# goat in bloat plz help!



## rkl4570 (Nov 21, 2011)

Our wether just went into bloat an hour or so ago, I caught it pretty quick. I gave them a big clump of greens, but the same size as they get everyday. About 30 mins to an hour later I went to give them some more and he wasn't pacing the fence, he was laying down looking sick and bloated. If he's not trying to break the fence down for food then something's wrong!

We got him up and gave him 6 oz of bloat release, and got his front feet up onto the tires and gave intervals of massage and walking around. Alot of it got burped out and he has pooped. About 20 mins ago we tried to give him 2tbsp of baking soda in water, but he only got about half of it. Hes still lethargic and still has a small bubble. Is there anything more we should do other than more massage? We decided to leave him alone for a few mins. :sigh:


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## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

It sounds like you're doing fine. Just be patient and keep doing what you are doing. I am a strong believer in Banamine for bloat. I might suggest that Baking Soda Balls are easier to give than liquid. Just keep him moving now and then. Lots of massage. If he's been burping and has moved his bowels I would think the worst is past. I would refrain from feeding grain for a day or two.


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## rkl4570 (Nov 21, 2011)

Yea I had planned on not giving him any grain, he only gets 1/2 cup but still. Thanks!


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Is it possible the handful of greens had something toxic in it? a handful should not cause bloat. If there was something toxic you want to give activated charcoal. 
If it is bloat you are doing good. 
NO grain
keep on massaging, walking around, front legs elevated.


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## rkl4570 (Nov 21, 2011)

He burped some more out. All they had was a branch of poplar and a branch of sweet gum. They get alot more than a handful (about half of a small sapling), but they get that everyday.


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## Guest (May 15, 2012)

I graze alfalfa therefore I carry Gas X strips in my pocket and have at least a box on hand if needed I have saved the life of several goats in the past few years. I have also seen several die every year before I got the idea for the Gas X strip. The reason it works so well is that they do not have to swallow any liquid and it melts on the tongue fast. I have seen goats go from will be dead in 10 minutes to normal in 20 min. I even called Gas X and tried to convince them that they needed to get into the livestock feed additive business. We are talking frothy bloat and it may be different from the kind you are dealing with.


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## rkl4570 (Nov 21, 2011)

Hmmm Ive never heard of that, Im going to get some! I don't think he had frothy bloat, you can feel a big bubble that sounds hollow when you tap it. Hes been burping continously now, and he's running from us whenever we try to massage his sides. So we're going to leave him alone for the night. Hes much more alert and active.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

Gas X is the same as bloat release, same ingredient. Keep baking soda offered free choice, no more greens or grain, only hay. Give some Probios tomorrow. If he's running from you and burping he is good. Goats always have some gas in their rumen, so it's normal to feel some.


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## rkl4570 (Nov 21, 2011)

I was wondering if they did have gas already in there... I just dont remember feeling it as if it were right under the skin. What about our buck though? We want to keep him used to greens. When should we introduce him back to greens/grains?


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## Guest (May 15, 2012)

The thing about the strip though is that you don't have to make them swallow anything which in my experience is not going to happen if it is frothy bloat and the goat is in distress and scared. 
My goats are pretty gassy I think as a rule they probably put off enough gas to run a small engine, each. The left side is where the abomasom is and it will sometimes look like they have a bowling ball on that side just in front of the flank, it sometimes will bloat independently and depends on what they have been eating. The dangerous kind bloats the first and second stomachs as well as the abomasom. There is no effective way to relieve the gas once it reaches emergency gonna die in 2-3 minutes so I have a trocore to puncture the abomasom and leave the core in permanently. That does not always work either since the abomasom is like an onion with layers and gas dosen't get relieved from the 1st-2nd stomach fast enough. Since it is not a good outlet, but is the only one that can be mechanically reached, the bloating may happen faster than the gas going through the trocore and still kill the goat. There is sure a feeling of helplessness when that happens and your goat bleats. tips over and dies. Since I have way better fencing that hasn't happened for a long time I time the grazing and watch the goat that seems to bloat first and get them off the field fast. I also put Dawn dish soap in the water tanks which helps break the bubbles in frothy bloat I just keep it in the water 24-7 when I am grazing alfalfa, which I hate to do but it is all I have that will grow fast enough to provide a fast growing high protein forage at this time. I sometimes put soda out for them but it blows away and most of the time gets wasted. 
Goats seem to build up some resistance to bloating and some don't as bad as others. One thing though if you do bloat a goat as bad as I have it sometimes tears their guts loose from their back bone and will cause that belly that sticks out on either side.
It is better to keep up with the routine and monitor how much than to give it hit and miss. Id still feed what you are just watch throwing a whole tree in there.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Sorry Sideplanner, I'm not trying to pick on you here I just have a bit of a thing about ruminant GIT biology and you seem to have your stomachs mixed up a bit. 

