Severe diarrhea.

[helmstead]

You can either mix it into the electrolytes or make a ball of it (thick paste) and forcefeed it to her.

 

[taraann81]

Well I gave her it in a paste and force fed it to her. I made her walk up to the house(now I have a goat in the hall in a dog crate) its too hard to keep walking down to the barn to check on her constantly. She seemed better after a bit of a walk but once shes down again she looks horrid.

 

[miss_thenorth]

The vet was recommended by me. He is our horse vet, and it's okay to question him. when he was out at our place last year when I had goats, I asked if they did goats, and his answer was yes, but they mostly do cattle and horses. He said they don't see alot of goats. Sorry, Tara, I don't want to scare you, but they are the only livestock vet around that I know of. (well, I was told of one other, but he wasn't recommended) I do know he and Lottie are great with our horses. I really hope Sweetpea pulls though this. I;ll be keeping tabs for as long as I'm up tonight.

I am real hopeful, with all the knowledgeable people here, and with Dr Bernie, that she will pull through this ok.

 

[taraann81]

Of course it is okay to question him!! I know that and I thank you for the reccomendation and like I said he is the only large animal vet around so I have no choice but to go there. I for one don't expect anyone to know what everything is all the time. I really do appreciate all your help and giving me his number. He is doing the best he can with the knowledge he has about goats(its more than I have). If she is still sick tomorrow I will call him and request a fecal sample. I hope none of my posts sounded unappreciative. It wasn't meant to sound that way. I was pleased with his manner and I know he was trying to make her better.

I also wonder though that since coccidia is not specific to goats and many species of animals get their own types of coccidia, that I am sure he must be aware of it, right? I am thinking that the lack of bloody stool may have tipped him off??!

I don't know but here I am with a goat in a dog crate in my house!

 

[ksalvagno]

A goat with coccidia wouldn't have bloody stool. Probably once he heard the lungs and made the diagnosis of pneumonia, he wasn't even thinking about things like fecals. Even with experienced vets, I have found I have to ask questions and sometimes even demand to have things done. Another thing is large animal vets are sometimes used to doing the cheapest route of care and may not realize that you are willing to go the extra step and be willing to pay for extra tests.

At least the vet is willing to work with you even if he is not experienced with goats. That is half the battle sometimes. At least with coming here and getting some ideas, you can go back and ask him to run the tests.

I hope your goat does ok.

 

[trestlecreek]

If this were my goat, I would keep up with the supportive's I talked about, continue with the anti-biotics he gave and I would ask him in the morning about cocci or a bacterial gastrointestinal infection.
A fecal wouldn't hurt.
Yes, the loose stools can happen as a secondary result to the pneumonia.... often times a drug like SMZ-TMP(oral) will also be given for that... I personally wouldn't give any more baking soda, I'd stick with probios, sav-a-caf and pepto as prescribed until the vet prescribes something else.....

 

[ksalvagno]

There is a product out there called bio sponge. One place you can find it is http://www.platinumperformance.com/...productcategories/product.cfm?category_id=458 . If you know what is wrong with your goat, this product could help with the diarrhea. I don't know how it works for goats but it has been successful with alpacas which are also ruminants. The important thing is that you want to find out what is causing the diarrhea first.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Helmstead said she hated to question the vet, that's why i said it. You don't sound unappreciative--You sound really concerned and worried. and I am concerned too. I just know that he doesn't see alot of goats. My daughter told me she would say a prayer for your goat tonight.

I'll be heading off soon, I hope there is good news tomorrow.!

 

[kimmyh]

You might want to run a fresh sample of her poop in for a fecal tomorrow, and ask for worm/cocci/lung worm tests. Lung worm can sound just like pneumonia.

 

[taraann81]

Well I will still continue with the prescribed treatments and I will call the vet about the fecal. But on a good note, she seems ever so slightly better today. She is still lethargic and has diarrhea but she was fighting much stronger against me during the pepto administration. Yesterday she basically laid there and let me do it. Today she was turning away from me and pulling her head away.

She's not fighting against the electrolytes today, which she did yesterday. I've been told that in people anyway the stuff doesn't taste good unless your dehydrated so perhaps now her body is telling her its good for her.

On a side note, she hasn't gone to the bathroom at all in the crate. As soon as I took her outside this morning she went!! Are goats like dogs and try not to go in enclosed spots?