Urinary calculi?

jtdl · #1 09/17/08, 06:49 PM

I don't believe this.....last week I lost my goat Remi and now I think the other one, Moose, has urinary calculi. He is a minature, looks just like Remi, who was a Nigerian Dwarf but his head and body habitus are much bigger (the person I got him from thought he was a pygmy but he definitely isn't) and he is 4 years old and a wether. I noticed yesterday that he is peeing a little bit every couple of minutes. He doesn't seem to be straining at all - no bulging of the rectum, twitching of the tail when urinating or abdominal discomfort and I see no crystals. I did start him on the ammonium chloride anyway. I mixed some AC in with a little bit of corn last night and he ate it. I searched this forum and read about mixing the AC with something and giving it in an oral solution so today I mixed it up in Koolaid in a 30 cc syringe and gave it to him. How often should he be getting this? He weighs approximately 100 lbs and I gave him a 1 1/2 tsp mixed in the Koolaid.

He eats mostly alfalfa, some grass hay and the odd handful of corn or rabbit pellets but very seldom. He drinks quite a bit of water - his large pail is usually down at least a quarter every morning.

Alice In TX/MO · #2 09/17/08, 07:20 PM

1/8 tsp per 25 lbs per day

fishhead · #3 09/17/08, 07:24 PM

Do you have a lot of iron in your water?

jtdl · #4 09/17/08, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishhead

Do you have a lot of iron in your water?

I don't think so....at least I have never heard that there is (we have city water).

Backfourty,MI. · #5 09/19/08, 08:37 AM

My buck is the one I wrote in your other post that had urinary calculi & I give him 1/2 tsp every day on a little alfafa pellets with some molassas to make it stick. But when he 1st had them I gave him 2 tablespoons the first 2 days mixed in water then I gave him 2 teaspoons in water after that for about 2 weeks(might have been a little longer) till I knew he no longer had any crystals forming & everything out of his system. But I also took him to my vet & had the pizzle cut off & so that it was easier for stones, crystals to come out. I do have alot of iron in my water & I'm sure that contributed to my goats problems. It took awhile to figure out what I could mix the AC on without causing any problems for the goat & he's been Great every since.

So Sorry about Remi, I know he was one of your favorites!

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #6 09/19/08, 10:51 AM

I don't believe this.....last week I lost my goat Remi and now I think the other one, Moose, has urinary calculi.
....................

Most chronic problems like this and the list is quite long, is caused by us. Something in your management is causing this. More grain than you think he is getting (no way he is getting into grain without you knowing from your hens or rabbits or children?)

Iron usually isn't a culprit with UC, but sulfur is.

When treating UC give him at least a tablespoon several times a day, it's eaiser when treating to simply dissolve the AC in water or koolaid and give it to him orally. Once over the crisis, I would have Ammonium Chloride as part of his diet from now on. Treatment he would get 1 teaspoon each day.

I would not feed AC to my bucks in their mineral or in their water, you have no control over how much they get each day doing it like that.

When my bucks are getting grain they have it mixed in the grain. I also feed my bucks alfalfa pellets each day, to counteract the amount of phos they are getting out in the woods and with their grass hay, you might want to do this also, maybe you have hay or browse that is very high in phosphrous you don't know about? Vicki

jtdl · #7 09/19/08, 11:23 AM

Nope, no other grain eating animals around. I have a bag of cracked corn in the old freezer that we keep the feed in but it isn't even in his enclosure. I did give 1/2 cup of rabbit pellets per day in the winter along with the alfalfa. We have a feeder in his enclosure that usually contains a bale of grass hay that he can get at all the time and at feeding time he gets alfalfa (approx. 1/2 flake once a day except winter when he gets fed twice a day). He is a big miniature goat, but doesn't appear "fat" other than his belly. He doesn't eat much of the grass hay nor does he browse much in his own yard but when I take him out in the pasture - now that Remi is gone and he doesn't have a buddy, I try to take him out for a walk every day - he nibbles away at browse, but not a whole lot - mostly just bushes/tree leaves. Prior to that it was seldom that he was out browsing. There definitely isn't sulpher in our water, or at least not enough to smell it - there is fluoride and the usual chemical additives since it is city water. The phosporus in the hay is something I have no idea about. I am stumped as to why he has this problem!

Do goats get bacterial urinary tract infections? I'm wondering if maybe that's his problem and it hurts for him to urinate and that's why the small amounts frequently?

Backfourty,MI. · #8 09/20/08, 03:35 PM

I should specify, in the post above when I said mixed in water, I didn't mean htheir water bucket. I mixed in water in a needleless syringe & gave it orally. I had written that in the other post about Remi & figured everyone would know but just want to make sure for anyone that didn't see the thread on jtdl's other goat Remi.

jtdl, I don't know anything about goats & urinary track or bladder infections. Maybe someone else here will know. I don't always put alot of faith in vets, including my own when it comes to goats because most don't know. But I would think if he has an infection he would be running a temp., What is his tempeture?
I sure hope Moose is going to be OK, it would be terrible for you to loose both of them.
How much does Moose weigh? Remember my dosages were for a ND goat that weighs 65 pounds.

jtdl · #9 09/22/08, 06:58 PM

Nope, no fever. There really has been no change - he is not getting any worse but he is still doing the frequent, little pees. I did notice that when I first bring him out of his pen he has a pretty full stream, it is while he is out walking around that he stops and has all these little pees - almost like a dog marking his territory! I'm still going with the AC once a day now. He does not appear ill at all - he is still feisty, ornery - his usual self. He is a wether but he used to jump on Remi quite often, so I'm wondering if he was neutered late and maybe the short, frequent peeing does have something to do with mating/marking territory???

Minelson · #10 09/22/08, 07:47 PM

Some critters just have strange potty behaviors...but I would sure give him the AC and no grain since it's peeing related. It's good he isn't acting sick.