# Recurring Fever after Birth



## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

My Nubian doe Spot kidded four days ago. This is her third kid. This kid is HUGE, he was born bigger than our two week olds. 

Her delivery was odd, it appeared to have been at least 27 hours from when she lost her ligaments to the kid being on the ground. (Usually mine kid 12 hours after lost ligaments.) She progressed slowly and it appeared that labor stopped overnight and restarted around 10 o’clock the next morning. 

We didn’t have to reposition the kid, but helped pull the feet out with her during contractions. 

She appeared to be fine the first day.

The next morning, she had a fever of 105.4. We don’t have banamine or a vet that can prescribe it. (No vets do goats or livestock around here.) We gave her ibuprofen (double human dose) and penicillin. Her fever went away and was doing better. 

The following morning, her high fever was back. We repeated the treatment and she was fever free in the evening. 

This morning, her fever has returned again. It’s 105.6! I’ve given her more ibuprofen and will be picking up some LA200 or the non-sting version of it. 

She has passed her placenta, thank goodness. 

Her kid is also not doing well. Standing under as if he’s constipated. We’ve given him enemas and his poop sometimes seems too loose and watery. Spot doesn’t feel well enough to clean him well, so I step in. Pepto Bismol seemed to help the kid last night. 

Spot doesn’t have a foul smell, she is just weak and has a recurring fever. I try to get her to eat as much as I can, she’ll nibble, but not much.

Suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I'd give them both a B Complex shot. I'd also offer electrolyte water. Hopefully she isn't torn.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Start antibiotics right away. Stress of kidding could cause low immunity and there for pneumonia. 
Any bright red color bleeding? Weird discharge? Baby was bug but did you check for second kid? Placenta came ok? 
Hows babies temp?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Also did you de worm her after she kidded? check her famacha. You want a deep pink to red color.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How is her udder and milk?
Any mastitis?

If she has no bad odor in her rear end, dropped her afterbirth, it is most likely not infection there, it sounds like pneumonia. 
For respiratory LA200 or equivalent would be best.

Stress could of triggered worms and/ or cocci, then with her immune system being down, caused pneumonia.

Check her inner lower eyelid color, if it is light pink or white, she has a parasite issue. 

How is the babies temp?


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

Gave her a dose of LA200. She does have mastitis, noticed after administrating the shot. I treated her with TODAY. It’s on one side only, the side the kid prefers. I can’t get him to nurse off the other side. I taped that teat so he won’t suck out the medication. I bottle fed him about 8oz of colostrum/milk from another doe who kidded a day after he was born. 

Hopefully it’s the mastitis that’s causing the fever and we’ll get through this soon.

She has normal discharge for all I can tell. I’ll give her some wormer and electrolytes this evening when I go back to check on them.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Glad you caught the Mastitis. Keep with La200 for 5 to 7 days and probiotics at least 3 hours after that to keep a healthy rumen . 

Best wishes


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

I read that the LA200 was given every 48 hours for goats. Is this true, or should it be once a day?

Thanks!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Once a day.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

With taping the bad side and making the kid suckle from the ignored side. Open the kids mouth, squirt some mama’s milk in the kids mouth and let go of the kid, tickle tailhead. Repeat until the kid gets the idea.
Or try on and off throughout the day. 

Also make sure the teat doesn’t have a peace of dirt or anything on it that doesn’t belong, make sure it is clean.
Some kids are weird about that if a teat feels different in their mouth than the side they are use to.


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

Spot has a fever again. I feel as if I’m running out of ideas. I don’t want to keep giving her ibuprofen. (We’re getting the oils out of the gel pills and drenching her with it.)


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

Can penicillin be given at the same time as LA200?


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

Daffodil_Dairy said:


> Can penicillin be given at the same time as LA200?


I looked it up, for future reference, the answer is no.


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

Any chance you could call around and explain your situation to local vets? They might be willing to work with you to get her some banamine. 
Any success getting baby to nurse the other teat?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

If you know anyone with horses, often they have banamine on hand. Otherwise, cool compresses behind ears and arm pits can help lower temp. Do continue the antibiotics. It takes time for them to feel better. Keep up mastitis treatment. You're doing good..


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

Update, she’s doing a little better. No fever, but that’s typical for the evenings. Hopefully she won’t have a fever in the morning. She likes her electrolytes and is drinking a lot more, which is excellent. She doesn’t have much of an appetite, but did eat a little. I did go ahead and give her 1 gram of Bute since she still appeared to be in distress. Maybe it will counteract with the evening fever. (Bute dosage 10-20mg/kg).

