# Ammonium Chloride goat smoothie



## JasperJuneGus (Jul 8, 2013)

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to share a recipe we came up with to give our big goat Jasper his dose of ammonium chloride. We just got through with a nasty bout of urinary calculi and now the vet wants him on ammonium chloride for a week. After reading other posts on here, it sounds like they don't like the taste of it and also read that it can burn. I was dreading the thought of drenching him because he is big and strong and just giving him his probiotics and banamine has been quite an ordeal. So my husband and I thought we should try a "smoothie" of sorts. Anything to get him to just drink it himself. We have one of those magic bullet drink makers but any blender would work. Here's what we used:
1 teaspoon of the ammonium chloride
3 pieces of celery (one of jasper's favorite treats!)
2 cups water
a few ice cubes
Blended it up till it was nice and juicy and he drank it right up and licked the bowl clean!! 
I'm so happy that this will be such an easy maintenance thing for him once we are done with this full week of treatment. I plan on giving our other wether, Gus, some tomorrow as well for prevention! Don't ever want to go through the urinary calculi blues again!
I hope this can help others dealing with the same problems!


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## MoKa-Farms (Jun 19, 2013)

We'll have to try it sometime on our Angora wether, thanks for the recipe!


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

UC is very scary. Have you also altered his diet to prevent it from happening again? Thanks for sharing your smoothie! :thumb: I usually just add an extra pinch to their minerals now and then, for peace of mind.


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## JasperJuneGus (Jul 8, 2013)

The vet seemed ok with his diet. He gets grass hay and a handful of grain with the ac in it. Also has a mineral rock. I am wondering if the extreme heat we had the week before might have played a role in it? He doesn't drink nearly as much water as my other 2 goats either. We have been bringing ice down every few hours to help keep it cool during the heat of the day.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Drinking water is a big key, definitely. Maybe start adding some apple juice, something to sweeten it? I'd also remove the grain, if he's had a problem it could recur, and grain can be a factor. Grass hay should be a good balance. Wethers need twice as much calcium in their diet as phosphorus. Sometimes hay is slightly low on calcium, so I add just 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of alfalfa pellets to my wether's diet. That's all they get: free choice water, grass hay, loose minerals with AC, and 1/2 cup of alfalfa pellets.  

Everyone does things differently, though, this is just what works for my boys. The simpler, the better.


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