Nubian Buck Down - Vet says Twisted Stomach

[Rosarybeads]

My 2 year old Nubian buck was suddenly down this morning on his side, legs extended and when he tries to move he grinds his teeth. He does NOT look anemic in spite of it being over a year since I wormed him, he's in beautiful shape and has a nice shiny coat, etc... After looking online I see they recommend worming more often but we were more judging based on appearance and since they looked healthy we didn't. I probably was wrong about that, but I don't think that's his problem nonetheless. We haven't fed him grain or hay, just on pasture right now. We've owned him since he was weaned as a kid.

The vet came out and said he looks fine, can't see anything wrong with him, and then using a stethoscope he "pinged" him and right away he said that he had a "twisted stomach". He's guessing at this point his stomach or intestines were necrotic and he recommended immediately putting him down. Temp was 101.5.

Has anyone ever dealt with this, or is there something else I should be looking at? He doesn't look bloated, he's not foaming at the mouth... he's been in the same pasture he is currently in for a month or so and nothing has changed weather wise. Doesn't look like he's had the runs and I saw him from a distance yesterday evening and he was just fine, acting normal (but again, from a distance, I didn't check him closely or anything). He only has his one doe as a companion, so I doubt it's head butting or anything. Help!!!

Should I just put him down, or is there still hope for him? I don't have any supplies on hand, the vet had the thiamin and wormer but told me it wasn't necessary, just put him down. Thoughts?

[mygoat]

Laying a cow onto her RIGHT side and swinging her feet up through a 70* arc will usually fix a LEFT displaced abomasum - with recurrance common, but high survivability.

From Merck (complete link below) :

Open (surgical) and closed (percutaneous) techniques can be used to correct displacements. Rolling a cow through a 70° arc after casting her on her right side corrects most LDA; however, recurrence is very likely. LDA can be corrected surgically using right flank pyloric omentopexy, right paramedian abomasopexy, left paralumbar abomasopexy, combined left flank and right paramedian laparoscopy (two-step procedure), or left flank laparoscopy (one-step procedure). Blind suture techniques (toggle-pin fixation or the “big needle” [blind-stitch] method), performed in the right paramedian area, are percutaneous methods for correction of LDA; however, the exact location of the suture is not known. Potentially fatal complications can develop after blind suture techniques, and the reported success rate is less than that of surgical correction by right flank pyloric omentopexy. With toggle-pin fixation, the pH can be checked to confirm that the pin is in the abomasum, which reduces the likelihood of attaching rumen, small intestine, or omentum to the body wall rather than the abomasum. RDA and AV are corrected surgically (using right paralumbar fossa omentopexy) when economically feasible. The right paramedian abomasopexy should be used only for correcting RDA and AV in cattle that are unable to stand.

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/dige..._volvulus.html

[Helena]

Gosh..what to do...?? If the animal is in pain...I would put him down. But ..yet again I would have encouraged to the vet to give him "something" to give him a chance..even if it was just medication to make him more comfortable. Don't they "roll" cows for this..but yet again... cows are different. I wish you luck and will be checking for needed advice from others. Good Luck !!

[mygoat]

As for deworming, you're fine if he's not anemic and is a good BCS. It is usually advisable to do fecals on a semi-regular basis but why treat a nonsymptomatic animal if it is clearly able to bear the load he has very well? Sounds to me like a genetically superior animal...

[Rosarybeads]

when I went out last he was grimacing/arcing periodiocially and obviously in horrible pain so we put him down. We did a cursory look inside and his stomach looked fine, large intestine looked like it may be bulging on the end where it attaches to the small; there was NOTHING in the small intestine at all. I have to do more research, but I'm wondering if there was a bad blockage there.
Someone elsewhere brought up possible tetanus as well. His rigidness and pulsing rigidity at the end could very well have been that. I just felt so horrible for him and couldn't stand seeing him in pain like that, and he really looked like he was dying. I didn't want to torture him more.

[yarrow]

so sorry you lost your boy.. it's always so hard when it happens things go bad, so suddenly.. you did the right thing, by not letting him continue to suffer.. could very well have been a blockage..

again, so sorry
susie, mo ozarks

[Rosarybeads]

Thank you all for your sweet posts; I am sad to see him go in spite of him being mean and ornery.

[BlueRose]

Sorry for your lost

[Backfourty,MI.]

So sorry for your loss of your buck.

[aart]

Bummer, sorry for your loss and having to deal with an animal in mortal pain.
Kudos for going in and investigating.
As long as you were already in there, did you open the large intestine to see what the blockage was?

[Bret4207]

If the intestines weren't twisted than I'd be thinking tetnaus or a poisoning of some sort. Sorry it ended that way, it's never easy.

[Whisperwindkat]

Sorry you lost your guy. I had two of these losses this year, a goat and a horse. Both were bowel twists and there was nothing that could have been done short of surgery which was not an option here. It really stinks.

[parrotman]

Sorry for your loss. You did right by him.

[southerngurl]

So sorry. Yes, sounds like impaction.