# Loud breathing



## Qz Sioux (Feb 21, 2009)

Okay, this is an emergency to me...

Went out to give warm water to everyone last night (I do this when it is chilly). My Nubian doe was all puffed up and standing in the barn by herself while everyone else was still out eating hay. Her breathing was rather raspy. I gave her some warm water, which she did suck down and told her I'd be right back. I went in and got 5 cc of pen g, thermometer, an old sweater, and some dark karo water (warmed of course) and went back out. Gave her the karo water and took her temp while she drank. No temp. I gave her the shot of pen g sub q. Then I struggled, but got the sweater on her. It is more of a sweat shirt.

Went out this morning and she is down. She is still breathing raspy, but not wanting to get up. I took her some warmed gatorade (her favorite flavor), but she didn't drink it all. She doesn't appear to be dehydrated, but I really want her to drink so she doesn't get that way. She has free choice minerals and b/s, hay, and alfalfa pellets. No one is getting fed yet but will start feeding the pregnant does this weekend.

I do think she slipped her pregnancy or aborted early on. She was bred in September but was later found with a bloody discharge in November. I also saw her trying to "love" up to the mini mancha a couple of weeks ago.

Not worried about her pregnancy, I DON'T want to lose this girl as she is my baby. Any suggestions as to what I need to do?

Here are the meds I have on hand:

Bio Mycin
C&D Antitoxin
Pen G (300,000 units)
Normectin

I can run to TSC if I need to for other stuff. Going to go check on her and see if I can get her to come in the house with me. She can stay in my guest room (no carpeting) and I can sit with her.


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## Qz Sioux (Feb 21, 2009)

Well, she wouldn't move so I sat in the barn with her. She had her head in my lap as she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I'm crushed, devastated, and feeling like a failure and quite worthless right now. She was my first dairy goat doe and we were so bonded. God I'm gonna miss her.  :sniffle


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## Guest (Jan 6, 2013)

Sorry that you lost her.. have you consider autopsy to find out why?...


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## Qadosh Adamah Lamanchas (Nov 2, 2012)

Wow, that was a fast downhill slide. Could it have been a form of pneumonia? Perhaps a necropsy would be in order. How old was she?


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## Qz Sioux (Feb 21, 2009)

I'm trying to bring myself to autopsy her. Of course I wouldn't know what I'd be looking for. I don't know what would be "normal" or "abbie normal". I was so close to her that I'm still a mess. She was only 5 and I have had so many problems with her from the start, I don't know if this is a blessing in disguise or what. She was my summer house goat, she was up my butt ALL the time. She shared my iced tea with me when I had it, and wasn't a pig about it. My son is almost as upset as I am cuz, in his words "she is/was such a COOOL goat". I'm waiting for my son to get here, and see if he would be willing to help me with her. If he feels he could bring himself to help me look at her insides, then we might try.

I don't know what pneumonia would look like as I've never had a goat have it, that I know of. She has never really been sick before. She has been a "hard keeper" per say, but as long as I kept her wormed (after fecals) and keeping up with her vaccinations, she just didn't get sick. She, along with the rest of the herd, were copper bolused for the first time this past year (within the last 6 months).

I don't understand what happened. Friday she was following me around while I worked on the fence, yesterday she was eating hay, late last night she was fluffed up and standing in the barn. Now....she's gone. :down


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## Qadosh Adamah Lamanchas (Nov 2, 2012)

So sorry for you. I've had hard keepers before. It's a bittersweet thing (a.k.a. blessing in disguise) when they do simply slip away. :sniffle


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

It seems that goats will go downhill faster than any other domestic animal. I'm so sorry for your loss, losing your "bestest girl" (or boy) is so hard.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Just know you didn't do anything. The amount of penicillin wasn't enough to do anything, it was a dose for a 75 pound doe. 

Goats are really adept at hiding illness, why it's so important to have real contact with our does each day, to make sure they are eating, bucks are peeing.

Sorry you lost her. Vicki


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

Sorry you lost her. It sounds like pneumonia. Goats don't always get a fever with it. I once had a goat who actually had subnormal temp when the vet diagnosed her with it. I always keep Nuflor on hand for emergencies like this. It's always a good idea to have a RX antibiotic on hand such as Nuflor or Excenel.


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## PrairieTrail45 (Nov 28, 2011)

Sorry you lost your doe. If she has been kept cool, your vet may be able to do the autopsy for you.


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## Qz Sioux (Feb 21, 2009)

Thank you all for the kind words. I'm still a mess and will miss her much.


