Re: kid with weak back legs

In Reply to: Re: kid with weak back legs posted by Cindy on November 04, 2001 at 04:48:06:

I'm glad to hear he is hanging in there - that is a good sign. Here are the responses I received from the Goat 911 list:

"Spaghetti Legs" is what we call it here, and usually a cc of BoSe or MuSe
(unfortunately, a vet item) will take care of the problem. Legs will
strenghten over time, as long as the kid is willing to try to keep them
moving. Before we got our feeding program together, I had kids that would
drag those hind legs around for several days and nurse from Mom when she lay
down, not the best start but they survived.

About 3cc of BoSe or MuSe to Mom a few weeks before her due date will also
solve the problem.

However, she may have a more serious problem with this buckling -
hypothermia! She needs to take his temp. It should be 101.5 or higher (but
not more than 103.5). If it isn't, she needs to get that kid warm QUICKLY!
Immerse him in warm, almost hot, water and keep him there until the inside
of his mouth feels warm. Some people I know put a hypothermic kid in a
garbage bag before the water bath, so they don;t need to risk cooling him
off again to dry him off. She should NOT try to feed him at all until he
warms up, as his system cannot digest any food at this time! To prevent
dehydration, she can give him warm electrolytes (or Pedialyte or Gatorade),
something that he does not need to digest.

It's somewhat normal for a newborn to "rattle" a bit for a day or two (fluid
that builds up and is not expelled in the birthing process) but this can
quickly turn into a lethal pneumonia if the kid is not kept warm until his
internal "thermostat" gets to working and regulates his body temperature.

Robin Cotten
Sawtree Ridge Boer Goats
Atoka, TN
"sawtree@bigriver.net"

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