Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLEnterotoxemia
Goats like to eat. In fact, they like to eat a lot, but rather than just becoming fat, some goats can suffer from “overeating disease”, officially known as enterotoxemia.
Enterotoxemia is caused by an overabundance of bacteria called Clostridium perfringens. These Clostridial organisms are always present in the rumen but excessive eating that slows or stops digestion as in the case of bloat, allows these organisms to build up to toxic levels.
Preventing enterotoxemia is easy. Don’t over feed your goats. It occurs most often in cases of overfeeding grain but can also occur on fresh pasture or when bottle feeding if care isn’t taken to ensure the goats aren’t overeating.
CD/T vaccine is a prophylactic medicinal way to prevent enterotoxemia and an antitoxin is also available. For more information take a look at Goat World, this article by Maxine Kinne and a plethora of knowledge from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
Perhaps the best way to prevent it is making sure the goats always have baking soda to eat freely and to make sure they are let out or fed green wet forage at a slow pace until they get used to it.
Baking soda is an absolute must have. And diligence when bottle feeding is also necessary as bottle babies aren’t going to know to take some baking soda if they’ve overindulged. In most cases, it really is a matter of good husbandry.