Pre-labor goat struggling to breathe

[User635240]

Did your goat ever kid?

Hi, thanks for checking back. Not yet. A local professional goat keeper came by and said she still has her ligaments so might have been bred three weeks after that last time I saw her in heat. He said to watch for ketosis. She wasn't very active. I gave her lots of sweets and that seemed to help. I'm guessing the new due date in March 31. Will let you know how it goes.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Hi, thanks for checking back. Not yet. A local professional goat keeper came by and said she still has her ligaments so might have been bred three weeks after that last time I saw her in heat. He said to watch for ketosis. She wasn't very active. I gave her lots of sweets and that seemed to help. I'm guessing the new due date in March 31. Will let you know how it goes.

I hope everything will go well!

 

[cassie]

Ketosis is very serious. Prevention is the key. Make sure she exercises. Get her up and make her walk around several times a day. Sugar will help. Honey, molasses, Karo syrup, etc. Sometimes goats will drink hot water with molasses added. If she starts to refuse her grain you have a problem. If she gets ketosis the only cure is for her to kid either naturally or by induction. To treat it you will need to get some propylene glycol either from the vet or livestock supply. Be aware that sometimes does with borderline ketosis will dilate but won't have the muscle strength to push the kids out.

 

[User635240]

Thanks @cassie I'm doing all those things. Today she's up moving around on her own, hopefully today is the day.

 

[User635240]

Hi, I induced her 38 hours ago. Today would be day 144. She's fully dilated, I got my hand in past the wrist but can't feel any babies. The vet is out of town this week.

 

[User635240]

Hi all, Iwanted to follow up on this thread. Thanks everyone for your input. The doe became fully immobile so I induced her about a week early. I delivered 2 healthy doelings but probably tore her cervix. I gave her a lot of antibiotics and supportive care but she never recovered, was not able to stand again. She lived for about a week after labor. Rats started chewing on her at night. The goatspot forum thinks she had meningeal worm which caused her hind quarter lameness. I'm sad because she suffered greatly, and

frustrated because two different vet visits did not identify the cause of her lameness.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Oh, I am so sorry. I also had goats die of meningeal worm and the vets were of little help, most never even mentioned it as a possibility. It's an awful parasite that takes a large dewormer dose to eradicate. If you have deer, snails, and wet pasture they'll get it every year. I stopped raising goats because they just can't handle our pastures.

If you have other goats watch for itching, especially along the spine and down the legs. They will have hotspots that move farther and farther down their legs. The goats begin to chew on themselves they are so itchy. I had one who chewed a large hole in himself.

 

[cassie]

I am sorry for your loss. The inevitable heartache is what I don't miss about having livestock. I don't know anything at all about meningeal worm because we didn't have it where I lived. However, this is just a thought. A mild case of milk fever and or ketosis could also have caused those symptoms. Vets often miss those in goats.

 

[User635240]

I don't think it was ketosis, as I kept her eating until the last two days (bananas, apples, pastries, molasses, propylene glycol). She did start losing her appetite when I first posted this. She went from limping on her hind leg in September to dragging herself in the ground in March. She tested negative for CAE. Since there was already one goat with sudden hind quarter lameness I'm assuming this was meningeal worm coupled with oversized twins from a large buck.
I recall checking for milk fever and did give her a lot of calcium oral and injection but that didn't seem to help. The only thing that seemed to improve her pain level was dexamethasone and Meloxicam.

I am sorry for your loss. The inevitable heartache is what I don't miss about having livestock. I don't know anything at all about meningeal worm because we didn't have it where I lived. However, this is just a thought. A mild case of milk fever and or ketosis could also have caused those symptoms. Vets often miss those in goats.