# 6/24/08 Bloat - signs, treatment, prevention



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Please give your experiences or any other information pertaining to this topic here. 

If you have questions about bloat feel free to ask them here as well.

Anybody have a picture of a bloated goat? That would be helpful too.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

WOW Stacey, if only i had taken a picture of my boy when I almost lost him to bloat. It was horrible. I have to say keeping him alive was all I thought about, but it would of been a great picture.
For us what happened was we left for county fair and we left the bucks home. Well my daughter thought it would be a great time to rotate the goats, no problem other then we did not realize he would tear down the grain bin. He not only ate oh who knows how much grain but he got his horns stuck in the trash can and he could not get it off, so he was stressing and HOT on top of the grain. Lucky we do not feed a sweet feed.

My Dh found him on Tuesday afternoon and he was laying around and moaning,he did not want to get up at all. He made baking soda balls, shoved them down him, massaged his tummy, gave him fresh water and straw and he walked him for hours at a time. I got home Wednesday evening and started it all over. We walked him (drug) for three hours, and I would go in and sleep for a hour and get up and do it again. I got a hold of the vet and he said to go ahead and get him Threa Bloat and mix it with water, half the bottle to 1 cup of water, drench him with that. He also asked if I new how to use a needle to stick the rumen and release the gas, I did not know how but I do now. 
Now I keep Threa Bloat, and the needles on hand if I ever have to do it again. The straw is good for them to eat. When they do not feel well they will eat straw.

I had a 4Her call me crying that something was wrong with her goat. By the time I got there he was so bad. I gave him a shot of Bute to help with the pain, I did do the needle and I was to late. He passed about 10 minutes after I gave him the Bute. It must of helped take the edge off just enough that he was able to let himself go.


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

sounds pretty bad sweetgoats! 
My experience: i've never seen bloat until this year when i started feeding Calf Manna. Bikini a 2yr old boer doe became pretty bloated, she would stand in the shadows of the barn and moan, so i took this to GoatSpot! i used baking soda balls -boy she hated those- and walked her for 30 minuetes at a time, her kids was bellowing, so she ran most of the way, releasing lots of gas, within a day or so she was better, and now she is a happy goat! thanks goatspot


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

bump


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I had a situation a few days ago, one that I have worked VERY hard to avoid! My goats do get a sweet goat feed and I learned a long time ago that you can't store grain in a plastic tote with a snap on lid...especially around smartypants goats that use their horns as tools. I now use a galvanized trash can with a double bungee corded lid..they can't get into it even when they mysteriously gain access to the milking area. 

I happened to get a new 50# sack of feed on Sunday and didn't have chance to dump it in the can so I left it on the floor in front, I have a gate with a bolt slide on it to lock between the milking/kidding area and the main area of the barn, well I got home Monday and someone used there head as a battering ram and got into that sack of feed....needless to say between 3 adult does a yearling and a 4 month old kid there was at least 10 lbs gone! I panicked when I saw the ripped sack and was really angry with myself for not dumping it and the fact that I had 5 goats looking ready to explode...I got out the baking soda and proceded to dose each one of them after having to run them around the pen into the barn to catch them! They were on dry lot until today and I found out that I have 2 well behaved milkers..they stood to get milked without their grain...basically the movement of me catching them and the dosing with the BS balls and lots of water they layed around looking preggers til yesterday morning moaning and belching and I know very well it could have been much worse....which is why I'll be dumping any more grain into the can as soon as I get it!


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

I have had several experiences with bloat. CAlly got it twice, the first time i dont know why she didnt get into anything, i just went down to feed and she was moaning, her tummy was really tigt and rock hard. I didnt take the time to roll baking soda into balls, i just stratled her and started shoving handfuls in her mouth. I then ran up to the house and got some mineral oil, by the time i got back down to the barn she wasnt moaning anymore. I walked her around the yard for a few minutes and she was fine. 
Another case, cally and jazz got into dry beet pulp pellets. I think jazz ate the most, i lost her two days later. Cally i thought was a goner for sure. i went to feed store walked up and down then the health isle trying to think of anything i could to help her, my boyfriend at the time being the curious person he was, was asking me what everything did. He was asking about lamb and kid paste and i thought this just might work. I gave her a whole tube, it worked, the next days she came running out of the barn to greet me. i always keep some of that on hand now. its kind of like probios.
i lost a kid last year, my favorite doe kid. I dont know what happened, maybe she ate more then her fair share of the hay. She started scraming, i thought she had her head stuck or something, it was that kind of scream, when i went outside she was standing there all blown up like a balloon. I got some baking soda down her and mineral oil, started to walk her, after three steps she collapsed, i ran inside to get needles and started shoving them in her rumen, it was draining like crazy and smelled really bad but it was too late, i think her gut twisted. i think that was one of the worst things.
I also always keep magnalax on hand, its goat mylanta, its kinda of a chalky pepperminty smelling powder you mix with water and it works great for when they get into grain.
The biggest problem with grain (especially anything sweet) is it ferments like beer. It causes them to bloat on top of that. if you dont get on it right away its hard to fix. I had a friend call me about a month ago saying her goats got into grain the day before and now two were down, she had given them baking soda but it wasnt enough. She ended up losing all three of them. By the time i got there one was already dead one was on her way out the last lived longer, i dont think she ate as much but it was bad. The biggest thing with bloat is timing.
things i always have in my bloat kit which is in my first aid box, is a box of baking soda mineral oil a drench syringe lamb and kid pastes probios and the magnalax, i always keep c and d antitoxin on hand.
beth


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