# Goat won't eat- tricks?



## oppida

So here's the back story of my sick goat: http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26081

She still won't eat...much. Maybe a few blades of hay a day. She's really weak and I think it's because she's not eating.

She has clean meadow hay, access to rich pasture and I just bought some alfalfa pellats, which she seemed interested in but in the end ate very little of. She seems to just nuzzle food- almost as if she can't get it in her mouth? 

I ground up the pellats in a coffee grinder to make it smaller and more like a dust and also tried adding water to make alfalfa pellet mush. She kinds liked the mush then refused to eat it.

I'm hesitant to give her grain because all my goats have had diarrhea from the rich new pasture they are gorging on. And since she hasn't eaten much in the past 2 weeks, I figured grain might be too much. 

She is drinking some water and I'm giving her subq fluids.

Any tips or tricks on how to get her to eat and not just nuzzle the food? Molasses? 

Thank you!


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## Catahoula

Sorry to hear your doe won't eat. A shot of vitamin B complex should perk her up help her with appetite. At this point anything...molasses mix with whatever if she has a sweet tooth. I don't know how but if you can steal some cud from other goats and feed it to her, it would help too. She needs nourishment.


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## OneFineAcre

How old is she?


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## oppida

OneFineAcre said:
			
		

> How old is she?


About 4 or 5. Not 100% sure, we "adopted" her from a family who had them as a 4-h project but were moving away. I believe they told me she was 4, so by now she might be almost 5.


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## ragdollcatlady

Are you able to check her teeth? If she has painful teeth or a sore, she wouldn't feel like eating.


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## alsea1

As mentioned rule out dental issues.
I would force some probiotics into her.  Her rumen may be messed up due to not eating properly.
A vet may be nec. to do some blood work. There may be a problem.


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## Squirrelgirl88

Vitamin B Gel will also get her more perky and she may show more interest in eating. Here are some things we've tried in the past to entice eating.

Applesauce - natural, no sugar.
Oatmeal - again, natural
Molasses - pour on anything, or put it in the water
Shredded carrots
Banana
Watermelon

I also recommend a call to the vet. You can't always trust what information you get from the previous owner.

Good luck.


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## OneFineAcre

Squirrelgirl88 said:
			
		

> Vitamin B Gel will also get her more perky and she may show more interest in eating. Here are some things we've tried in the past to entice eating.
> 
> Applesauce - natural, no sugar.
> Oatmeal - again, natural
> Molasses - pour on anything, or put it in the water
> Shredded carrots
> Banana
> Watermelon
> 
> I also recommend a call to the vet. You can't always trust what information you get from the previous owner.
> 
> Good luck.


I think in her other thread she attached a link to she mentioned a vet had seen her, and the vet could not tell what the problem was.

I don't know the answer and about all anyone on here can do is speculate.

I would have hoped your vet would have checked most of the other possibilities that people have mentioned.

But, besides all of the various issues that goats can have, they can have some of the same diseases that people do, like various types of cancers that can be terminal.  It can be expensive to do those types of tests.

I hope it isn't anything like that.  You need to do anything you can to get her to eat something.


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