doe kid gone limp-mother not producing much-pls HELP

[SevernSunset]

Her temp has been stable and normal since I removed the hot water bottle and stopped covering her with wool blankets....Inititally I was worried she was cold, but I hadn't taken her temp, so I probably shouldn't have been.

Her breathing seems fine...but she still is pretty lethargic, although she's been trying to stand up and has been holding up her head and interacting a lot more this aft.

We really hesitate to use antibiotics preventively, and like to resort to using them for treatments only when absolutely necessary.

I've seen pneumonia in lambs, and they seemed weepy in the eyes and nose and my kid doesn't have that. Does that happen in kids with pneumonia too?

 

[ksalvagno]

It may or may not in goats. She also could have some septicemia going on too. If you do the Penicillin, then you want to do it twice a day.

 

[20kidsonhill]

The antibiotics are certainly your choice. Although I can say with out a doubt if she was here I would have her on Penn G.

Has anyone suggested Baking soda for floppy kid?

 

[SevernSunset]

Now I am hearing a little raspiness when she exhales. She's still very weak, but is conscious.

This set in when she was 5 days- does anyone else think it could be floppy kid as 20kidsonhill suggested?

If I do use Pen G and treat her for pneumonia, would that affect her adversely if it is FKS? Or the other way, if I treat her with baking soda, and its actually FKS, could that affect her adversely?

If I need to make a move and send my husband to the farm store to get Pen G, it has to be soon...as I'm actually 40 wks pg myself...so there's a good chance he'll be taking over the nursing of this little kid at any time...

Going to call around to see where we have to go to get Pen G....

 

[20kidsonhill]

The hardest thing about giving the baking soda, is that it is really salty tasting and they don't like it, I mix it in a little corn syrup and a drop or two of water to thin it. She doesn't need to aspirate and have any more problems. But the baking soda would be good for her, even if it isn't FKS, sense she isn't moving around very much, it would help with any possible indigestion from not standing well.

and congratulations on the pregnancy. That is very exciting.

 

[redtailgal]

I'd have to go ahead and start the Pen G right away.

I might would call a vet to see if I could get some Nuflor or something, mostly because Pen G scares me. But honestly, I'd give Pen G rather than risk losing her.

 

[SevernSunset]

I don't think it will be hard to get into her, she takes really well to syringe feeding. How much should I give her?

And does that mean that if it is FKS, we'd start to see some recovery?


Something else I should mention is that I believe she is having some minor bleeding from her small (upper) intestine. Her stool was dark this am, and when I grabbed it with toilet paper, there was a pinkish stain on the paper. I've seen this before in non-ruminating animals (and human babies) reacting adversely to their feed, and thought it likely due to the fact that her morning feed yesterday was all pasteurized store bought goat's milk. I was able to milk enough from her mother for the rest of the day however, and now it seems that her mother's milk has come in, she has much more....I can get about 4-6 oz from a milking a few times a day. Still not much I know.

Anyways, I thought I should mention it in case it is a clue to something else, or if this means something different in a ruminant.

Thank you so much everyone for all of your help and support.

(and thanks for the congrats!)

 

[20kidsonhill]

she hasn't had runny Poop? Could be constipation from lack of eating, could be more serious.

this directions says to mix with water, but I find they chock on it very easily, so that is why I mixed with corn syrup, so it is a little thicker and sweeter. But according to this you would see improvements in a few hours.



Information for Floppy Kid: http://www.boergoats.com/clean/articleads.php?art=70
The first thing that we recommend is to leave affected kids off milk for 24 to 36 hrs. Again, because the kids look very weak, it has been difficult to convince goat producers that the problem is due to overfeeding and not to lack of energy. However, keeping kids temporarily off milk is probably the single most important thing in treating these cases. Secondly, the acidity of the stomach needs to be neutralized by administering a bicarbonate (baking soda) solution. For this purpose, dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda in one glass of water and administer 10-20- ml of this solution orally. Repeat this procedure 2 to 3 times within the following 3 to 6 hours. Most kids will show clear improvement with this treatment within the following 6 to 10 hours. Treated kids first become more active and will initially pass very solid feces that subsequently turn into diarrhea. This is a good sign and an indication that the intestines are moving again. The third part of the treatment consists of administering a wide spectrum antibiotic to prevent secondary infections. After 36 hours the affected kids can be put back with their mothers if they take them. Otherwise they would need to be raised on a milk substitute. Initially, artificial milk needs to be diluted with water and small amounts of milk (100 ml) need to be given 3 to 4 times a day for the first 2 days, then follow the manufacturers instruction.

 

[SevernSunset]

Okie, we can't get Pen G locally- its about an hour from here. We can get Propen LA however- I know its used in cattle, can I use that?

 

[SevernSunset]

Sorry 20kids, I missed your post, we were posting at the same time.

That is pretty scary to take her right off milk for 24 hrs or more....

She did have some loose stools yesterday am, and I gave her a 1/4 tsp of DE and a probiotic mixed into a paste to head it off. (its an organic mgmt technique which works really well, we use regularly, as does the farmer who recommended it to me). That treatment would also typically cause the stool to become whitish, something I haven't seen, though any darkness caused by bleeding in the upper digestive would definately mask that.