EMERGENCY

[Kare]

My little buck is not well:

 

He was fed at 5;30 and was fine.  At 9:15or so when we went out to lock him up he was laying on his side with his feet straight out.  We brought him in and called everyone we know.  Got various opinions.  gave him a homemade charcoal solution.  Giving him small doses of maple syrup with power punch.  Gave him a hot bath and now have him over the heater.  His mouth is cold, temperature did not register.  He has convulsions where his eyes roll back  and his legs stiffen and he yells.  One person said maybe tetanus, another said maybe encephylitis polio?  (not sure if i got that name right. The vet suggested low glucose and hypothermia, which is what we are treating for.   He is a wether to be, so not sure how much money I want to invest in an emergency visit.  Don't have thiamine, vitamine B or Antitoxin here so woul dhave to go to vet to get thoses...

 

Any thots?

 

He is my daughters goat and she is so upset.

[Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres]

I got  my molasses at the health food store. Didn't buy from the feed store because it's not something you'll use that often, and how in the HECK will I use it before it goes bad!? lol Plus it's 'spensive to buy a whole bucket full.

[Melissa Johnson]

doesnt the nutri drench/or goatade have enough iron in it to make a difference?  it has 10,000 mcg, plus A, D & E.  But that little goat - sounds like it had some pretty serious problems going on....
Melissa Johnson said:

sometimes you can find molasses for livestock at the feed store, I remember my husband bought a gallon once there.

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

Believe it or not, I find blackstrap molasses in the supermarket here right next to the ulsulphured molasses used in cooking. I honestly can't believe anyone buys it for human consumption because it tastes pretty horrible. When I was pregnant, I tried my hardest to use it in gingerbread and stuff because I always became anemic, but it made me gag. I only give it to the goats when they're really anemic. I also bought a pig last fall that was malnourished, and after he got here and started getting all of our whey and goat milk, he gained weight so fast that he became anemic, and I gave it to him. He really scared me because he could barely walk.

Adrienne said:

Kare, I have lost 4 goats this year (two kids short after birth, and two bucks), for different reasons, but I understand how you feel. I hope your daughter handles the news as well as one can. I think you should feel good about yourself for trying your best to save the little guy, and learning what you would do differently if you were ever faced with this kind of thing again. FYI regarding your earlier posts,  I keep tetanus anti-toxin, and vit B and Penicillin in my fridge just in case. They are all available at the feed store here. There are a few other things that I want to have on hand but I am  building my goat medicine cabinet slowly.

 

Deborah, once again you have amazed me with your goat knowledge... Do you fee the Blackstrap molasses any time you worm, or do you only use it on those really bad cases? Where can I get the blackstrap molasses? 

[Melissa Johnson]

sometimes you can find molasses for livestock at the feed store, I remember my husband bought a gallon once there.

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

Believe it or not, I find blackstrap molasses in the supermarket here right next to the ulsulphured molasses used in cooking. I honestly can't believe anyone buys it for human consumption because it tastes pretty horrible. When I was pregnant, I tried my hardest to use it in gingerbread and stuff because I always became anemic, but it made me gag. I only give it to the goats when they're really anemic. I also bought a pig last fall that was malnourished, and after he got here and started getting all of our whey and goat milk, he gained weight so fast that he became anemic, and I gave it to him. He really scared me because he could barely walk.

Adrienne said:

Kare, I have lost 4 goats this year (two kids short after birth, and two bucks), for different reasons, but I understand how you feel. I hope your daughter handles the news as well as one can. I think you should feel good about yourself for trying your best to save the little guy, and learning what you would do differently if you were ever faced with this kind of thing again. FYI regarding your earlier posts,  I keep tetanus anti-toxin, and vit B and Penicillin in my fridge just in case. They are all available at the feed store here. There are a few other things that I want to have on hand but I am  building my goat medicine cabinet slowly.

 

Deborah, once again you have amazed me with your goat knowledge... Do you fee the Blackstrap molasses any time you worm, or do you only use it on those really bad cases? Where can I get the blackstrap molasses? 

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

I doubt it, but it would ultimately depend on exactly what he uses and when it was applied, and then how soon the hay was harvested after application.

Kare at Chaverah Farm said:

I just called the guy I buy hay from and he uses fertilizer on some of his fields, could that have anything to do with it?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Believe it or not, I find blackstrap molasses in the supermarket here right next to the ulsulphured molasses used in cooking. I honestly can't believe anyone buys it for human consumption because it tastes pretty horrible. When I was pregnant, I tried my hardest to use it in gingerbread and stuff because I always became anemic, but it made me gag. I only give it to the goats when they're really anemic. I also bought a pig last fall that was malnourished, and after he got here and started getting all of our whey and goat milk, he gained weight so fast that he became anemic, and I gave it to him. He really scared me because he could barely walk.

