Goat Help?!

November 18, 2008 10:20 AM

Goat Help! My beautiful 5 yr. Boer goat, Mrs. Brownsville is in trouble! It's getting colder and she has been eating more and more grains, (Purina goat feed) less fresh stuff. All day she has been vomiting (A LOT) and just looks horrible, she is warm and has good food and water, but looks a total mess!! Her cheeks are filled with, what ever its called, (cud?) like never before, and shes puffed up like a helium balloon! What does she need from me?
posted by Benzle to pets & animals (13 comments total)

Sounds like she could use a trip to the goat doctor.
posted by contraption at 10:28 AM on November 18, 2008

Is her abdomen puffed up? If so it sounds like bloat and you need to get her to the doctor immediately! Bloat is life threatening and can kill quickly.
posted by thejanna at 10:36 AM on November 18, 2008

If Mrs. Brownsville were my goat, I would take her to the vet RIGHT NOW.

IANAGD (in fact I know next to nothing about goats), but Googling goats+overeating turns up lots of references to enterotoxemia, aka overeating disease, a bacterial infection caused by overeating which is apparently frequently fatal.

The linked article says it can take several days for intestinal blockage to turn into enterotoxemia, and recommends giving bloated goats a preventive dose of the antitoxin -- a treatment of which many vets are apparently unaware.
posted by ottereroticist at 10:38 AM on November 18, 2008

Where are you? Not that you shouldn't take her to a vet, but depending on your location the vets may be more or less familiar with goat-specific physiology and diseases. My dad and his wife ranch in SE Oklahoma, which is mostly cattle territory, and at this point they know more than the vet does about a lot of goat problems, including bloat and parasites. (I have emailed them for you.)

Does she graze over a wide area or just in your backyard? Are there other goats? Do you worm regularly? Do you use probiotics?
posted by felix grundy at 10:44 AM on November 18, 2008

Here's an article that's more specific to bloat; you can figure out the toxins later. Looks like it's probably the feed change-up.

We've done the forcing the castor oil down remedy with about a fifty-fifty rate of success (probably because some of the bloats were not grain-plug related). I've never tried cutting a hole in the side of any of our goats and I doubt my dad and his wife have either. They generally feed mineral kelp mixed into their grain, which has helped with both worminess and bloat; maybe you can try that with Mrs. B when she's back to normal.
posted by felix grundy at 10:58 AM on November 18, 2008

I can't help, but if you post your question to this list, you'll find they are very knowledgeable and very willing (and quick) to help.
posted by bricoleur at 11:28 AM on November 18, 2008

You need to get her to a vet right now. This is an often fatal condition.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:47 PM on November 18, 2008

A vet.

For fucks sake.
posted by rodgerd at 1:25 PM on November 18, 2008 [3 favorites]

Aw man. Poor Mrs. Brownsville.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:31 PM on November 18, 2008

VET! VET! VET! Not a small animal practice, but someone who deals with stock on a regular basis.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:35 PM on November 18, 2008

Follow up, please, Benzle. Is she okay?
posted by felix grundy at 3:19 PM on November 19, 2008

Yes, Mrs Brownsville has been in my thoughts also.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:57 PM on November 19, 2008

I came to AskMe today specifically for news of Mrs. Brownsville. Hope she's fine!
posted by ottereroticist at 7:37 AM on November 20, 2008