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

Beatrice

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I have a almost three year old doe who is within a week of kidding. A few days ago I noticed her whimpering or kind of groaning and becoming less active. The night before last she was sitting down and the next morning she would still eat if you gave her her own pail of feed. Yesterday she walked around a little. This morning she is still whimpering and sitting down a lot. She seems unsteady on her feet. There is a little clear nasal discharge in her nose. She only picked at her feed but she still will eat her hay. What should I give her? I don't want her to loose her energy especially since she is going to kid within ten days.
 

Youngfarmer2019

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don’t have much advice (currently waiting on my does to kid) but want to see some healthy babies soon, don’t forget to keep us updated and take plenty of pics!!
 

Beatrice

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Thank you frusturatedearthmother for the link. I was able to find some Nutridrench and I gave her a little over an ounce of it. It was very messy and she didn't enjoy it. I noticed she has lost some of the fat under her skin. She doesn't have all of the symptoms of pregnancy toxemia but she has some namely, slow to get up, lying in the corner, sometimes grinding her teeth, eating less, and some depression. I haven't been able to take her temperature yet but her head doesn't feel very warm.
 

Ridgetop

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Have you checked to see if she is dilating? If she is within a week of kidding does she have an udder forming? Is this her first kidding? How did she behave in any previous kiddings? Is she a heavy milker? Ketosis is more common in extremely heavy milkers.

I used to keep polypropylene glycol on hand but not anymore. I was going to suggest you give her Karo and water for sugar energy but here is a formula that I found online which sounds better. It was in a blog by Honey Sweetie Acres.

DIRECTIONS TO MAKE MAGIC:

Fill the pint jar 1/2 way with real molasses. Fill 1/4 of the jar with either dark or light Karo. (Whichever you have on hand). Next fill the remaining 1/4 of the jar with canola oil and very hot water. Now add 2 teaspoons full of completely crushed TUMS or other calcium based antacid tablets. Stir very well. If you can cap the jar and shake it vigorously, that works best.

Fill a 15 – 20 ml syringe and slowly squirt in the goat’s mouth. Fortunately, Rosie loves it as you can see. She delivered triplets Sunday afternoon, all three healthy, strong and walking within minutes. I have absolutely no doubt that “Magic” played a part.

Using MAGIC when treating ketosis in goats helps ensure babies are born ALIVE and strong enough to stand and nurse. It helps Momma Goat avoid Ketosis as the demand for her milk production will now sky-rocket. As Grandma said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and MAGIC is a great tool for any goat owner.
 

Beatrice

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What does "dilating" mean? She has an udder forming. This is her third time kidding. Both times prior she had singles with absolutely no problems. She is Kiko/Boer/Fainter I think she makes more milk then some of our Boers but with both of her singles she never seemed to have an overly large udder. Tonight she refused to eat her feed but I gave her about 24 ml of molasses, corn syrup, vegetable oil mixture. I also gave her 4 oz of water because she wouldn't drink water when I put the pail up to her. She still walks around but is not very steady, I think because she is weak from not eating very much. She was going towards the hay so I think she still at least noses it. I don't think she enjoys all of the molasses tasting mixtures after that messy nutridrench. Is it possible to overdose on molasses? Thank you Ridgetop for the magic recipe. I will try it tomarrow.
 

Beatrice

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This morning I gave her 20 ml of the magic and 4 oz of water. She is completely off feed and wouldn't eat the hay I put in front of her. I took her temp it was 101.8. She walks and gets up on her own, but still whimpers (or makes little noises like groans or something). I don't want to overdose her with sugars. I heard that I should try drenching her with creamed corn and pumpkin. Has anyone else tried this?
 

Mini Horses

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Nooo...never hear of that one. Well pumpkin, not corn. She needs to have way more than 4 oz of water!! See if an oz or two of salty water will get her to drink. B vitamins often encourage eating.....
Have any dry goat minerals there? They have salt in them and she may lick at those. Does often eat them when they "need" something.

Dilating is the opening of cervical muscles to let kids pass at birth, rather than holding them in. If udder is "just" forming she's probably not ready to kid. Most have at least a small bag at kidding.
 
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