Adrienne said:

Kare, I have lost 4 goats this year (two kids short after birth, and two bucks), for different reasons, but I understand how you feel. I hope your daughter handles the news as well as one can. I think you should feel good about yourself for trying your best to save the little guy, and learning what you would do differently if you were ever faced with this kind of thing again. FYI regarding your earlier posts,  I keep tetanus anti-toxin, and vit B and Penicillin in my fridge just in case. They are all available at the feed store here. There are a few other things that I want to have on hand but I am  building my goat medicine cabinet slowly.

 

Deborah, once again you have amazed me with your goat knowledge... Do you fee the Blackstrap molasses any time you worm, or do you only use it on those really bad cases? Where can I get the blackstrap molasses? 

[Kare]

I just called the guy I buy hay from and he uses fertilizer on some of his fields, could that have anything to do with it?

[Adrienne]

Kare, I have lost 4 goats this year (two kids short after birth, and two bucks), for different reasons, but I understand how you feel. I hope your daughter handles the news as well as one can. I think you should feel good about yourself for trying your best to save the little guy, and learning what you would do differently if you were ever faced with this kind of thing again. FYI regarding your earlier posts,  I keep tetanus anti-toxin, and vit B and Penicillin in my fridge just in case. They are all available at the feed store here. There are a few other things that I want to have on hand but I am  building my goat medicine cabinet slowly.

 

Deborah, once again you have amazed me with your goat knowledge... Do you fee the Blackstrap molasses any time you worm, or do you only use it on those really bad cases? Where can I get the blackstrap molasses? 

[Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres]

MAN! I was hoping so hard not to wake up this morning and read he was gone... I'm so sorry, Kare.

Let us know what you find out about what caused things to go wrong.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

On the molasses -- I have two types in my cabinet, blackstrap molasses and unsulphured molasses. I use the unsulphured molasses in cooking (gingerbread) because it tastes better. I use the blackstrap molasses medicinally because it tastes terrible but is very high in iron. I give it to goats that are anemic as I am also treating them for parasites. I have a 60 cc syringe, and I give them 30 cc (one ounce) orally. One tablespoon is 70% of the iron a human needs in a day, so they're getting 140% of the RDA for a person. I really don't know what the RDA is for a goat, but this seems to work. Last summer I had a yearling that was lethargic and refusing to eat, and when I checked her eyelid, it was paper white. I really expected her to die, but I had to try. I've only seen a couple goats with white eyelids, and that's not good. Her body condition was good though, which was why I didn't suspect anything until she stopped eating. Those pictures of emaciated goats with worms have never been my experience, and I've only ever had one goat get bottlejaw, which is why I love FAMACHA so much. The first goat I ever lost was at U of I, and the vet said that she didn't think it was parasites because his body condition was good, but the necropsy showed parasites as the cause of death. But I digress. Back to the yearling doe last summer -- I loaded her up with three different chemical dewormers, and I gave her blackstrap molasses every day for a week. By the end of the week, her eyelids were pink.

 

The article Rachel posted about sulfur was interesting. I think their problem came when they were giving sulfur as part of the feed on a regular basis. That's why I'm so cautious even when using natural thing, because if you overdo anything, it can cause problems. (Ask my daughter what happened when she ate two pounds of oranges.) As everyone on here probably knows from my many posts on copper, the reason we have a problem with copper deficiency is because of the sulfur in our well water. So, giving blackstrap molasses to an anemic animal short-term is probably not going to cause a big mineral imbalance.

 

In the future, if you have a kid with hypothermia, you can leave it immersed in the water until it's body temp is up. I've never paid attention to the clock when doing it, but I'm thinking it takes about 15 minutes. You can also wrap it in a heating pad, but keep checking the mouth with your finger, and once it's warm, only lay the kid on the heating pad, so heat can start to escape from the top of its body. If you leave it wrapped in a heating pad for too long, you can overheat it and cause seizures. Not fun, but it seems to be something most of us have to learn the hard way, so I figured I'd mention it.

[Kare]

Thank you, Kimberly, for your kind words.  I am going to call around as soon as they open and see who does it and how much.

 

Rachel, thank you so much for being there for me last night!!!!!