Her kid is aware that milk will come out of the other side, but prefers to starve instead of using it. I’m supplementing him with a bottle since it appears that Spot doesn’t stand up often enough for him to nurse.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Maybe milk her out and save the good milk for baby. You can make a udder sling of sorts to keep baby from nursing the medicine out of the sick side but he can still run with mom .
Be sure not to over feed him. Weigh him daily and multiply that by 16 to get weight in oz. Then multiply that amount by 10% to see how much milk to feed per day and divide into 4 feedings. Feel tummy after his bottle to see how he does on 10%. You want a flat but firm tumny..not too poochy and not sunken in..adjust +/- as needed. Keep in mind that baby will always act like you are starving him... 😉 mom knows when to walk away...we have to measure...

Best wishes


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## Tanya (Mar 31, 2020)

My instincts are telling me there is an infection going on there. If you have horse farms in your area I would approach them. Try a natural antibiotic - 3 cloves of garlic. You can give it to her with the chemical antibiitic. I really hope you find a solution soon.


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

The good news is that Spot is acting like she’s feeling better. She’s more alert and has a slightly better appetite. 

The bad news is that she still has a fever and half of her udder is still hard as a rock. 

Yesterday her fever was only 103.8, so I was hoping that we were getting over this. 

Today her fever was 104.4 in the morning and 104.6 in the evening. I gave her bute both times. 

She received a dose of LA200, Vit B complex, and iron today and yesterday. 

Today I was able to coax her outside the stall to eat grass in her pen. I don’t think she stayed out for more than 10 minutes, but at least that’s something. 

I think she must have torn during delivery. Her kid was very, very large. I don’t know how she developed mastitis so quickly. 

I’ve (unfortunately) dealt with mastitis before, and once it gets to be so hard that milk will no longer come out, I haven’t been able to fix it. I’ve tried warm compresses and massages for hours, but nothing seems to work. I noticed that her udder was hard two days after kidding. When she kidded, her udder was soft but full. I’ve dozed her with TODAY, but again, this never seems to work for me. Is there anything else than can be done with these extreme cases?

The kid finally figured out he can nurse on one side, but is always hungry. I don’t think he’s getting enough. The teat that does work is the side that got ‘blown out’ in her first kidding. I might need to supplement the kid with a bottle until he gets bigger and can fit more of the teat in his mouth to nurse.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Has she been tested for CAE? Is her udder turning black or deep in color? 
There is a product called masto blast that I find helpful. It's oral homeopathic supplement. I also find feeding mom about 30 cc of her milk back as long as it's not bloody or pus..not too gross, helps mom build antibodies to help fight. On the congestion...Very warm compresses, massage, knead, milk repeat. It's hard work but needed several times a day. Use a peppermint balm. Some find cabbage leaves heated and wrap help bring things up. 
Other things to try to break it up might be,
Garlic paste rub, feed some and use rest as a rub.
Peppermint tea soaked towel, warm and used to massage udder. 
She will need that side empty as possible for Today to work. 
Banamine would be better than Bute. 
Definitely supplement baby. If you don't have goats milk, use whole cows milk from the grocery store.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree.


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## Tanya (Mar 31, 2020)

How is momma doing?


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

Spot is still struggling with the recurring fever and hard udder. (One side is unaffected.)

Some days she won’t have a fever in the morning, but will in the afternoon. Yesterday her fever spiked to 106.6 (yikes!!) but we think it was mostly due to heat stroke. (She was laying in the sun and didn’t move to the shade.) I gave her chilled electrolytes and put a fan in her stall.

She’s wilful and stubborn like her old self, so I know she’s at least feeling better, but her fever just keeps coming back. When it does return, it’s usually between 104.0-105.4.

I highly doubt it’s CAE. We have had a closed herd for over 15 years and none of our goats have ever tested positive for CAE. (Yes, of course it’s still a possibility, it just seems unlikely.)

She’s been getting LA200 for 8 days now… usual treatment is 5-7 days, but her fever keeps coming back.

She has some red ooze from her vulva now. I’m assuming that’s normal post kidding discharge. It doesn’t smell bad. 

I still think she’s healing from some internal damage from kidding. What should I do now? Would continuing the antibiotics be bad for her?


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

Her kid is doing fine. He finally got the hang of nursing from her other side.  Momma goat is very proud of him!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Are you able to get any milk from the hard side? If so..what does it look like? Hows the color of the udder and teat on that side?


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

I am unable to get any milk from the hard side of the udder. It looks completely normal. It looks as if it’s just a little full, but not bursting. If anything, it appears to be drying off.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I'd do a full 14 days of antibiotics.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Have you tried infusing her bad side with today? It may help break it up so it can start coming out.
But first, use hot packs, I use hot water bottle and hold it on for 20 minutes, then massage for 20 more. 
Clean her udder with water/iodine mix.
Dry her.
Then try to milk her out as much as you can.

Then infuse her with today.
Do this 2 x a day, every 12 hours.

Is her udder hot, discolored?


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