# Kid with mucous in stool



## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

We have a 2.5 week old doeling who has had weird stools ever since she passed her meconium. A little background: she is one of triplets, born on day 147. The other two (a doe and a buck) were substantially larger than Moonshine, who weighed about 2.5 pounds when she was born. Additionally, her teeth were not erupted and her breathing was somewhat labored at first. We brought her into the house, warmed her up, syringed colostrum into her for the first day, gave her a shot of Bo-Se and a shot of dex, and she was drinking bottles by end of the second day. She now weighs over six pounds, drinks up to 8 oz at a time, and acts like a normal kid. Well, except that she thinks that I'm her mama, so much so that she will not even take a bottle from anyone else any more. Anyhow, once she passed the meconium, I noticed that her stools were rather mucous-y, and that has definitely not improved. In fact, the mucous has gotten so stringy that I thought it looked almost like worms, but it was just mucous. A fecal showed nothing of interest. Any thoughts as to why her stools are so strange? I already have given her safeguard and baycox (a couple of days ago) just in case, but it didn't make any difference.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I know in people, mucus in the stool is a sign of IBS. When I've seen mucus in the stools of my goats, I assume it's an intestinal irritation, I don't think mucus in a young baby would be worms. I wouldn't want to be putting alot of meds with irritants into my young kids. I treat with probiotics and soda. For scours I treat with sulfa.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

She does get soda, in one bottle/day. All she's getting, food-wise, is milk. And she has gotten pro-biotics, but it's been a while, so I'll give her more.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

I have had mucousy stools at times. But they were in kids a little bit older and always correlated with cocci. Last year it was terrible and I've always wondered if it was e-coli, as well.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Mucous normally indicates an irritated intestinal lining. Can you give her some slippery elm bark?
She is too young to have egg laying cocci but she may have feeding cocci so Baycox her at the rate of 1 cc per 5 pounds.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

I do have slippery elm, but I have never used it. Dosage? Do you think that I should do Baycox again?


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Oh sorry Stacey- I did not remember you had written that you did the baycox.
sorry!~
No....do not repeat.
Is your slippery elm in caps or tabs or loose?


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

Cocci don't "lay" eggs, they are single-celled organisms that divide. Perhaps they aren't to the dividing stage at 2.5 weeks old, so that is why they don't show up well on fecals?

Does this baby still live in the house or is she outside now? I wonder if being still on milk-only is a little bit upsetting to her digestive tract. Maybe it is time to get her outside munching plants or hay? Some roughage in her diet might help her intestines out, I would think.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Right Nancy- I always think of everything as laying eggs because the oocysts in the fecal samples have little eggie things in them . Reproducing would be better said. 
Thanks for that correction.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

http://www.goatbiology.com/animations/coccid.html


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

She is still in the house. She is only just getting to the point of being able to adequately regulate her temperature. And is really only now to the point, size and movement-wise, where I would even start to feel comfortable having her out with other bottle babies who are two weeks her senior and probably four times her size. Remember, she was, for all intents and purposes, probably about a week early. At least, based on her size and level of development, that's where I would put her. And her stools have been like this since she passed her meconium. I don't doubt that her intestines are irritated, I'm just not convinced that a lack of hay is the reason, though she will be out in the barn and able to nibble hay as soon as possible. 

The slippery elm that I have is a powder.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Perfect- mix a pinch into a small amt of milk and get it down her before it turns to mucilage.
If you do it regularly it should soothe and line the intestine. If it does not work to do it in the milk - she refuses or drinks so slowly that it coagulates then make up a little pea sized balls of it with honey and just wipe it into her mouth and then give her a bottle to wash it down  
Lee


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

It is only nutritive and soothing so no need to be picky about dosage.

Slippery elm's soothing mucilage effect is also used for disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Mucilage is a complex mixture of polysaccharides that form a soothing gelatinous fiber when water is added. The viscous fiber has several beneficial effects on digestion: 
(1) it reduces the amount of time digestives remain in the bowel; 
(2) it absorbs toxins from the bowel; 
(3) it increases the bulk of stools and dilutes stool materials thereby reducing stool contact with the intestinal mucosa; and 
(4) it enhances helpful bacteria processes in the intestines. The mucilage resists hydrolysis and digestion by stomachs acids and enzymes, meaning that it maintains it's soothing action throughout the entire digestive system.

Slippery elm bark contains, as its primary ingredient, the mucilage, but also contains gallic acid, phenols, starches, sugars, the vitamins A, B complex, C, K, and P. It contains large amounts of calcium, magnesium, and sodium, as well as smaller amounts of chromium, selenium, iron, phosphorous, silicon and zinc.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

And with only colostrum syringed....how much could you possibly have gotten down her, you have a hot house flower on your hands. She was born sterile, small, then didn't get adequate high quality colostrum in 12 hours. Until she builds immunity via having parasites and being vaccinated, you will really have to stay on top of her. Vicki


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Vicki,
she got at least 3 oz of colostrum in her first 12 hours. (And weighing 2.5 pounds, I believe that we hit the bare minimum with that.)


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