Diarrhea treatment

[Ruth Goode]

I brought  home my first 2 Nigerian doelings this week.  Flower is 11 weeks old and doing great.  Bling is 6 weeks old.  The breeder gave me a gal. fresh and a gallon frozen goats milk to bottle feed to bling and reccomended that I switch her to whole cows mild gradually at the end of the goat milk supply.  Bling acts fine (bright eyed and full of energy) but had loose stool this am and diarrhea this evening. I gave her some Probios and 4 Oz of  Electrlyte supplement at 5pm and then her 1/2 of her normal goats milk made w/a couple more ounces of electrolyte supplement at 8pm. My breeder suggested I give her a couple ounces of Pepto Bismol  2 Xper day until the diarrhea stops--I have never heard the pepto suggested on this list and wondered what you all thought of that? She had a CDT vaccine on Tuesday, do vaccines ever  cause diarrhea? Is the diarrhea likely stress related due to the change in homes?  Is there anything else I should do?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Yes, probios or yogurt with live cultures is good for a goat with diarrhea. Glad to hear she's doing better. Sometimes they just get a short bout of diarrhea because they get stressed over something.

[Ruth Goode]

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe the probios would be good anytime there has been diarrhea. During a bout of diarrhea gut motility is "hyperactive" causing some of the  normal bacterial flora that should always be present in the gut to be flushed out.  When the bacteria level is low, digestion and absorbtion of nutrients is poor so the individual is "weakened " until the bacteria is replaced. I am more savvey about human nutrition than goat nutrition so please tell me if I am way off...  I did repeat the probios today and Blings poo has turned back into little Berries this evening ,  Yay!  Thanks for your help--this forum is wonderful.

 

[Kare]

I think probios is a good option, but others may know more about this.  I have been giving it to my goats when they are on sulfa or antibiotics to keep the good rumen going.

[Ruth Goode]

I have not started a milk switch yet. I have at least 6 days of goats milk left, was thinking I would start the switch when I have 3 days of goats milk left.  The breeder is 4 hours away, I did not plan to make the trip again soon. This morning Bling did not have a "mess" on her back end and I observed her frequently over a 2 hour period as I did chores and saw no more diarrhea.  She ate well this am so I am hoping she is getting better. Do you think I should give her the ProBios once a day for a few days?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

If you have goat milk, yes. If you're in the midst of switching, it could be the switch that is causing the diarrhea. Are you close enough to the breeder to get more goat milk?

Ruth Goode said:

Until the stools firm up should I be giving her her normal amount of goat milk?

[Ruth Goode]

Until the stools firm up should I be giving her her normal amount of goat milk?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Diarrhea can be caused by stress or a change in feed, but it can also be caused by coccidia. I agree with what Rachel said, and I have never given pepto. It doesn't "cure" anything, so can wind up doing more harm than good if it masks the symptoms of something that could ultimately kill a kid. If it's stress or a change of diet or too much grain, the diarrhea generally goes away within 24 hours. If it doesn't go away within 24 hours, it's probably coccidia, which needs treatment with a sulfa drug, which is available at most farm supply stores.

[Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres]

I have heard of people giving pepto, but a breeder/member I respect pretty highly on another goat site mentioned that pepto to young kids can mask the symptoms of scours...