Monday, March 11, 2013

Periparturient Edema

After all my searches of "Pregnant Goat Swollen Feet" pulled up Toxemia, I decided to try "Pregnant Goat Edema". I really don't think Trixie has Toxemia because she's still getting up and eating well. The swelling is the only symptom that fit.

The "Edema" search pulled up periparturient edema. Ding, ding, ding!

The first indication is usually the doe's walking as if her feet hurt, followed by a gradual swelling in the lower part of her front legs and progressing to the lower half of her rear legs....
Unlike ketosis or other pregnancy-related diseases, periparturient edema does not cause the doe to go off-feed. She will be listless, preferring to sit rather than stand because walking is painful, but she will continue to eat. Moaning, groaning, and grinding of teeth are common symptoms.... 
Periparturient edema usually appears in a doe that is carrying multiple large fetuses.
 
I gave her a dose of Molly's Herbals weekly worming formula and added in a tiny bit of the wormwood formula. Her eyelids are pink so I don't think she has a heavy worm load, but I didn't figure it couldn't hurt.

19 days to go.

7 comments:

  1. Is this the one you think is carrying triplets? Can you imagine that load!!!! Poor Trixie, 19 days can't come soon enough!
    Thanks for sharing the info. it's good to know!

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    1. Yes, she is. She is still plugging along today. She is eating well and getting up occasionally for treats. I'm glad to find that some swelling is not automatically Toxemia!

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  2. Now that I read this, it sounds like what a few of my ewes were doing. But it was after they had lambs. Darla was fine after lambing, eating and all, but that evening, she was down and moaning and graoning. I thought she was going to die. It's just so strange how each animal handles pregnancy. Some go through fine with no problems while others give us a hard time.

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  3. Can a non pregnant goat have this too?

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  4. Not typically. It is caused by the fetuses draining more energy than the dam is able to take in.

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  5. I think we have a doe with this too. But she doesn't want to stand at all and will only eat if we put it in front of her, and she isn't really drinking at all, so we have been drenching her. We think she is due the 8th of February and today is the 5th. Any thoughts on if we should induce or not?

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    1. Sorry not sure why my name isn't shown, it is Dawn. Thank you

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