I turned two of my does out into the grassy meadow, where my goats regularly graze, and 1.5 hours later one was dead. She was 5 y/o, the picture of health. She just delivered healthy twins 5 weeks ago. I found her nearly cold on a mildly warm evening, so she probably died within an hour of when I turned her out to graze. She was grossly bloated but otherwise looked...fine. It was very confusing. Her body belched and moaned when I moved it.
I was present and attentive nearby while they were grazing, always listening for commotion, and I heard nothing!
I autopsied today, 24 hours later. She died of a heart attack. The top of her heart was collapsed. Her arteries and veins were flushed with enough blood to clue me into that shortly after I started skinning.
Normal stuff:
- The herd has been foraging this meadow for many months now without problems, so no sudden diet changes
- No outstanding injuries or medical conditions, nor any history of illness whats-so-ever.
- Body in otherwise excellent condition
- No marks, bruising or damages to her body.
- She had fresh grass in her mouth- no vomit, foam, froth, saliva, bile, or blood apparent.
- Kidneys, pancreas, uterus, udder- everything looked fine. I even cut the udder open to check thoroughly for mastitis (to rule anything/everything out)
- Digestion looked great (aside from the rumen being filled with excess gas) from top to bottom
- No sign of worms
- Stools healthy and well formed
- Body/skin was not overheated, bruised looking, or overly flush, even for a heart attack, to me implying she wasn't chased or experiencing fear
Abnormal stuff:
- collapsed heart
- flushed purple in the lungs
- some pale areas on liver- not white though. No growths or tumors. Just slightly pale. That may have been from letting her sit 24 hours before cutting open, idk.
- 10 goats, no other goats having active issues of any kind -except- one goat had an incident last weekend where he came back from the meadow looking bloated and was vomiting white froth. No weakness or lameness at all, but seemed in pain. I flushed him with activated charcoal throughout the evening and the next day he was fine, no more bloat, healthy appetite, etc. This was likewise a confusing, isolated incident. Fine one moment (I was with him just minutes before this started), and literally 5-10 minutes later he was bloated and vomiting.
I thought maybe there's a poisonous plant she got into, but what would kill her in 1 hour or less without even causing her to vomit?! The contents of her stomach looked "fine" to me, smelled fine. Lots of hay and fresh grass both. I turned the stomach out hoping to find a culprit of some kind but it just looked and smelled like good green food...
Thoughts?
I was present and attentive nearby while they were grazing, always listening for commotion, and I heard nothing!
I autopsied today, 24 hours later. She died of a heart attack. The top of her heart was collapsed. Her arteries and veins were flushed with enough blood to clue me into that shortly after I started skinning.
Normal stuff:
- The herd has been foraging this meadow for many months now without problems, so no sudden diet changes
- No outstanding injuries or medical conditions, nor any history of illness whats-so-ever.
- Body in otherwise excellent condition
- No marks, bruising or damages to her body.
- She had fresh grass in her mouth- no vomit, foam, froth, saliva, bile, or blood apparent.
- Kidneys, pancreas, uterus, udder- everything looked fine. I even cut the udder open to check thoroughly for mastitis (to rule anything/everything out)
- Digestion looked great (aside from the rumen being filled with excess gas) from top to bottom
- No sign of worms
- Stools healthy and well formed
- Body/skin was not overheated, bruised looking, or overly flush, even for a heart attack, to me implying she wasn't chased or experiencing fear
Abnormal stuff:
- collapsed heart
- flushed purple in the lungs
- some pale areas on liver- not white though. No growths or tumors. Just slightly pale. That may have been from letting her sit 24 hours before cutting open, idk.
- 10 goats, no other goats having active issues of any kind -except- one goat had an incident last weekend where he came back from the meadow looking bloated and was vomiting white froth. No weakness or lameness at all, but seemed in pain. I flushed him with activated charcoal throughout the evening and the next day he was fine, no more bloat, healthy appetite, etc. This was likewise a confusing, isolated incident. Fine one moment (I was with him just minutes before this started), and literally 5-10 minutes later he was bloated and vomiting.
I thought maybe there's a poisonous plant she got into, but what would kill her in 1 hour or less without even causing her to vomit?! The contents of her stomach looked "fine" to me, smelled fine. Lots of hay and fresh grass both. I turned the stomach out hoping to find a culprit of some kind but it just looked and smelled like good green food...
Thoughts?