1. The abomasum doesnt normally sit on the left side of the goat. Its usual position is along the ventral midline. It can however get shifted into a abnormal position and is then called a LDA (left displaced abomasum) or RDA (right displaced abomasum). The most common cause of LDA/RDA is parturition - the abomasum doesnt get back to its proper position after calving/kidding/lambing, when you get an LDA/RDA it often leads to abomasal bloat as the abomasum doesnt function correctly in the wrong position, so gas build up occurs. You also see abomasal bloat in bottle fed babies, usually from overfeeding milk or from those which do not tolerate milk replacer. The abomasum is the fourth stomach, the only 'true' stomach very similar in appearance and function to ours. 

2. The left side of the goat is the rumen, or first stomach. It is this that we see as a 'bowling ball' when they have eaten quite a bit, and this is what we see distended when a goat has bloat. 

3. There are three kinds of bloat. Abomasal bloat which I mentioned above, mainly involves young stock. The main bloat that we see affecting goats and attributed to rich feed, is either frothy bloat or free gas bloat, both of which involve the distention of the rumen and the reticulum, not the abomasum. The rumen is the first stomach, the reticulum is the second.

4. When using a trocar and cannula to release gas buildup from a bloated animal, you are puncturing the rumen, not the abomasum. Its not the best method to use for bloat treatment but where there is no option it can sometimes be helpful. You should not be leaving the cannula in permanently though. 

5. The abomasum does not have the layers like an onion, you are thinking about the omasum (which is not involved in bloat of any kind). The omasum is the third stomach. 

6. Bloat cannot "tear their guts loose from their backbone" and that would not cause the belly to stick out to the side. In very rare cases you find old ewes or does who have what the old timers call "drop belly". The supportive structure which suspends the GIT inside the abdominal cavity has been ruptured, and you find in these cases the animal presents with its belly hanging directly down, not out, to the point where it nearly touches the ground. The stomach is literally supported only by the hide. If she is rearing young she should be allowed to raise them to weaning and then be culled, as prognosis for these animals is not good. I understand the look you are describing, but it is not from bloat and it doesnt mean the GIT suspension is blown, just that the animal is a little older and may have had large litters, and things arent quite as tight and elastic as they once were. Happens to the best of us! lol

Sideplanner it sounds like you have quite a problem with bloat which needs to be addressed. We graze lucerne (alfalfa) here in Australia too, and if done right you shouldnt have bloat problems, at least not to the extend you seem to be describing. There are a few options you can try: 

- sowing a lucerne/grass mix
- allowing access to grass or cereal hay, either free choice in the paddock or if the goats are 'locked up' for the night allow them to fill their bellies with hay before being turned out to green feed during the day
- if you are strip grazing, move them to a fresh strip in the afternoon, not in the morning
- bloat risk varies with different cultivars of lucerne, you can get LIRD (low initial rate of digestion) cultivars

The main control method is administering an anti-foaming agent during the time the animals are grazing the risky pasture. You can choose to spray it onto the pasture, add it to their food or water, use a lick block containing the agent, or paint it onto the sides of the animals, so they ingest it when they lick themselves. You can also use slow-release capsules which are put into the rumen. Agents can include oils and fats and synthetic nonionic surfactants such as poloxalene or alcohol ethoxylate detergents which are more palatable. The slow release rumen capsules are monensin.


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## rkl4570 (Nov 21, 2011)

Thanks for the info!!! Elwood is back to normal this morning, though he was very upset that he didn't get his grain! :laugh:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

> Sorry Sideplanner, I'm not trying to pick on you here I just have a bit of a thing about ruminant GIT biology and you seem to have your stomachs mixed up a bit.
> 
> 1. The abomasum doesnt normally sit on the left side of the goat. Its usual position is along the ventral midline. It can however get shifted into a abnormal position and is then called a LDA (left displaced abomasum) or RDA (right displaced abomasum). The most common cause of LDA/RDA is parturition - the abomasum doesnt get back to its proper position after calving/kidding/lambing, when you get an LDA/RDA it often leads to abomasal bloat as the abomasum doesnt function correctly in the wrong position, so gas build up occurs. You also see abomasal bloat in bottle fed babies, usually from overfeeding milk or from those which do not tolerate milk replacer. The abomasum is the fourth stomach, the only 'true' stomach very similar in appearance and function to ours.
> 
> ...


 I do agree...


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