# Very Worried - Retained Placenta???



## riverstonegoats

Hey guys, I just had a doe kid on Friday at night sometime. I just happened to discover that she'd kidded when I checked on everyone and the one doe didn't show up. I went hunting for them and found the doe with one dead kid out and a live one out as well. No idea if the dead kid was still born or died shortly after? I moved mom and baby to my "goat barn" and set up hay, etc, to keep them warm as it's been getting around freezing here at night. I left the stillborn intending to bury it first thing in the morning.

I came back Saturday morning to find that something had *taken* the dead baby! There were no traces of birth and no baby goat at all. So, I was freaked out by this but, there was nothing I could do about it then.

I checked on the doe again and she had some long stringy - what looked like tendons - hanging out still. I didn't think too much of it. I tied it up to help keep her from stepping on it/to add weight. However, today I found that she passed what I had seen yesterday... but she had a whole other string of goo hanging. 

I can't go back and see if she had in fact passed the placenta... there is nothing left to check. 

And, here is what really scares me, she is starting to smell back there. Not normal birthing smells, I am worried she may have an infection? I can't get the vet out right now - is there anything I can do? I do not have Oxytocin... 

I have penicillin and oral ammoxicillin... and I have other stuff like probiotics and vitamins...

Any ideas?


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## milkmaid

I believe the placenta can normally take up to 24 hours to expel. The stink you are smelling does sound like infection.
I would be giving vitamin C. A 2,000 mg dose 3 times a day, or even more if you think she needs it.
Other people would recommend the antibiotic. I believe penicillin would be fine, but I have no idea of the dosage; hopefully someone else can help you there.
So sorry about the dead kid. :hug: How is the live one doing?


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## ksalvagno

At this point it is an emergency. There is a chance that she still has a dead kid in there. At the very least you are going to have to glove up and go in there and check. You need more meds than what you have on hand. Unfortunately, you really need the vet out.


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## 8566

Because you said her discharge is smelling really bad:
I agree - you're going to have to glove up and go in to make sure.

BUT:
If you're not experienced with feeling for what's inside, then it might not make sense unless you act upon it; pull out dead kid ....

Typically and especially with it being cold outside, they don't start smelling bad within the 24hr mark - which I think you are in unless there is something else going on.

The dead kid in the field got snatched by your dogs, neighbor dogs, or predator. I never let my goats kid out in the field because I don't want any scent for predators to pickup on.

And you'd be amazed at how fast they can eat the afterbirth. And they will drip for a while afterwards - even days at times.

HTH,


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## liz

I'm sorry you lost a kid but I do think that there is very likely a dead kid inside yet... one that may have passed just a few days before she delivered. It is extremely important to have a vet see her ASAP, especially if you don't have the experience of going into a doe to check or if you don't have someone close by who has. Having a bad odor at this time certainly indicates infection or putrid kid.


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## riverstonegoats

Update:

She is a Nigerian Dwarf goat. Forgot to mention that.

I gave her 3 ccs of Penicillin tonight. 

I had thought of a possible dead kid when she gave birth - and I do always "bump" check anyways. I tried it on her and I could not feel a kid in there. 

I went out tonight and tried to "go in" but she's so tiny I can only get a couple fingers in and I can feel up to her cervix, but that's it. Nothing in there that far anyways... not that that tells us much. But that's as far as I could get. :-(

I did re-palpate her abdomen again (and had my brother in law (human EMT) do it too) but I swear I cannot feel anything abnormal at all. Everything bounces wonderfully and nothing feels hard/lumpy/tight at all.

I am going to call my vet ASAP tomorrow morning and see what he suggests.

Has anyone had a doe get infected like this and make it through it? On penicillin or something else?


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## ksalvagno

I have had 2 friends this year that had retained dead kids. When they bumped them, they didn't feel anything but went through about the same thing you did. 

My vet always says that Penicillin is best for the infections of the uterus. But you may need to give her some Lutalyse and open her cervix back up. She probably at least needs to be flushed if there isn't a dead kid in there. It really sounds like the infection needs more than just Penicillin.


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## keren

If she delivered normally and is acting ok I think its unlikely that there is a dead kid. 

It is probably more a case of retained placenta - even if they retain just a little bit they can get an infection - my doe has one now. I would start your girl on the penicillin asap. I cant give you dosages unless I know what concentration your bottle is. 

Retained placenta/metritis (uterine infection) is a common complication and not life threatening, easy to treat and usually responds well


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## Jessica84

I agree keren, a few months ago I had a doe with the same issue, she was my bottle baby, called a friend and she said dead kid inside. I freaked out took her to the vet and nothing in her. He did give me this stuff, I cant find the bottle right now, but it puts them back into labor to make her push all that nasty out, he also had me do the pen.


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## nancy d

Riverstone for now the Pen is fine to use, this is penicillan G right? If so she will need 5-7 days of it.
Your vet may give something else. 
Sorry for your loss but these things happen from time to time.


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## ptgoats45

I would call your vet and ask them. If her cervix is closed she will need to be given Lute to stimulate it to re-open. Oxytocin can be given to induce contractions, but you do not give oxytocin when the cervix is closed or if there is another kid in there. If she does have her afterbirth coming out it may not be an infection at all. If the after birth that is outside is dying that is what is smelling and not her. I had a doe who had a retained placenta for a few days and she smelled, but it was the afterbirth and not her. Once it finally came out (after many doses of oxytocin per my vets direction) she did not smell at all. My vet also gave me a sterile solution with an antibiotic in it to flush her uterus with.

Pen G is dosed at 3cc per 50 lbs and typically given 2 x a day in an ill goat. I really don't like to give penicillin because it has so much resistance to many of the things we try to cure these days. I would ask your vet about giving her a shot of Excede. It is given SQ at the base of the ear, I would recommend you have your vet give it as this can be a tricky route of administration. Excede is a really good antibiotic and it used in cattle to treat metritis and a few other things. I have used it on a doe who was discharging oddly after giving birth and it cleared her right up. There is also no milk withdrawal with excede.

Good luck with your girl. Have you taken a temp on her? Infections almost always cause fever.


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## Tenacross

If there is a dead kid in there, she would be very, very sick by now.
What is her temperature?


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## riverstonegoats

Hey guys. Just an update - my vet gave me oxytocin and told me to give it to her yesterday. I did, and she seems to be cleared out now. The putrid smell is gone, thank goodness.

Still haven't been able to take her temp (as I haven't had help since I gave the shot, and of course I forgot to do it at the time).

She is doing much, much better now.


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