# Please help! Bottle baby shivering/shaking/in pain after bottle



## SarahM (Jan 11, 2012)

Last night after giving one of our one month old orphan Boer doelings her bottle of milk (from one of our dairy does – she’s getting two feedings a day of 16 oz.), she started . . .

~Shivering
~Her stomach was trembling
~Was grinding her teeth
~Back was hunched
~And she was not really responding to us, but just standing there eyes half closed

She had jumped around right after her bottle, and we thought maybe she had twisted her gut or upset her stomach or something. We were afraid we were going to lose her last night! After about an hour or two, though, she was entirely back to normal. We thought all was well.

She just had her bottle a little while ago and now she is doing exactly the same thing! Any ideas what is causing this? What can I do to help her? I am really worried about her!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

~Sarah


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## goatiegirl (Jan 7, 2013)

What is her weight? You should be feeding 10% of her weight in ounces divided by the number of feedings. I would spread it out over at least 3 if not 4 feedings rather than only 2.
What is her temp?


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## Joanne26 (May 6, 2013)

Not an expert by any stretch, but 16 oz at once seems like a lot. I have bottle fed goats in the past, and am currently bottle feeding a lamb (4 weeks old) and they take about half that during one "meal".


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I would get a temp on her..make sure that is good. But I agree with goatiegirl..sounds like she may have trouble digesting 16 oz at once.
weigh her and multiply that by 16...to get her weight in OZ...multiply that by 10%-12% to get how much she should drink in one day..divide that into at least 3 feedings...


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Do you have the CD anti-toxin? You can get it at tractor supply, and it sounds like she needs it. No milk for at least 12 hours, let her digest. I agree with what has been posted.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You may need to feed 3 bottles with smaller amounts.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I agree with the cd antitoxin...when baby can not digest the milk..it sits and become toxic in the tummy...this will make the baby very sick and in sever cases will cause death...Please do get and keep this life saving medication on hand...3 cc Sub Q every

Be sure when looking for the C D Antitoxin you do not get TOXOID...it is not the same here is a link to show you want to look for...
http://goat-link.com/content/view/159/168/#.UZESGbV3Z0M


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## SarahM (Jan 11, 2012)

Thank you all so much! We were thinking it could be overfeeding as well, but since she had been getting this same amount of milk for awhile, we weren’t sure. It has been hard to know how much to feed her and her sister as there are so many different opinions on that. We had printed out quite a few different feeding schedules for goat kids, and fed around the midline. But in comparison to what you all mentioned of feeding 10-12% of their body weight, they would be getting a lot more milk than they should (they are only around 13 lbs – they had a rough start as they were born 5 days early and via c-section.) 

After this experience and per your all’s advice, we will lower her (and her sister’s) milk intake and will switch to three times a day feedings.

I had neglected to mention in my last post that she and her sister also had surgery to correct entropion just four days ago, are on antibiotics, and have also started eating some grain and alfalfa pellets and quite a bit more hay as well. So perhaps those factors also played a part in her all of a sudden having a reaction to that much milk.

She has now bounced back to her normal, active self again so we’re not sure if we would need to give the CD anti-toxin or not (and we do have it on hand.) We’ve dealt with entero once before in twin Boer doelings, and this doeling doesn’t have the loose stools, extended abdomen, etc. that they experienced. If it was entero, however, wouldn’t she have continued declining instead of improving so dramatically and so quickly both last night and this morning? 

Once again, thank you all so much! It’s a blessing to have people knowledgeable about goats to ask questions of!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

If they are back to normal you dont need to give the CD Antitoxin...I give it to any goat who is acting off..off feed/mil..has diarrhea or constipation...or of course enterotoxemia...

when feeding grain..only give what they will eat with in a 15 minute period..then pick it up and give fresh each meal..Mold sets up camp very quick, especially in wet or humid weather...


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I would also add a small pinch of baking soda to one bottle a day to help prevent an acid reaction. It seems that once they have reacted to their milk they become more prone to do it again.


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