# Doe with tongue hanging out



## chell20013 (Feb 7, 2011)

Day before yesterday, I brought home a LaMancha doe. She is quite skittish, although did come to the milk stand at the owner's barn when called. We put her on a lead after milking and walked her out of the pen to load her and she started balking. We babied her along, but she seemed to go into shock and sat down with her tongue hanging out. We let her sit until she decided to get up and then finished loading her. 
That night and most of yesterday, she acted like any other doe who has just been dumped into a new place--picking at her food, hanging back, watching everything warily, etc., but her tongue was still hanging out.
Yesterday afternoon, she started hay again, and ate forever. She put her tongue back in for a while, but when she started chewing her cud, it was out again.
She ate her grain while on the milkstand last night, with her tongue hanging out, causing her to slobber all over the place.
She seems to be acting normal, eating the right amount, chewing cud, peeing, pooping ok, milking the same amount she was before I got her, etc., just has her tongue hanging out. Is there something else wrong I need to be looking for? Or could it just be stress? I can't see anything else wrong. :/


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

The only thing I can think of is give her some BoSe. Only time I have heard of this has been with selenium deficiency...someone else might know of something else that could cause this.
Tam


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

From what I've read there are a few possibilities. Some are ear infection, being punched by another goat and may need Dex. Tooth abcess. If the left ear and face is droopy along with the tongue problem, possibly stroke.


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## chell20013 (Feb 7, 2011)

She doesn't have any face sagging, and I'm pretty sure this wasn't brought on by head trauma from fighting. Her behavior is normal. How do I check for ear infection or tooth abcess?


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

Since it coincided with being put into a new herd, if you can get some Dexamethasone for the swelling, from the vet, that's what I'd start with. I'm not sure if letting it go, to see if it would heal on it's own, would lead to it being chronic. I would keep her separated from the rest of the goats.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I would just let her be for awhile. I would also ask her owners if the tongue thing is a new development.

Did she have a collar on? When leading a goat by a collar you want to pull the collar up very high onto the throat latch, because if it's low you can literally choke out a doe and she will drop to the ground. Letting loose of the collar the blood rushes back into her brain and she comes to. I have never seen any lasting results from a doe like this (which I have seen this happen in a show ring) so perhaps she always hangs her tongue out? I would just ask. Vicki


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## chell20013 (Feb 7, 2011)

I don't need to ask--she was my best friend's goat :biggrin. She did have a collar on and she was balking. I thought I was being careful not to choke her, but I may have. At any rate, she is keeping her tongue in some and as I watched her eat at the milkstand tonight, even though she slobbered everywhere and kept lolling it out, she seemed to have a little better control over it tonight. I wonder if she injured it chewing on it as she was chewing her cud all day with it hanging out.... 
I do think it's all somehow stress related, but I would like to know how to check for infected ear and tooth abcess just to be on the safe side


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## chell20013 (Feb 7, 2011)

I meant to say that I know she doesn't normally hang her tongue out because I've seen her almost every day since last fall...


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Than maybe it just palsied her facial nerve. Which will come back in time. Either way there really isn't anything to do but wait and watch. Vicki


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

I had a very large sundgau Alpine doe one time that fit kinda tight in the milk stand head stanchion. Twice she fell down on the stand and was acting like she was having a stroke. I stopped latching the head latch and she never did it again. She was also new to my place when she did this.


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