Sick Newborn Goat Doeling!

Hope all is well this morning. That would be fast for navel ill to set in. If I read the timeline right, she developed the runny poo after a dose of antibiotics.Karo can also cause scouring. I don't know that she needs them so maybe consider not doing another dose/stopping the karo and continue with the colostrum and probios.

Pearce Pastures said:

Hope all is well this morning. That would be fast for navel ill to set in. If I read the timeline right, she developed the runny poo after a dose of antibiotics.Karo can also cause scouring. I don't know that she needs them so maybe consider not doing another dose/stopping the karo and continue with the colostrum and probios.

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No, she had the runny poo before the antibiotics. She's iffy still, but I'm working to try to keep her alive. Phone calls to vets have been fruitless. Both vets (my goat and also my pet vet) up here are out of town. A friend of mine who is a vet didn't have any other advice. Sigh.

SkyWarrior said:

No, she had the runny poo before the antibiotics. She's iffy still, but I'm working to try to keep her alive. Phone calls to vets have been fruitless. Both vets (my goat and also my pet vet) up here are out of town. A friend of mine who is a vet didn't have any other advice. Sigh.

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Oh no! Prayers that she improves!! Great job doing all you can for her!

BlessedWithGoats said:

Oh no! Prayers that she improves!! Great job doing all you can for her!

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Well, some guardedly good news.

Today after moving Nutmeg and Cinnamon, Belle's two doelings, back in with the herd, (Belle is an awful mom so anything she throws are bottle babies), I went back to check on Honey. Honey was complaining, so I mixed up a little yogurt and water and put it in a 3 cc syringe and squirted it in her mouth. She liked that. So, I gave her a bit of Karo water and she complained but drank a bit. She peed and while it was yellow from dehydration, it wasn't brown. Good. So, after having her suck on my finger (yay!) we mixed up some colostrum powder and milk. She was fussy with the nipple, so I used the syringe and started feeding her with it.

Well, that worked out well. She started bumping and chewing on me for more and more food! I happily gave her about 1/5th of a baby bottle (maybe 2-3 oz) and gave her rests between feeding. I made the decision to let her move around a bit and she's a lot less unsteady. I then put her back in her carrier and she's now asleep and no longer complaining.

So, right now I'm planning on 2-hour feedings for her with the syringe. Heidi (Honey's mom) had such swollen teats last night, I doubt this little one could get much in her. I'll be milking out Heidi and tossing it until the antibiotics have gone through her. I figure I'll keep her on antibiotics for three days total. Maybe a bit longer. Then, I won't be using the milk until the withdrawal time has past. For your amusement, here are Honey's two healthy half sisters/cousins.

Oh Yay!!! I'm glad that Honey is doing better!!! Aww, her cousins are cute too! Thanks for the update!

Well, more good news. Two more feedings. The last one, she drank about 5-6 ounces of colostrum-powder spiked milk! This time, I was able to feed her mostly with the bottle. She doesn't quite have the hang of it yet. She drinks for about 5 seconds once I get it into her mouth. Then she needs to take a breath so she stops. I've had to give her a rest for a few seconds, then start the process again.

She hasn't pooped since the diarrhea yesterday, but to be fair, she hardly got anything into her until this afternoon. She has been peeing okay and she's back to normal pee color. Tonight she complained about the crate, which is infinitely better than having a baby that is ready to die. She's grown a bit, too. I'll give her some more yogurt to keep her gut going. She no longer feels like she has a fever (which is good) and her eyes aren't sunken in any longer from dehydration.

I'm seriously wondering if she and her dead littermate were preemies. I had their aunt, Belle in with Oreo, the buck, for three weeks and she delivered on April 11th. Heidi, Honey's mom, delivered on the 18th, which means she got bred nearly the first day she was in the buck pen, or the kids came out early. Either that or mom got some type of infection that screwed up everyone.

Yay!!!! I'm so glad Honey is doing better!! You're doing such a wonderful job caring for her!!
Maybe she wanted to stay with you rather than go into the crate? I'm guessing she will really bond with you because of all the extra time you've spent with her! I'm sure it must bring happiness to your heart to see her improving like that!

BlessedWithGoats said:

Yay!!!! I'm so glad Honey is doing better!! You're doing such a wonderful job caring for her!!
Maybe she wanted to stay with you rather than go into the crate? I'm guessing she will really bond with you because of all the extra time you've spent with her! I'm sure it must bring happiness to your heart to see her improving like that!

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It does. A sick kid is worrisome. An obnoxious kid means she's feeling better! And I'm all for obnoxious kids, even if I now have THREE in my house.

Glad she continues to improve, sounds like you are doing a great job!

It sounds like you've got a good plan going right now. I'd keep up the 2 hour feedings, she definitely sounds like she needs the closely timed approach. As she gains ground then back it up by a half hour and continue to do so until you're on your regular bottle baby schedule and see how she does.