One doe started yelling at about 5 a.m. She has been frothing and throwing up cud for a couple of hours. I thought she might be choking so I gave her some molasses/acv drench which she drank from the bowl. Just as I thought she was getting better, I notice my other doe has a foamy mouth too. They had alfalfa pellets free choice last night in their bowls and it's the only thing I can come up with is they ate too much of it or too fast. They were all fine at bedtime. They do NOT have hard sides or seem gassy. Also the newly freshened doe had the same food and she is fine, as are the 6 week old kids. I called my vet who said it was probably frothy bloat and to drench them with oil. I got it down one doe and she seems better but the other I couldn't get it down because she was throwing it up before it would go down. She's still frothing badly. Vet is coming out now... [scared]
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Whew! Sounds like you've had a rough few days!! Glad to hear things are going better, and yes. A day without milk won't hurt the babies at that age.
They are doing very well, both eating a little and drinking this morning. Surrey has a rattle in her chest which is concerning. They both are on antibiotics. Anyone have great remedies for congestion? I read that pine is great so I'm going to get some for them this morning. Wondering if she should have a humidifier on her but it's been so damp lately I hate to increase the humidity any more. Ideas?
Oh Julia my heart is breaking for you and your does. Glad they are doing better. More prayers coming your way!
They were both a little better tonight when the vet came back out and we did the activated charcoal anyway, and milk of magnesia and they got antibiotics for the pneumonia potential. Also gave Surrey fluids subQ as Astrud suggested. Leela was drinking lots of water so we didn't do her. Leela's also eating hay (she was famished!). Kids haven't had much if any milk all day because of her condition. I guess they'll be okay, they ate hay and browse all day long and also they are hefty fat kids (6 weeks old) so I don't think a day without milk will hurt them (right?). I hope it's quiet in the barn tonight and everyone sleeps-- goats and people are all exhausted. Thank you for the prayers... I think they worked.
Thank you. Vet is coming back out tonight -- he's been on rounds all day for horses with broken legs and obstructions too and is now coming back this way. Thank you Astrud for the advice. We need to do something to get fluids into Surrey so I will tell him what you said. It's been almost 24 hours so charcoal may be pointless now but the vet is going to check with UT and see what they say. We took out the tree today and all leaves on the ground and the root too. I'm hopeful they will both pull through and appreciate the prayers.
Praying for you and the girls! Sounds really scary. {[hugs]}
Hi Julia,
Hope your girls are doing better, and will say a prayer for them. We had the same thing happen to the first Nigerian we bought. She ate a couple of rhododendron leaves one afternoon and the next morning she was throwing up and would not eat anything. The vet told us to give her some Milk of Magnesia. and then when the vet showed up she gave her some activated charcoal. She also gave her some fluids SQ in case she was getting dehydrated and put her on a round of penicillin in case some of stuff had gone in her lungs while throwing up. she said it could eventually lead to pneumonia. She left the bag with fluids and we had to continue to administer it for a day or two, don't remember now. But she made a full recovery. Hope yours get better soon.
So it turns out it is indeed mountain laurel poisoning, we're almost sure. I went up there to look at the tree again and there are leaves on the ground, some half eaten. I feel terrible. I never considered both that leaves would fall on the ground and be tempting, or that the does might push the tree over to get to the leaves-- especially since there is LOTs of other browse. It's still touch and go with them after they both vomited all day. One (Leela) will take warm liquid (the lactating doe), the other who is due in two weeks (Surrey) will not drink. Leela is starting to nibble and neither is frothing anymore. At this point we're just watching them and hoping they threw it all up and will have to restart their rumens. I got some probios down Leela just now hoping it will help restart her rumen. Surrey is still vomiting a little bit so will wait until she subsides, then drench her with yogurt or probios too. Wondering if I should drench her with water too since I can't get her to drink. Praying for them and asking for prayers too.
Vet came and we got oil down both of them. Temperatures are normal and rumen activity seems okay. One doe has been violently vomiting and after the oil drench has continued to vomit although it is watery now and not frothy. Vet called University of TN lab and talked to the vet there. She said check for rhododendron or mountain laurel poisoning. I do have one mountain laurel in their pasture but they can't get to the leaves. I checked it and it does have a tiny teeth scraping on it. But that doesn't explain why both of them went down overnight in the barn. The alfalfa pellets i gave them last night are different from the ones I was giving them (different vendor). They are a little smaller than the others which the vet said could be a problem if they were eating them fast and not chewing them up well. Other than that we're kind of at a loss. Any ideas?