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

Really sorry for your loss  ,years back, I had a Boer doe that died similar the same,she was acting and looked fine,nice fat and eating good,was blood tested for diseases a few months earlier,she was 5yr.old and that evening all the goats were laying down by the back fence and we were close , BBQ and I noticed her loud snoring like breathing while she was laying with the other goats, I always check out the herd everyday and I had just hours earlier checked her out as she was always there to get petted and scratched,she looked clear eyed and no snotty nose ,anyway I saw no distress but the next morning she lay dead and she was just laying like she was normally sleeping but dead. We just buried her but I always thought it was something she ate like too many acorns or something else as it was before springtime and the herd searches for natural land food. I had no other goats die and no other goat became ill after she died. Odd to me.
I dread :down the day as my favorite retired does are now 12 and 8. I wish you well. 
bella/linda


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## nlhayesp (Apr 19, 2012)

You don't have to have goats very long before you suffer the loss of one. I don't know why it always has to be our favorite one. I have tears in my eyes reading your posts, as it reminds me of the ones I have lost. We all know what you're going through. Please get a necropsy. It will help with closure for you, and hopefully both teach you what you can do differently "the next time" as well as give you peace that you did all you could. I concur that you should have Rx antibiotics on hand.


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

I'm sorry you lost her. A friend of mine's junior picked up something at a show last Fall (along with several other breeders) that took her doe from raspy to dead in something like 48 hours. She had her necropsied and the vet diagnosed some form of pneumonia. She was not the only exhibitor to lose a goat after that show. It took them down so fast, like yours. It is hard to lose them.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Sorry for your loss, Suzie. 

We just went through something similar with our 6 yo doe. She was fine one night and the next day she was all puffed up, shivering, not eating. She's not pregnant and she hasn't been in milk for almost two years so we ruled out milk fever. Temp normal. We gave her a shot of Fortified B Complex as well as an extra shot of Thiamin. Kept up the Fortified B for a couple of days as she was still a little shaky, but her appetite perked up right away and she has been chowing her hay ever since. We also gave her extra warm water which helped as I don't think she felt like walking to the water bucket. She pulled through for us.

I would not do the necropsy myself, I'd have the state university do it or at the very least my vet. Our local vet charges about $75; MSU, a LOT more. If I were to do it myself, I would need someone on the phone with me to help me through it as I, too, would not know exactly what to look for. At the very least, I would send the liver off for nutrient analysis. That way, even though you lost her, she is still helping you learn about your herd management. I look at it as a positive that comes from this negative situation.

Again, sorry for your loss.


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## cvalley (Apr 15, 2009)

So sorry for your loss, Suzie.


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

You can fecal. Usually there are some pellets they poop out right when they die. It sounds like pneumonia - except for the no temp, but they also get gurgly sounding when they are dying of barber pole. Those barber pole can really work fast down in Texas and don't take a winter break. I'm sorry you lost your doe.


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## Qz Sioux (Feb 21, 2009)

Okay, well the vet called earlier and said there was fluid in her lungs. He said he felt it was pneumonia. Her body condition was good. He saw no worm loads in fecal or signs that parasites had affected any of the internal organs. I asked him if he would do a liver biopsy to see if there was anything there. He said he would. I also asked him to check for menigial worms since we do have deer that run through the pastures at times. He is going to mail me the results tomorrow.

I didn't really have the heart to do this myself, and I wouldn't know what to look for. I begged him to do it on payments since we are on a fixed income until I find work. He did. He told me that I really should go up there when he did it, but I just couldn't. I told him that hopefully I could do it the next time.

I know she is an "animal" and all that, but it would be like watching an autopsy on one of my kids, and I just couldn't do it.

I don't know what I should be watching for with a liver biopsy, but I'll let you know what comes of it when I get the results back from that.


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I'm so sorry you lost your favorite. Yup, been there done that, it's not easy.


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Sounds like you have a good vet.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Glad you had her necropsied. At least you'll probably know what happened to her. Sometimes they can't find anything, though. For the liver, if you are wanting a nutritional analysis, you have to ask for that specifically.

Again, sorry for your loss.


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## happy vagabonds (Jun 24, 2012)

Oh... I too am so sorry for your loss. Losing someone you love is never easy. At least you were with her when she passed and you made the difficult decision to have the necropsy performed. As mentioned above, at least you are gleaning something positive from this and her passing may help you make decisions for the future of your herd.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

So sorry you lost your doe, but you did the right thing in asking for a necropsy so you know what you were dealing with. 5 cc penicillin is too low a dose for a full grown doe for anything. I usually give around 12cc Penicillin (kind of depends on her size, I have Saanen mostly). I had a doe with an awful case of pneumonia about two weeks ago. I had never seen anything that bad in any of my goats, and I treated her with Di-Methox. I gave it IM, 6cc on day one and 4cc on day 2. I also gave 5cc of Vit. B both days and Banamine (2cc on day 1). NOTE THAT THIS IS WHAT I DID, IT IS NOT OFFICIALLY TESTED OR INDICATED BY A VET, but I feel that with goats, there is so little info available that sometimes you have to stick out your neck and try something to find the best protocol for each disease on your farm. Anyway, this worked unbelievably well for this doe, and I had also used Di-Methox for a 6 month old doeling with severe pneumonia a few weeks before that with super result (from down day one to eating and happy day 2). I am going to keep on working with this drug and figuring out what the best dosage is and how long I should treat. 

Marion


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