Signs and symptoms uf UC in a buck

[TOPalmer3rd]

My 1.5 year old Boer Buck seems to be laboring to urinate. He also is dripping urine almost half the time. I have free choiced his mineral since I purchased him almost 8 months ago. The mineral has AC in it as well. Is this normal? He also gets erections and is constantly cleaning himself orally. Is this nomal?

THanks
Tom

 

[ksalvagno]

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6670

Here is a thread with some info. I hope your buck is ok.

 

[cmjust0]

My 1.5 year old Boer Buck seems to be laboring to urinate. He also is dripping urine almost half the time. I have free choiced his mineral since I purchased him almost 8 months ago. The mineral has AC in it as well. Is this normal? He also gets erections and is constantly cleaning himself orally. Is this nomal?

THanks
Tom

Sounds *very* much like UC..

First off, clip his pizzle. Sit him up on his rump, externalize his penis by taking hold of the sheath at the end with one hand and just above his testes with the other, and just kinda push your hands toward one another.. When the tip comes out, you'll see a little squiggly curly-q flappy lookin thing on the end of it. Snip that off. It's seriously no big deal *at all*..

Find some soluble ammonium chloride and drench him with it. Dosage is about 3 grams per 22lbs of goat.. I *think* it's given twice a day, but double check me on that. Your vet may be able to get this for ya. If you can't find AC, some people have apparently had luck drenching with something called 'fruit fresh' that you get at the grocery store.. I can't vouch for fruit fresh, but if I had nothing else, I'd use it. No clue on fruit fresh dosage.. Whichever you use, the point of doing this is to trying and acidify his urine to dissolve the UC crystals.

If you have banamine, give it right now -- 1ml/100lbs, IM. It will help bring down inflammation, which is a *huge* and almost-always overlooked component of UC. If you don't have any banamine, get enough for 3 doses from your vet.

If you can get a little hit of Acepromazine from your vet, get it. Not enough to knock him *down*, but enough to make him loopy and calm him. It's a smooth muscle relaxer, and he's probably having spasms in his urinary tract.. I've personally witnessed a 'plugged' goat pee like a racehorse after a dose of acepromazine, as if there wasn't a problem in the world. If your vet looks at you like you're crazy for wanting Ace, tell him it's so you can get him calm enough to clip his pizzle.

Get a course of dexamethasone from your vet, too. Dosage is 1ml/20lbs IM, and you'll give it for about 7-10 days.. I'd go 7 days at full strength dosage, then taper him down for those last 3 days. Dex is an immune system suppressor, an inflammation is an immune response...therefore, dex will prevent further inflammation. This is a *HUGE* part of the treatment -- if your vet balks, FIGHT FOR IT. Seriously.

Give PenG.. Dosage is 1ml/15lbs, SQ 2x/day through an 18ga needle.. A 20ga will work, but nothing smaller than that - and yes, the needle size matters.. Trust me on this. I'll explain later.

And that's really about all you can do. It's a pretty thorough treatment protocol, though, and I've personally saved a goat using it and have saved other goats by recommending it. It's also more than about 99% of the rest of the world does, so if it doesn't work...at least you'll know you did everything humanly possible to save him.

The other thing is that if you do it yourself, it's really not that expensive.. None of the drugs listed above are *outrageously* pricey..

Get on this *very quickly* and good luck to you.. Keep us posted, please.

 

[TOPalmer3rd]

OK,
First off I am not questioning what you are saying I am merely wanting to understand. What is the benefit for cutting off his pizzle? When I do this, do I use a nice pair of surgical scissors that are sterile? Will this effect his breeding in the future?

I have a call into the vet for some AC and ACE, wife will pickup after work at 5;30. We currently have banamine for horses. I will dose accordingly. We have Dex for a mare as well. I have plenty of fresh Pen-G on hand with 18 guage needles. IM injection in neck or rump for the Dex and SQ in side below shoulder.


Thanks

Tom

 

[Roll farms]

Sometimes the blockage is in the pizzle, it's a 'bottleneck' effect.
I removed one from our buck a few years ago and he still sired kids for many years.
We used my small sewing scissors soaked in alcohol for a minute.

 

[cmjust0]

OK,
First off I am not questioning what you are saying I am merely wanting to understand. What is the benefit for cutting off his pizzle? When I do this, do I use a nice pair of surgical scissors that are sterile? Will this effect his breeding in the future?

My understanding is that the pizzle is basically just a 'water wiggle' for urine which allows the buck to get a really interesting and diverse urine spray pattern all over his beard, face, legs, etc..

Cutting it off will give him a more direct stream and may keep him from being able to really give himself a good shellacing of urine, but it's basically superfluous. Won't affect his actual *breeding* capability..

Indeed, if you look at the way the pizzle has evolved and how it turns black and pretty much dies and starts breaking down when they get UC caught up in it, I'm fairly convinced it's *made* to fall off if necessary.

That's my opinion, though..

I have a call into the vet for some AC and ACE, wife will pickup after work at 5;30. We currently have banamine for horses. I will dose accordingly. We have Dex for a mare as well. I have plenty of fresh Pen-G on hand with 18 guage needles. IM injection in neck or rump for the Dex and SQ in side below shoulder.

Perfect.