boy, I think that's out of my brothers scope of care.  What exactly does this involve as far as supplies, procedure etc?


Have your brother go to the store and get a couple of bottles of Pedialyte or Fruit punch flavored Gatorade and a few boxes of Jello (jiggly gelatin mix any flavor) and a turkey baster (unless you have a drenching syringe already.

Have him pour 1 cups of the Pedialyte / Gatorade and 1/2 box of Jello into a bowl and mix them up, then suck them up into the turkey baster, then he needs to get a firm hold on the goat while holding the goat's head up and put the baster into the goat's mouth (toward the back of the tongue) and squirt the juice down the goat's throat.  Repeat every 5 hours.

Make sure that the goat has plenty of fresh water at all times available...emphasis on fresh.


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## NachoFarm (Apr 24, 2012)

As of Sunday morning my brother had said that she looked fine, and when we got home that evening there was no evidence of anything but normal goat droppings in the stall.  She seems fine and everything appears normal at this point.  Thanks for everyone's advice.  Oh, btw, my brother tried to give her Gatorade.  She took a sip and walked off but her sister tried to drink the whole bottle.  Silly goats.  They sure do keep us on our toes.


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## elevan (Apr 24, 2012)




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