Coughing goat, please help!

[mirandaleecon]

That is a possibility, she was bred 5 1/2 months ago. We stopped thinking she might be prego about halfway through. Haven't seen any discharge though...I did notice her yawning a bit around when her sister kidded, they had the same due dates. Any likelyhood she could have retained the fetus? Vet said she would need surgery if that was the case

 

[babsbag]

Yes, she could have retained the fetus. I would ask about a shot of Lutalyse which will cause her to abort if she is/was bred. It will also cause her to come into heat. Wasn't she just with the buck when she got sick?

 

[mirandaleecon]

I will def ask about that. Yes, she was with a buck, once, the day before she got sick. She was two weeks past her due date so we figured it was safe to try again...

So weird thing I just saw, Mr. Goat has been in a seperate pen and he is quite the escape artist. He was just wandering around my yard a min ago so I went to put him back in his pen but I have to walk him through the girls pen to get there. Well twice Janice ran up to him, squatted, pee then turned around to show herself off, wagging her tail and stuff. Looks like she's in heat(and feeling MUCH better btw), she didn't even do that the first time she was with him. Could she have passed the fetus today? I have a really gross picture of what I found in her box today, I assumed it was intestinal lining...

So WARNING NEXT POST WILL CONTAIN GROSS PICTURE...

 

[mirandaleecon]

Here it is:

 

[babsbag]

I am not sure what that is. I would expect a formed fetus if she has been bred for 5 months and aborted somewhere along the line. I suppose it could have died very early on and she just retained it but I would think that it would have caused in infection a long time ago, not now after 5 months. Not sure at all, kind of thinking as I type.

If she were my doe and I wanted to breed her I would ask the vet to do a uterine flush with an antibiotic just to be sure she is cleaned out and then expose her to the buck.

From that picture I would say that is not fecal matter, but again, I may be very wrong.

Glad she is feeling better.

 

[mirandaleecon]

Update: she seemed to make a full recovery, lots of energy and eating well but now she doesn't seem herself again today. She's not like she was before but she didn't come running when I opened the gate or the feed bucket (which she has been begging for since we stopped giving it to her because she was ill). She is walking around and nibbling on grass, her poop is almost normal, (lighter brown than normal and not perfect oval, but still pellets), and she's peeing. Her side does look a lot bigger than it has been but it's not hard like I thought bloat was supposed to be. Could this be the beginning of bloat? Could she have an upset stomach from all the antibiotics?
I don't have a tube but I do have some needles, although I don't know if the gauge is big enough to let out enough gas. I also have maybe one dose of kaopectate left...any ideas what I should do?


Oh and if it makes any difference, when she got better she immediately went into heat. Once that happened, there was no keeping the visiting buck penned and they def had a fling. We took him home saturday. I will never own a buck after that...good riddance!

 

[babsbag]

Aren't bucks fun? I have three at my house and it is very disgusting out there right now.

That is a hard one with your doe. Mine can look huge after they eat and in the last 7 years of owning goats I have had bloat once and once 30 years ago so I am no expert on it. Yes, she can be "off" from the antibiotics; have you been giving her probiotics? The way I have treated bloat both times was with vegetable oil (not mineral), we drenched them with about 1/2 cup. Releasing the gas with a needle is usually used when they are near death and there is no other option. You can rub her sides vigourously and it will help break up the gas.

Sorry I am not more help. Hope she gets better all by herself.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

How is she doing?

 

[mirandaleecon]

She is doing better. I think her stomach is still just recovering from the antibiotics. She was begging for pellets again yesterday so I take that as a good sign. She is very quiet though, which isn't like her...

 

[mirandaleecon]

Oh, and I have been trying to give her probios, which she ate willingly the first time but not so much now. I'm trying to give her a break from cramming so much medicine in her mouth because that seemed to stress her out a lot. She isn't as trusting in treats anymore