VERY skinny doe - updated post 38 - bottlejaw :(

[Roll farms]

Yeah, what she said....

 

[Bunny-kids]

Thanks, everyone.

Nothing new to report. She's finished with the Valbazen yesterday, and I'll follow it up with Cydectin ... right? In a week?

Still has bottlejaw. Was ok in the morning, but of course much worse this evening after having her head down browsing all day. Eyelids appear to be slightly paler than yesterday evening.

Gave red cell, vitamin B complex, and a liquid calcium.

She's not interested in alfalfa pellets today, and I've cut her grain ... sigh ... want to give her the calories, but at the same time, if it's throwing off her calcium ...

She's eating hay, clover, grass, assorted pasture weeds, and she still craves hackberry leaves, which I give her separate from the others. I've got some bananas and strawberries for the animals I'm going to give her first shot at tomorrow.

Will keep up the red cell and calcium for sure, for now.

I didn't see her poop at all today. I mean, I'm sure she did, but not in front of me. I didn't notice any scour-y poop anywhere, and it's not on her legs anywhere. I didn't NOTICE clumpy poop, but it could still be out there somewhere.

My goat thermometer isn't where it should be, so I may pick up another one and take her temp ... I need one anyway. Would like to have that info as well. Kids are doing ok. I guess I'm going to put an ad up for the buckling soon, to get him off her. I need to check but I think he has another week and a half to go to make 8 weeks. Poor little guy ... he and his sister are going to miss each other.

Not much else to say I guess. Will just keep at it. Hopefully can build her up, and I thank everyone SO much!

(does this need to be moved out of emergencies now?)

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

I wouldn't feed her fruit right now. The rumen flora are already under a lot of stress with the meds and change in diet. Keep things as consistent (and as basic) as possible for her until you get her out of the woods, then you can slowly reintroduce treats. The last thing you want is further digestive upset.

 

[elevan]

(does this need to be moved out of emergencies now?)

Ok. Will do. Glad she is doing better. Do keep us updated

 

[Bunny-kids]

I wouldn't feed her fruit right now. The rumen flora are already under a lot of stress with the meds and change in diet. Keep things as consistent (and as basic) as possible for her until you get her out of the woods, then you can slowly reintroduce treats. The last thing you want is further digestive upset.

Thanks, I appreciate that. Her mama will be glad to get them then. She thinks I must be giving treats from the syringe when I pull the sick one anyway.

Makes sense. I was thinking of getting her more calories and tempting her appetite, but I can see with rumen digestion wanting to keep it on an even keel.

Glad I mentioned it, thanks for pointing that out.

 

[mama24]

DO NOT feel bad about her being so young! There was no way to tell how that would turn out, especially if she was a big strong girl! It seems like this was a fluke and everything was in her favor to be heatlhy and strong carrying kids, even as a young mom. One of my doelings wasn't supposed to be bred, and she kidded a beautiful *11lb* doeling on Easter Sunday. She was only 11mos old, too. And she's a VERY small girl! Only about 90lbs! And she had an 11lb doeling! So you never can tell, and it was certainly not your fault. Getting the worm overload did this to her, not having the babies. Perhaps the pregnancy on top of the still growing body was what let the worms get so bad, but I wouldn't blame the pregnancy. Now you know to worm more often, and she's going to be FINE. Luckily for me, I got my does from a friend who I see every Sat when I go buy from him at the farmer's market. He tells me when he's doing his hoof trimming, shots, wormer, etc, so I can follow the schedule he had these girls on when they were with him. That is probably the ONLY reason my girls didn't go downhill. B/c I was pretty clueless when I got them. Only thing I have to add is do you have any probiotics for her? I give my goats a sprinkle of some probiotic powder sometimes that I got from Jeffers when I ordered a bunch of stuff. I've seen prefilled syringes with probiotic gel at the feed store, but they may also have the powder. My girls love the powder when I put it on their grain. Probiotics are good for getting the stomach and intestinal flora back on track faster.

 

[nomad]

For the bottle jaw situation, give salt. Bottle jaw is simply edema which is too much fluid entering the tissue. The salt will pull the fluid back into the vascular system where it belongs and help reduce the chance of a "coronary event". Sometimes bottle jaw is not a result of excessive worm load, but a result of insufficient salt in the diet. Bacterial endotoxin can also cause excessive capillary permeability which leads to edema.

For quick energy, provide "simple sugar syrup" which is 1 part sugar to 1 part water. All organisms function (when in a healthy state) on the respiration of sugar (either recently ingested or in storage form).

Bring water and sugar to a boil and boil until sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature and transfer to a jar. Store in a cool pantry or refrigerate.

 

[Bunny-kids]

Thanks, everyone

I actually have her on Probios, I just keep forgetting to mention that when I list all the other stuff. I am using the Probios gel, and giving her about 1-1/2-2x the regular dose, I'd say. It's the only thing I give her that she doesn't HATE. LOL poor girl.

I'll look into the salt. Thanks for that info.

I might go with sugar-water too ... I'd given her molasses for a while, but she associates it with the red cell (I tried mixing them) so she doesn't even want molasses now.

Mostly she's eating pasture weeds today, had a little clover and hay.

I'm going to be needing more hay pretty soon, and they've started cutting here. I can get some fresh grass hay (I'm hoping) this week. Will be a while before I can get fresh alfalfa, looks like.

I am still thinking of grabbing some goat pellets, though I'll have to drive a bit for them, since our feed store doesn't have them. TSC a few towns over should. My feed store suggested mare and colt ration, which is a grain/sweet feed. Gotta drive a ways in different directions to get anything else for the llama or the goats.

Edited to add: oh, and thanks, Mama for the encouragement. I haven't had that many kiddings yet anyway, and with her being so young, I was feeling like it was my fault. If she can get back on track, I'll feel much better about it too. I'm hoping those legs can become strong and straight again. I'm just still a little in shock over how hard it hit her. I've had emergencies before, but never anything like this. I appreciate you sharing that. I guess it's definitely a live-and-learn situation. Thanks again!

 

[Bunny-kids]

Bottlejaw GONE as of Tuesday evening.

She STILL wants mostly hackberry leaves, so I'm leaving her with that, browse, and hay. I'm still offering alfalfa pellets. She looks a little better, though of course she's going to be thin for a long time.

Eyelids have just the tiniest bit of pinkish coming back.

Still on the red cell, etc. routine. Will cut back when the eyelids improve more. She fought me a lot less over it today. Maybe she decided it's not THAT bad. Otherwise her spirits are good, she RAN to the gate, hopeful for goodies.

Her buckling is doing well. The doeling is fine too, but so much smaller than all the boys, and smaller than her mama was. She's healthy though, so I'm just going to hope she catches up once I pull the buck kid. I worry it may be hard on her though since he is her buddy -- she hasn't really bonded very firmly with the buck kids from my other doe.

Dealing with rabbit kit and duckling issues, so I'm glad the goat is coming along.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Make sure kids are on coccidiosis prevention and you'll see better growth rates, no mortality from coccidiosis, and they will be healthier as adults. Great job for knocking out the bottle jaw! Stick with it!