Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLSick Goat 911
These resource sites provide a wealth of information on goat health, including what to do if you find a goat down and no vet is immediately available:
Goat 911 is the place to turn if it’s midnight, your goat is really sick and your vet doesn’t open until morning or there’s no goat vet in your area. Goat World has volunteers worldwide ready to help in a crisis. They’re not in every state or country, but there are enough of them that you should be able to reach someone on the phone or via e-mail 24-hour-a-day.
An email group on yahoo, Practical Goats brings together goat people — old and new — to ask and answer questions. The knowledge base there is amazingly helpful in a pinch.
FiasCoFarm provides information on common medical issues as well as general care, which can be beneficial if you find your goat slightly under the weather.
How would you treat coliform mastitis in a dairy goat? The symptoms are clinical.
I’d call my vet immediately. Regular milkings and the use of antibiotics like oxytocin. That form of mastitis can be fatal. Luckily, it’s not generally passed to others in the herd but it’s a serious matter.
I have a goat that has labored breathing and don’t know what the cause is, can you please me?
he is a pygmy goat and about 2 years old. Thanks
The most common cause of labored breathing is respiratory infection. You need to call the vet and have him checked and dosed with antibiotics if needed. His temperature should be around 102.5 F. If it’s higher, he’s fighting an infection. There are other things that can cause labored breathing but your best bet is to have him checked by a vet and treated for whatever is causing his problem. Good luck to you.
I have a 3 month old bottle baby that has had diareha off and on for about 6 weeks now and I am at my wits end. Because he is a bottle baby its been fairly easy for me to give him probiotics, vitamin b12, antibiotics and electrolytes. His poop will sometimes get the consistancy of dog poop and then go back to diareha. But it’s never like the little pellets. Any suggestions? I am open to anything. Tonight he drank a whole bottle with milk, electrolytes and karo syrup and took a syring with Neomycin and b12. I think he may be still be here in the morning as earlier today he wouldn’t even take his bottle at all…
If he didn’t get colostrum after he was born, his rumen may not have developed properly. Also at 3 months, he’s should be down to one feeding a day, if that, and should be largely on hay or feed (but not grain). If he’s been scouring for 6 weeks, he really should see a vet to find out what’s going on before you lose him.