Signs of Trouble
Recently, my Nigerian Dwarf Goat (~75lbs) experienced a severe abdominal issue. He started making whimpering sounds and refused to get up. His symptoms throughout his ailment, included, bloat, straining, scrunching his back, heavy breathing, no urination or defecation, laying down 24/7 with occasional thrashing, and squinting his eyes shut. The hard part about animals, is that those symptoms point to many possibilities, such as, constipation, blockage, or urinary calculi. I did my best to treat him with all of this in mind. I hope that my documented experience will help others in need of some direction for their own goats.
Trial One: Miralax
It was getting late when I first discovered my goat’s discomfort. I immediately thought of constipation, because he had been through that issue before. The laxative that worked well for him as a baby, was Milk of Magnesia. I didn’t have any, so I tried Miralax. I mixed 1 tablespoon into a cup of water, which I offered him. He wouldn’t drink it, so I used a syringe. There was no improvement after a few hours.
Trial Two: Milk of Magnesia
I was getting pretty worried, so I made a midnight store run for Milk of Magnesia. I administered 15mL of that, using another syringe. In the morning, there was still no change. I brought him a bowl of water, and he chugged it. I gave him another dose of Milk of Magnesia, and another bowl of water. He drank about half of the water, and willingly drank the Milk of Magnesia on his own. I know it didn’t taste good, so I wondered if it made him feel better. This gave me hope that he just needed a bit more of it this time.
Calling The Vet
That afternoon, he seemed to be getting worse if anything. It wasn’t that the laxatives were hurting anything, it was that his issue was too bad for them to resolve the problem. I do think that the Milk of Magnesia was necessary. It may have been keeping things just loose enough to keep him alive. Worried about a foreign object blockage, or his bladder rupturing from urinary calculi, I called vet offices in my area. Nowhere could get him in, or offer any other advice. I could tell from the tones of the receptionists, that his symptoms were bad.
Trial Three: Laxatives & Enema’s
His abdominal issue lasted for four troubling days in total. He didn’t eat anything, or get up, except to reposition. I ended up giving him Milk of Magnesia 2-3 times a day. On the third day I mostly ruled out urinary calculi, because goats that show signs that severe don’t last over 48 hours. This relieved me a bit, but I still had a small fear of it.
I felt that he needed one more push to get him on the uphill. I decided to give him an enema. I used a 10cc syringe of warm water with a drop of Dawn Dish Soap in it. I put vaseline on the tip of it for less discomfort to my goat, and injected it slowly. Then I got him up and made him walk around for about 20 minutes. This was really hard for me because I didn’t know if I was helping or hurting him by making him move. I wondered if the blockage was a foreign object that could cut him, but I knew something more had to be done at this point, and it was imperative that he moved around after the enema to get it to work.
Road To Recovery
That evening, he managed to pass a few hard pellets, a small sign of progress. The next day, he drank a lot of water, but only when it was brought to him. He ate a few grape leaves that were next to him also. That afternoon, he was standing! He looked very uncomfortable, but it was more improvement.
I went out to offer him another bowl of water, and he peed for a long time. The recovery process accelerated from that point on. He urinated a lot over the next few hours. He also started to defecate. It came in large, hard, masses of pellets, so I administered another dose of Milk of Magnesia. I gave him one last dose the following morning to keep him progressing.
Final Thoughts
Now his ailment was apparent. He had gotten severely constipated. The cause is still unknown. He passed the large, hard clumps for the next 24 hours. In the latter half of that time, he began foraging close to his shelter. He made huge improvements from there, and was fully back to his old self within a few days.
I wish I could tell you what combination of medicine, movement, and time brought him back to me, but hopefully this will give you somewhere to start, and a little optimism if your goat is feeling unwell.