# I've got a goat down....she's bloated and can't get up



## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

Need help and don't have time to read thru all the threads to find out what to do. 
This is the 2nd day that I've let them out onto fresh browse; been cooped up all 
winter in a corral with hay and got the fence completed around 6 acres of rough 
ground that they've used in the past. Went out just a few minutes ago to feed 
the pig and found her down and unable to get up. She recognizes me and groans......
her belly is swollen and I'm afraid she's not going to make it.

Any suggestions besides calling a vet.......nearest one is over
30 miles away and isn't that great with goats either.

Also don't have any transportation at this point; trucks being overhauled.


Please help; she was a bottle baby and is now about 3 yrs old and quite a pet.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Give her half a cup of vegetable oil and get her up and walking.

If you can't get her on her feet, at least prop her up and hold her head up so she can burp


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## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Give her half a cup of vegetable oil and get her up and walking.
> 
> If you can't get her on her feet, at least prop her up and hold her head up so she can burp


******************************
And how does one administer this to the goat??? By syringe down the throat or out of a cup??? They aren't 
the most cooperative of animals. BTW: Thanks for the quick response. I'm going to wait a bit for 
either your response or for any others and then head on out to help her.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Ditto on the veggie oil. Get her up & moving. Massage rumen VIGOROUSLY.


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## BethW (May 3, 2007)

Also try massaging the side her rumen is on. You need to get that gas moving.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

If you dont have large syringes laying around a turkey baster will do


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## Reed77 (Mar 20, 2011)

IDK if it's true, but I've heard massaging the bloating area helps it pass.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

A syringe or tube will work.

It needs to be done *NOW*

The effect should be almost immediate

http://www.goatworld.com/articles/bloat/bloat.shtml



> Methods of Treatment for Bloat
> For goats that are still able to walk, you will need to drench a quarter of a pint of mineral oil or cooking oil down the goat's throat and then exercise the goat (through walking) and massaging of the sides. This most often will cause the built up gas to escape through the mouth or rectum. Once you have gotten the goat relieved of the gas, one treatment prescribes giving a small amount of sodium bicarbonate (approximately one tablespoon) mixed in a small amount of warm water or molasses. Another treatment encourages giving the goat a tablespoon of lime (dolomite) and seaweed meal mixed in a half pint of cider vinegar which will help to replace the missing magnesium and potassium.
> 
> For a goat that is down and in distress, it is highly recommended that you contact a veterinarian immediately because the pressure caused by the bloat in the abdomen can often stop the lungs and heart from working. The veterinarian will release the gas by making a small incision using a trochar. The incision is made four fingers width behind the bottom of the ribs on the left side of the goat as it lies.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

You HAVE to get her up & moving!


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## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

Okay.....here's the low-down and latest. Went out with a half cup of veg oil in a cup.....couldn't find 
a syringe or turkey baster.....you do what you can with what ya got. She was still down and moaning; 
especially so as I called her name......(remember, she's my bottle babe). However, the bloat didn't 
seem to large.....apparently she'd managed to belch out some gas before I arrived. Anyway, pulled 
her up onto her feet and tried to lead her around.....nope; didn't want to walk.....instead she took 
a long, long pee......thought she'd never stop. Then I coaxed open her mouth (okay, okay, I 
'forced' it open.....stubborn goat that she it) and started a small swig out the top of the cup 
heading towards her mouth. She licked it up as it trickled in and I continued until she decided 
that was enough; didn't even make 1/4 of that 1/2cup.....but then I started trying to lead her around. 
She doesn't like to do it, but she did. Massaged BOTH sides of her abdomen but didn't seem to have 
much affect, other than she likes to be rubbed...... She looks *MUCH* better.....but don't think it had 
much to do with what I attempted. Nature beat me to the punch. However, I want to thank *ALL* 
of you for your quick response, in my hour of need. Going to be keeping an eye on her for the rest of the night 
and will be standing by here as well for anything else that I need to be aware of. Once again.....my many thanks to all.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> .....couldn't find
> a syringe or turkey baster.....you do what you can with what ya got.


Glad to hear it turned out OK

Order one (or two) of these tonight:



















http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=219&cat_id=8


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## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Glad to hear it turned out OK
> 
> Order one (or two) of these tonight:
> 
> ...


************************************************
Now that I'm having to 'bach' it again.....it's kinda hard to put my hands on what's needed.....
don't really know yet what is here and what she took with her. The turkey baster isn't where 
it was supposed to be......so presuming it's mia. That drencher looks like something we could 
have used in the past and is definitely something for the future......wish I'd had it tonight. 
Just got back in from checking on her again and the rest of the herd has come back to the barn 
(although they aren't allowed inside) and half of them went around to the other side where they 
used to stay in the corral and the rest of offering sympathy to the one who was in distress. 
She seems fine now, but it had me a bit worried there ......hopefully she pulls through okay. So.....
do you think it was from eating too many greens too soon after being on a long, long dry diet of hay? 
I would have thought that the problem would have shown itself *YESTERDAY* when 
I first let them out into "the candy store".....they seemed fine then, so it really caught me by surprise 
when I found her down and in obvious distress. I was really on cloud 9 after having finished enclosing 
the 6 acres with corn crib panels and metal posts every 8 feet; have let them 'wander' over our 
10 acres and my folks' 10 acres with little problems in the past......except when they seemed to 
find the neighbors backyard grass over their septic field was even tastier.
Took approximately 3 yrs to find enough corn cribs, take them down and then finally haul them 
through the woods and across swamps and get them set up and secure.....but the job is done. 
Well......that part is done. Have already purchased 4 more cribs and plan on enclosing another 
part of the property with them as a start. It's an on-going project.....just 'finding' them is a 
challenge and then working out a deal.......all in all, it keeps me busy. 

