What should we do now????

[fiset94]

Peanut Butter is 5 months old and has been in good health up until 6 days ago. She started pulling back from the herd ( we have 4 other goats and 1 is her mom) - Standing in one spot and not running around. Not very interested in food or water.

We brought her to the vet on Friday and they did a fecal... and blood.

The blood work showed LOW

AST - (72) normal is 157-513
Creatine (0.5) normal is 1.0-1.8
Lymphocytes (37) normal 50-70

and a HIGH

CK (233) Normal is 1-9
Cholesterol (261) normal is 80-130
Glucose (149) normal is 50-75
Phosphorus (8.6) normal is 5.0-7.3
WBC (14.1) Normal 4.0-13.0
MCHC (39.2) Normal 28-34
Neutrophil (62) normal 30-48

The fecal showed Eimeria - but in the lower end of 11-30

Her bowels have been really firm and dry- but still rabbit pellets.

She was placed on Penn G since Friday with no improvement. She will lean down on her front legs but doesn't want her belly to touch the ground. They have also given her two IV treatments for dehydration. She will try to nurse from her mom for a few seconds.. but it appears to be for comfort. Her mom is the herd leader and she is acting very protective of her right now... guarding her from the other goats. I keep her in the house in a crate at night because it is so cold... and during the day she is out with her mom. She also sounds like she has Laryngitis... but she is not a vocal goat and isn't crying unless you touch her. She pulls away from you if you try to touch her belly.

The vet said that she doesn't hear her rumen going.

HELP ME PLEASE....


I have included a few pictures of her....

 

[bonbean01]

Awww...poor thing. She's a pretty girl, and I'd call the vet again. Hope she gets better and sorry I have no help or advice to give

 

[woodsie]

Is she chewing her cud? If not, I would be giving probiotics. I have also heard of people stealing some cud from another healthy goat and feeding it to the sick goat to repopulate the rumen with the good bugs, might be worth a try. If she's on antibiotics I would definitely be giving probiotics anyhow.

Is she grinding her teeth? what's her temp? that information would help.

I have also had a lot of luck with slippery elm for sore tummies...its a powder you can find in the health food store and you mix with water and it turns into a snotty goop but it coats the stomach and helps to settle irritated / acidic environments. My midwife also recommended it to me for pregnancy heartburn as it just coats and doesn't mess with the ph in your stomach like tums does.

I hope she is feeling better soon...good of you to notice something seemed not right. BTW, she's adorable!

 

[bonbean01]

Glad you posted that Woodsie...knew someone would have good advice, but I had none. Should have thought of probiotics...give that to my sheep often just for health. Have read (although I am not a vet, and have never personally tried this)...that drenching a goat or sheep with one beer helps rumens? Really do not know if that helps or not, but if I was out of ideas and so was the vet, believe I would try it.

And yes I agree with taking her temp...tells you where to go from here.

 

[elevan]

These three numbers concern me as they are so far out of the normal range...
CK (233) Normal is 1-9
Cholesterol (261) normal is 80-130
Glucose (149) normal is 50-75
What did the vet have to say about those results?
What are you feeding?
What is her temperature?

 

[fiset94]

Her temp on Friday was 104.6 and has since dropped to 102.5 - She is not grinding her teeth. I will try to give her some probiotics - I have the powered form that I usually sprinkle on their food once in a while.... but since she is not interested in eating much should I add water and give it to her in a syringe? I feed my goats a sweet feed with organic veggies- fruits for a treat. We also have free choice minerals, salt, and a alfalfa hay mix. - The vet said that her blood came back "normal" and that she was not concerned with her fecal. She suspects that she may have swallowed something that has caused an infection in her gut ( non edible item- maybe sharp?) .... but the antibiotics dont seem to be making a difference and you would think that they would if it is an infection...right??

 

[elevan]

Yes, mix up 3x the dosage of probiotics with enough water to liquify and use a syringe and dose it to her.

Those results are not normal. Your goat is actually presenting with symptoms that scream insulin resistance to me. I would remove the sweet feed and veggies / fruit. Give hay only and plenty of fresh water. If she won't drink then drench her. If you have the ability to do so, then give subQ fluids (lactated ringers or sodium chloride). Your vet can show you how to do this instead of having them give IVs.

 

[fiset94]

Thank you for your replies.. I will give her the probiotics tomorrow a.m and ask my vet about the lactated ringers or sodium chloride.

 

[woodsie]

I had another thought...as she doesn't want to lay on her stomach and seems painful/sharp do you think an ulcer might be a possibility? I am thinking if her rumen shut down and is now acidic she may have an ulcer or the acid eating at the lining of her stomach? Not a vet, but might fit the symptoms and go with the insulin resistance...I would seriously try to get my hands on the slippery elm to help coat the lining to sooth any irritation. It is not going to do any harm and you could see if might help the soreness/pain substance, I have had very good results with using it to help a shut down rumen system and getting things back on track with probiotics and electrolytes.

I think the ulcer/acid environment is way more likely than swallowing something sharp. Goat rarely do eat tin cans etc despite their reputation. My experience is they are actually pretty picky as to what they will eat, much more so than a puppy that will eat and chew on anything. I would not delay, seems goats go from fine to off to dead in a very short time if their rumen is involved.

Keep us posted in the morning...we are pulling for Peanut!

 

[fiset94]

Okay... so I gave her probiotics this a.m ... should I do this twice a day? Also... I had to get the slippery elm in the capsule form at Whole foods because I could not find it at my local co-op. I did however order it online and should receive the powder in a few days. I have never heard of that before.. and it looks amazing.. for the goats and my human kids too!!! - So how much should I give to Peanut butter... I assume that I break open the capsules and make a mixture with water.. but about how much powder to water should I do??