Doe close to kidding is going off feed, pregnancy toxemia/ketosis?

[frustratedearthmother]

What is her parasite status? Can you or have you had a fecal run? Can you check her eye membranes? Has she been wormed recently? What are the chances you can get a vet involved? I think it might be necessary at this point.

This link talks about Famacha and gives a basic overview on how to check your goat.

https://animal.ifas.ufl.edu/media/animalifasufledu/small-ruminant-website/fact-sheets/FAMACHA-Factsheet.pdf

I'm sorry to say that this isn't looking good if she's refusing feed. Do you have any B-complex vitamins? An injection of B might help her appetite.

 

[Beatrice]

Around one o'clock I saw her walking by the water. She would nibble at hay around three. At three I gave her a huge dose of creamed corn, pumpkin, dextrose, calcium carbonate, corn syrup, goat power up, goat probiotic, brown sugar, and water. I also gave her at least 120 ml of water. Then tonight I gave her creamed corn and salt. Then some water. She is still whimpering and doesn't enjoy getting drenched. Her famacha looked medium pink. She has not been wormed recently. I don't think we could get a vet involved until Monday. The only vitamin B complex we has is injectable and I think it has expired, should I still use it?

 

[Ridgetop]

Definitely give Vitamin B intramuscular if you can get it. Also try giving the paste electrolytes because they will make her thirsty, and you can make sure she gets them, then follow with water. If you can't find paste electrolytes (usually sold for horses) you can use sports drinks like Gatorade. The only problem with giving too much molasses is that because it is high in iron it can cause constipation.

Her symptoms don't sound like ketosis. If she is crying and acting like she wants to kid, maybe she is in labor and not able to pass the kid. Can you call her former owner and ask if she has had problems like this before?

 

[Beatrice]

The only vitamin B complex I can get until Monday is expired. Should I still try it? Would power up work like Gatorade. She has tried pushing a little but she has been whimpering for almost five days. She was born on our farm and has only kidded twice before. Each time she was fine, had no problems, and kidded all on her own. Both times were singles. She has a small udder and is definitely opening up (I think its called dilating). She has no mucus by her tail yet though.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I would give the B even if it is expired. I'm not familiar with Power Up but if it's similar to Gator ade it's probably fine. Wouldn't hurt to do a finger sweep to see if you feel anything vaginally. You can wash up, lube up, and insert a finger or two vaginally. Hopefully, you won't feel anything except a dead end at the cervix.

What breed of goat is she?

 

[Beatrice]

Yesterday I contacted a vet. He suggested I give her dewormer, vitamin b injection, and later power punch (it has proplyne glycol in it) -I don't have any plain pg. This morning she was pushing but tonight she is not. She is definitely opened up, her udder is still kind of small, her sides have shrunken in like she is going to kid, she has a white mucus coming out by her tail. I have felt a kid when I fell her lower stomach. She is still whimpering. It would cost too much to have the vet make a weekend trip to see her. I tried to feel in her but kept hitting a bubble like object ( I think the vaginal). I have never went inside a goat and do not know what I am doing. Is she just in pre labor? False labor?

 

[Mini Horses]

🥴 without my fingers doing the feeling, I couldn't know. Sorry. Do as the vet suggests. And 🤞🙏

Do you know when she was bred?

 

[Ridgetop]

If you are feeling a soft bubble, it may be the water bag. Hopefully she will kid without problems. Continue to check her inside and hopefully you will feel a nose. Like Mini Horses said, without being able to feel it for ourselves it is hard to know what to tell you.

Go online and look up kidding presentations. There should be a set of drawings showing how the kid should be presenting. If you can get your hand inside, then she is definitely ready to kid and if you can figure out what part of the kid is there, you can either help her by pulling it out or by rearranging it's position so she can give birth. The fact that she was pushing this morning, has stopped, and is crying would indicate a problem with kidding.

Unfortunately, goats and sheep that are having trouble kidding and lambing are able stop their labor. Then they will just lay there if they can't get the babies out. I have 30 years experience pulling lambs and kids. With all that experience I still experience problems. I lost 2 ewes this year. In both instances the kids were malpresentations and already dead at term which is why I could not move them around to get them out. The first ewe I had to euthanize without delivering the kids, the other a vet was able to sedate and remove the dead kids (dead for a couple days at least from the smell). Sadly, the second ewe died overnight in spite of antibiotics due to septicemia.

Live births are cause for celebrations. Problems occur and we can't always prevent them or fix them. Hopefully your ewe will be able to give birth and we will celebrate with you. If not, we will be here for you.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

How's your doe doing today?

 

[Beatrice]

We took her to the vet yesterday, but it was too late. She passed away at the vet clinic. The vet was very kind and tried very hard to save her, but we brought her in too late. He said that she had ring womb and couldn't open up to have her kids on her own. He pulled the kids out. There were triplets but he said they had probably died two days ago. She would have needed a c section earlier. I have never herd of this and her symptoms confused me. Thank you for all the help you have given me.