# Rhododendron poisoning and six goats



## alsea1 (Oct 6, 2017)

Wednesday afternoon  a hired helper hired by my neighbor(lawn care) guy cut down a huge rhodie bush and thought he would give the goats a treat.
I had no idea he had done this until Wednesday evening when the guy that rents the property next door called us to ask us if it was okay the goats were eating a rhodie bush.
I was at the grandsons football game when we got this bit of news. I rushed home and mixed up some activated charcoal, molassas, baking soda, salt, and milk of magnesia, strong tea and started drenching all six with it. 
Spent Thursday drenching them.  By late Thursday two of them were back to eating a little. Two of them were vomiting like crazy. One was vomiting but not as much as the other two. The vet suggested to stop the charcoal at this point and focus on pain relief and getting to eat as well as keep them hydrated.
I held out on pain relief because I was concerned that if this did not turn around it would render the goat inedible. So I gave vitamin b complex injections to those that would still let me catch them. By now they don't care for me so much and I am covered in bruises. Seems even  sick goat can put up a fight.
This morning four goats are eating. One is still not back up and the other won't let me catch him but he acts like he tries to pee but nothing. I am hoping his kidneys are okay. That is another thing I noticed is the urine in the goats that I have seen pee it is quite dark yellow.
This morning I decided to give Elenore (the one that still seems quite sick) the pain med.(Banamine). Now just have to hope she does pull thru.
Later I will give her a bit more vitamin b complex. Cant hurt. And more fluid via drench.
Hopefully none have aspirated in my attempts at hydrating them.   
I mixed up some probiotic powder in some coconut oil and all but the real sick one readily ate it. Will give more thru the day.
Gonna have to come up with some good treats to get them to allow me near them again. LOL They are like big five year olds when it comes to getting medicated. Wish me luck


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## dejavoodoo114 (Oct 6, 2017)

Good luck! I actually didn't know that rhodies were poisonous when I first got goats. Our first few never touched them but we picked up two bred and the next day they were throwing up like crazy. They pulled through fine but lost the pregnancies. Then, later that spring, the kids were in the front yard, I was in the shower, and my husband was in the front on the tractor doing something (this was 5 years ago).

Next thing I know my husband is screaming my name over and over and over again. I get out of the shower and wrap a towel around me, running downstairs. He is literally tossing the kids in the house one and two at a time screaming "they're eating the rhododendrin!" Of course, I had no idea why that was such a big deal but I kept the kids in the house while he jumped back on the tractor, pulled out the three or four big bushes we had and dropped them on the farthest edge of our 32 acres. 

After he got back, and I got into clothes, I found out that rhodies are poisonous and we figured out what had happened to our other does. Some of the kids had been throwing up a little but we couldn't figure out why. Our older goats got smart after they got sick from it but the kids kept going back to it. I am glad you found out about it in time to save at least 5 of your goats!


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## Eteda (Oct 6, 2017)

jeffers, valley vet and online farm supply companies sell activated charcoal in cow size tubes. some of it is a combination for bloat also. it doesn't cost much. most tubes are about 390 grams. like the big tube of safeguard. there is a applicator gun needed that makes it so much easier to get it out of the tube other than using a wooden spoon or stick to push the plunger inside up.
         I give adult goats and sheep half the tube right off the bat. 150 lbs then more in a couple hours.It is not hard to give and they eat it readily as if they know it will help. it works good. keeps a long time. At most places its around ten dollars if you search for the deals. its a good thing to have on hand. their are many brands also.  poison causes constipation, so I also give an enema to move the bowls and help it move through the system faster than being constipated. mineral oil will help lubricate and move stuff through. milk of magnesia will draw water into the digestive system from the body .probiotics would be a good thing after they are ready to hold down food.
         one brand is called D-TOX it has electrolytes in it also. it can also be used as an emergency first aid for accidental poisoning resulting from insecticides, herbicides, organic chemicals, intestinal bacterial contaminates or grain overload it says. I paid 9.95 for it at Pike county co-op last about a year ago. Manufactured for agripharm products of westlake texas. 
         the other brand I have is by vets plus inc. they have a web site. vets-plus.com. both dosages say 1 - 3cc per kg (2.2) bw. repeat 1-3 hours or as needed. I haven't looked for a big stash of powered activated charcoal , as I have not much need of it. but it is out their somewhere also. on one tube it says 300cc (335 gm). my thinking tells me if you dosed at 2cc/2 lb of bw , then 300 cc would treat 300 lbs of body weight for one dose. as a mid range dose.
        so if you live close enough and you need some, hear I am.


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## alsea1 (Oct 6, 2017)

thanks for the advice.
Everyone but the Saanan have recovered.


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## alsea1 (Oct 9, 2017)

Good news. Elenore the Saanan has made a complete recovery as well. 
Whew!


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## babsbag (Oct 9, 2017)

Good save, you are a great goat mom. One good thing about living where it is HOT...rhodies don't grow. Glad that your neighbor called you.


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## Jeanne Sheridan (Oct 10, 2017)

alsea1 said:


> Wednesday afternoon  a hired helper hired by my neighbor(lawn care) guy cut down a huge rhodie bush and thought he would give the goats a treat.
> I had no idea he had done this until Wednesday evening when the guy that rents the property next door called us to ask us if it was okay the goats were eating a rhodie bush.
> I was at the grandsons football game when we got this bit of news. I rushed home and mixed up some activated charcoal, molassas, baking soda, salt, and milk of magnesia, strong tea and started drenching all six with it.
> Spent Thursday drenching them.  By late Thursday two of them were back to eating a little. Two of them were vomiting like crazy. One was vomiting but not as much as the other two. The vet suggested to stop the charcoal at this point and focus on pain relief and getting to eat as well as keep them hydrated.
> ...


Good luck saving you babies.  There was a Rhodie in the yard when we got here we dug it up and gave it to a neighbor with no livestock.  We also had to move a massive old rhubarb.  The silly goats kept eating the leaves and getting bad diarrhea.


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## alsea1 (Oct 10, 2017)

I didn't know that about rhubarb. Guess we will leave that out of garden plans.


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## Jeanne Sheridan (Oct 10, 2017)

alsea1 said:


> I didn't know that about rhubarb. Guess we will leave that out of garden plans.


I used to have a great list of bad for goat plants but I couldn't find it.  Here is a link to one I had on pinterest.
https://dairygoatdiariesblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/poisonous-plants-to-goats/


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## Eteda (Oct 13, 2017)

glad to hear all the goat recovered and are doing fine. good job.


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