I have a goat that is almost 2 years old. He is not eating, or won't even get up on his own., He raises his head and that is about it. The vet came out and he gets penicillian shots daily he has fluid in his lungs. Is there some kind of mixture I can feed him baby formula or something to give him some kind ou nutrition? He has been drinking baby pedialyte water for the past 3 days and has not eaten a drop. I am very concerned can u help me with some ideas.

-- Lori Lambert (poorfarmgirl@triton.net), January 12, 2002

Answers

At this point, I would seriously consider putting him to sleep, if he can't stand on his own, he has pneumonia from the fluid that develops when grazing creatures can't keep upright or stand. That alone would kill him, penicillin or not, let alone whatever else he had originally.

Grazing animals, such as goats, cattle, sheep, and horses, should not be allowed to remain recumbent ( laying down, especially on their side) for more than 12 hours. Fluid will start building up in their lungs and their digestive tract will not function properly, leading to colics and blockages.

You have to walk them about, or whatever it takes to get them up and moving at least a little bit, frequently through out the day.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 12, 2002.

Why is he down? Any ideas? Worms? Does he have a fever? Your vet prescribed Pen G so go with it, was there any other meds? I've used an expectorant (Guiefenesan (sp)) it's used in horses quite a bit, and people, to clear fluids from the lungs. You could use a drench for animals with Ketosis like Propylene Gycol for a quick energy boost, there are rumin boosters out there too. I make up a drench using coffee, dextrose (beer making sugar)electrolites and the expectorant, asprin too if there's a fever. I'd put a call into your vet again if your not certain why he's down there are other meds that might help.

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), January 12, 2002.

I have had success with a very watery mixture of Cream of Wheat (any farina will do), a little salt, a little molasses (1 tsp.), and I use a feeding tube designed for a calf. I also have boiled some potatos and corn, then used the water from that as it contains potassium and several other needed nutrients. I have used this successfully with calves as well as goats. Of course, it won't fix the underlying pneumonia problem, but it might help with the nutrition problem. I see good suggestions in the posts above, just wanted to put in my two cents worth.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), January 12, 2002.

Here is what i would recommend based on our experiences. We have not had a goat with that degree of weakness that it was not able to stand. First prop him up, don't let him lay. Then give him Neuflour for the pnemonis, we found Neuflour to be highly effective. Also, give some Immuno-G or ID-1 for the immuno system, it is a colestrom based immuno product. Then give a shot of B12 to stimulate appetite, followed by some Goat drench or Goat Aid which is basically a molasses type formula for goats. give him warm water with electrolytes in it and offer some good hay. You need to get the rumen going again so I also suggest some probios or yogurt.

Thats about all I can think of for the moment. Hope this ehlps.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), January 12, 2002.

Hi Lori, the problem is that we do not know if he is down because of the pnemonia or because of something else, and now he is getting pnemonia from being down....Penicillin is the worst choice a vet could make on penmonia, and honestly unless he just gives the goat no chance of making it, he could have put some thought behind this and given him Nuflor, Naxcell and/or lots of other things to quickly get him feeling better. I would bolster the rumen at this point with yogurt or and probios. Look at his gums, if they are healthy and pink that is good, grey and anemic, than its probably worms. Problem with worming a severly dibilitated animal is that the worms abandoning ship with all the goats blood could also kill him. IF you soak alfalfa pellets in hot water with some mollassas he may eat that. Beet pulp works the same way. He needs fiber in his rumen right now, if he stops cudding he will die. Take his temp, the vet needs to do something for the fever if he has one, banamine is good. If you are like your email and truly a poorfarmgirl, than just make sure the pen is a 300,000 unit pen, that the vet has you giving it at 3cc per 50 pounds twice a day. Increase it if he is making you give less. If you think he wieghs 100 pounds and treat him as if he weighs 150 pounds since most folks guess lite. Nothing liquid is really nutrition in a ruminent, he needs something with fiber in it to get his rumen working. If he is dehydrated he will also be down, lactated ringers injected under the skin, above the shoulders works well. Mollassas his water and give him baking soda. Anything in your house or wallmart that has B vitamins in it will stimulate his appetitie. Also know when to say when, don't let him suffer. After this is all over we can talk about what could have been wrong with him, information from your management will give us some answers. Aniamls this age it is usually disease, bucks this age if not disease than it is urinary calculi. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 12, 2002.

Excellent answers. I am making a copy of this to give me more ideas for my sick sheep.

-- Gary from Mn (hpysheep@midwestinfo.com), January 12, 2002.

I had one doing the same thing I started him on mannatech mixed in water and he was startin to get up a few days later and is now as healthy as can be. It was Ambertose I used and it worked on others too Cindy

-- Cindy (hollo@bitwisesystems.com), January 13, 2002.