Urinary Calculi or something else?

[Bird Whisperer]

Good day everyone, I have a 10 year old wether who I thought had stones but now I'm not sure.

On Sunday morning he wouldn't come out of his house to eat; when we finally coaxed him out he would stretch himself out with his tail up and stand like that for a minute, then paw at the ground, lay down, and grind his teeth. He did not like us messing with him, and just wanted to be left alone. I was at work most of the day but my sister said was shaking and "twitching"; he did pee a little stream but mostly just a few drips here and there. We didn't think he was going to make it through the night.

By Sunday night, if he stood up, he would bleat in pain every time he would lay back down or if another goat pushed against him (we separated him for a while after that). On Monday he wasn't twitching anymore, but still grinding his teeth and "shivering" a little bit; he mostly sat in one place and would cry if I tried to move him, and I did not see him pee a single drop.

Since this started, I've been giving him cranberry juice with ammonium chloride (2 teaspoons every 12 hours) as a drench and doing hot compresses/massages; he's keeping his penis in the sheath and won't let me look at it so I can't say if the pizzle looks black, let alone remove it. I just went down to check on him (Tuesday) and brought my hemostats to see if I could "feel" anything in his sheath, but he got up when I started to prod and let out a nice stream of pee! I'm not sure if I unblocked or stimulated something with the hemostats as there was no blood or chunks of anything that I could see, which was encouraging; but after he finished he went back into his house and cried as he lay back down.

His poops look normal and he's still eating and drinking water (I had only let him have a few sips until today because I thought he was blocked; he was rather thirsty). If he did have stones, would he still be in pain after they have passed? I was happy to see him pee but he seems like he is still in pain and wants to be left alone, so now I'm not sure if stones were the issue or if I'm dealing with something totally different

There is a horse vet about 30 minutes away that would see him, but I'm not sure they can do much since they don't specialize in goats. Plus at his age, I don't want to give him any extra stress that might make things worse. I appreciate any input and advice!

 

[Mini Horses]

If calculi there's more than one....even is one or some passed. Does he have a fever? Obviously, he must pee or bladder ruptures. A vet could sedate him and help check for obstruction or even surgically release ... Or x-ray in case there's another issue. It'll be costly but he's obviously in pain, no matter the cause. possibly you can repeat your inspection that allowed urine passage again hoping for some amount of relief until a vet can assist.

 

[SageHill]

If it's calculi you must've dislodged it to get him to pee. Where there's one there's probably more. I had a dog with this problem eons ago - ended up on a special diet, so by the same thinking - if that is the problem you probably need to adjust his diet as well - long term like for life not just a fix-it quick cure.

 

[Bird Whisperer]

Thank you for the responses. I just checked his temp and it reads 101.2 F; is that a little low?
I also gave him a Vit. B injection about an hour ago and he got up to pee again, which I'm glad to see. But he's still grinding his teeth and laying down, not wanting to be messed with.

We used to only feed orchard grass or teff, but about a year ago, a different goat stopped eating, became "depressed", and lost a ton of weight; we started mixing alfalfa into their feed and he started eating, gained back his muscle and is a happy boy again. I'd say over the last 6 months they started eating mostly alfalfa (just out of pickiness) so I started adding some oats to their feed to hopefully balance the calcium/phosphorus ratio, but evidently I need to make some adjustments...

What to do you feed your goats? Do you recommend any other supplemental feed to help prevent this? Thank you again!

 

[Bird Whisperer]

He peed again and he's moving around more: he keeps getting up, stretching, then finding a new spot to lay down. He's still got this "shiver" and he cries whenever he lays back down. It seems like he can't quite get comfortable.

The way he's walking is also funky; it's like he's almost stumbling but not quite; I did notice a little wet poo stuck under his tail but I don't see any diarrhea or unusual stool. He hasn't lost his appetite although he's only eating a little and there before getting up and moving around; he's also still drinking water normally.

I'm starting to suspect goat polio after looking through several posts.

 

[canesisters]

How did this turn out? How's your goat doing now?

 

[Bird Whisperer]

How did this turn out? How's your goat doing now?

I've been meaning to post an update, but I've been busy. I'm happy to say he has made a full recovery!

Tuesday night (when I last posted) I thought he may be showing signs of polio, but the vitamin B injection I had on hand had very little thiamine. I had some human Vitamin B1 pills on hand (I believe it was 300mg of benfotiamine with 100mg of thiamine); since the feed stores were all closed at the time I gave him a couple of pills every 2 hours around the clock - I dissolved the contents of the capsules in water and gave it as a drench. I also gave him a dose of nutri-drench.

He made it through the night and remained in the same condition as the day before, so I think those pills at least kept him from getting worse. I was able to get a bottle of the duravet High Level B Complex that had 100mg of Thiamine per mil. I only had 3ml syringes on hand so I drew back as much of the solution as the syringe would hold (close to 4ml) and gave him an injection every 4 hours around the clock and another round of the nutri-drench.

By the next morning (Wednesday) we could see that he was feeling a lot better: he was moving around more, he stopped shivering, and started to show more interest in hay (he had only nibbled some the last couple of days). He was definitely still weak and stayed in his house most of the time so I continued to give an injection every 6 hours.

On Thursday morning, he came to me when he heard my voice as I was walking toward the goat pen - that was the first time since he got sick that he met me at the gate! Until then, I had to go to his house where he was laying down. It was like the "fog" had lifted and he was so much more alert and happy, he was even head-butt another goat! I got some extra stout Guinness and drenched a couple syringes after it went flat, but he was not a fan. My other goat, Milo, on the other hand, may be an alcoholic because he chugged the rest of the beer I had in a bowl

I gave him 2 injections that day and then forgot to give anything Saturday, but gave him one more Sunday. He actually ran away from me Sunday so I stopped poking him after that injection (poor guy). I had also gotten some goat feed pellets early on because he seemed uninterested in any hay; he is eating his hay again but I've been giving some of the pellets along with oats and some banana to give him extra nutrients.

Today he seems to be back to his old self! I'm honestly not sure if he had urinary calculi at the beginning and that led to his polio, or if him not peeing the first couple of days was a side effect of the polio - whatever the cause was, I'm just glad it's over. I'll be giving all the goats ammonium chloride on a more regular basis ( I was thinking once a week?) and upping the amount of oats they get with their hay!

 

[Mini Horses]

So happy for you! And the goat whatever the cause, it seems resolved! Always good news.

 

[Baymule]

You are a good goat mommy! I'm glad he is ok now.