Thanks again for all your help in this matter.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

At last resort meaning I dont like telling an new goat owner to do such a thing but you can get a 1.5 inch needle and poke it into the top of the stomach and release air that way, you still need to give the oil after that as something caused the gas to build up. 
Mylicon drops dont hurt and neither would a rolaids plus gas relief if you cant do anything else. I would say to poke about an inch from the spine if its a larger goat in between the last few ribs. WARNING: it stinks to high heaven so chew gum or stick some vicks under your nose. There are also risk in doing this but its not as bad as dealth.


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## LoneStrChic23 (Jul 30, 2010)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Glad to hear it turned out OK
> 
> Order one (or two) of these tonight:
> 
> ...


Yes! These are awesome 

I have 3 I ordered from Jeffers, very handy & sturdy.

In an emergency, nothing is where it needs to be. Get yourself a tackle box to store all this stuff in so in chaos your not doing a mad dash to find basic items.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

oh, dont use a huge needle either if possible you dont want digestive juices to leak into the abdomen which is one of the risk and also why you do it at the top of the gut.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

Yes, an overabundence of yummies after a diet of hay is probably what brought this on. And it could happen again. Best to let them out at first only an hour at a time. A couple hours a day to accustom them, then after a few days of that they should be acclimated to the differences needed to digest. All diet changes should be made SLOWLY........for any animal.
Good to hear she is much better!


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I have 1 doe that's a little piggy first thing out in the fresh spring stuff growing & she tends to bloat the first few days sometimes too.
I give her Mylanta Gas or Gas X & rub, rub, rub her sides. Usually that's all it takes for my doe.
Glad yours is feeling better.

Is she up to date on her CD & T shot?


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## goatkid (Nov 20, 2005)

Whenever I start letting the goats out into their pasture, I always feed them their hay prior to letting htem out. This way, they are fairly full and don't fill up on something they aren't used to. I also just let them out for a little while at first.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

She will probably have runny green or brown poop for a day or two, nothing to worry about since you know the "candy" caused it. The bit of oil you did manage will contribute. So glad everything is looking better for her, good job!
She still needs hay before she's turned loose in the store.:cowboy:


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## thaiblue12 (Feb 14, 2007)

Just make sure before you go to bed that her gut is working. Burping, gas, pooping, her bringing up cud are good signs. 
If you had a bottle you can put the oil in there and get her to drink it since you do not have a syringe. 
I hope she is doing fine.


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## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

goatkid said:


> Whenever I start letting the goats out into their pasture, I always feed them their hay prior to letting htem out. This way, they are fairly full and don't fill up on something they aren't used to. I also just let them out for a little while at first.


*************************************
Which is what I did yesterday; fed them hay in the morning and in the late afternoon, let them out 
into the 'wild' and give them a chance to 'sample'. We'd done this many times in the past, but usually 
a month earlier; maybe even 6 weeks earlier. This is the longest time that I've had them confined 
and on hay. The 'greens' are a lot *BIGGER* now and Shammie apparently went wild in 
the candy store. Since I had to take down the corral to use it, to finish the rest of the fence, there 
is just no place to keep them in and get them to eat hay first. Once they've got a taste for the fresh stuff, 
they won't eat hay again until the next snow......I know, I've tried and tried; they're just spoiled rotten kids......
and I'm their 'sugar' daddy.


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## Shade26000 (Jul 9, 2007)

Hey guys, I just ran into the same problem with one of our new goats and I tell you for new goat owners, we were pretty dam scared. Thank god for all you guy's advice at my finger tips, you got to love the internet.
I only seen one person mention Gas-X (which we didn't have), how many of you tried it? Wouldn't you think it would work faster?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Yes, Gas-X and the infant gas drops - Simethicone.

http://www.amazon.com/Mylicon-Infant-Simethicone-Anti-Gas-1-Ounce/dp/B001CD1AP8


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> Wouldn't you think it would work faster?


It couldn't really work much faster than the oil, and most everyone has oil on hand all the time anyway.

It should work though, if you want to pay the money for it


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## Suzanne02 (8 mo ago)

copperkid3 said:


> Need help and don't have time to read thru all the threads to find out what to do.
> This is the 2nd day that I've let them out onto fresh browse; been cooped up all
> winter in a corral with hay and got the fence completed around 6 acres of rough
> ground that they've used in the past. Went out just a few minutes ago to feed
> ...


Hi so sorry about your baby well that's what there like with me as well and I know it's probably a bit late give her coconut oil ,oil like you can buy from any grocery store she only needs about 30ml till she starts burping just put it in a surindge and pop it in the side of there mouth and squirt have saved many of mine like that with bloat and rub her tummy hope this helps if it happens again


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