March 2012 Issue |
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• Subscribe to Meat Goat Mania • Email Us • Onion Creek Ranch • Bending Tree Ranch • OCR Health & Management Articles • MGM Archive |
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GRASS TETANY (STAGGERS) In parts of the United States over the last 18 to 24 months, we've experienced extreme drought or unusually large amounts of rain. In Texas, we had 18+ months of sub-normal rainfall and very high temperatures. In the spring of 2012, we are now having unseasonal rain and alternating cool and hot weather patterns. Pastures are lush and goats are dying when producers don't limit access and provide minerals high in magnesium to counteract toxic reactions. Grass tetany, also known as grass staggers and hypomagnesemia, is a metabolic disease in goats. Although often called wheat pasture poisoning, grass tetany is not restricted to wheat fields. This disease usually occurs in springtime in lush pastures, but it can also appear following cool rainy weather in the fall when cool season grasses and green cereal grains are beginning to grow. Like prussic acid poisoning and nitrate poisoning, grass tetany kills quickly. Death often occurs within two to three hours of onset of the disease. It is basically a magnesium deficiency caused by an imbalance of potassium with calcium and magnesium that usually requires veterinary assistance to treat and producer involvement to prevent.Symptoms include wide-eyed staring, muscle twitching in the ears and flanks, hypersensitivity to sound and touch, staggering, foaming at the mouth, and convulsions. Goats most at risk are lactating does (milk production involves the utilization of lots of magnesium) and older goats. Least at risk are young goats, wethers, dry does, and younger adult bucks. Soil conditions and fertilization practices can contribute to grass tetany. Soils and fertilizers high in potassium and nitrogen can produce plants that contain high potassium and low calcium and magnesium levels that can suppress magnesium absorption. Mineral interaction is complex and a field of study unto itself. If the producer can obtain veterinary assistance quickly, the proper treatment involves slow intraveneous (IV) administration of calcium and magnesium. This is not something that the average goat producer can do. In an emergency when a vet is not available, the producer can try to save the goat by treating it as if it had "milk fever" ( hypocalcemia) with repeated dosing of CMPO or MFO orally. See this writer's article on Hypocalcemia on the Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com.Prevention is the key. Producers should offer quality hay free choice to goats that have access to pastures that can cause grass tetany, and producers must make sure that goats have eaten hay before letting them out onto lush pasture each day. Goats should also receive a quality loose mineral properly formulated with higher levels of magnesium and offered on a free-choice basis. Suzanne W. Gasparotto, ONION CREEK RANCH Lohn, Texas 3/9/12 |
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Pat’s Potion for Poisoning that causes Frothy Bloat/Vomiting Pepto Bismol – 30 cc for 150 to 200 lb goat Penicillin ORALLY- 5cc to 10 cc Mineral Oil – 10cc to 15 cc CD ANTI-TOXIN 10cc – 15 cc ORALLY Mix the above ingredients together and use a drenching syringe to dose animal. Give it slowly as they may choke and gag from the vomiting. You will see relief almost instantly. Inject CD ANTI-TOXIN subQ according to label recommendations. Banamine injection (use weight appropriate dose which is 1 cc per 100lbs)
This formulation be repeated in 12 hours if needed but omit the penicillin if dose. One dose usually stops the frothing and vomiting.
Withhold feed and hay until goat is recovered. They can have water but do not offer hay until 24 hours after the vomiting stops. Once they are eating hay for a 24 hr period with no problems you can slowly add feed back into their diet. Dose with Register Supplies 1-888-310-9606 probiotic paste “SYNGUARD/GOAT GUARD” which has a guaranteed analysis of 1,000,000,000 (one billion) colony forming units per gram of Bifidobacterium Thermophilum, Lactobacillus Acidophilus to repopulate the gut with healthy bacteria after the vomiting/frothy has been stopped for 24 hours. Pat Cotten © 2012 |
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TIP: Anti-bacterials, including antibiotics, are either bacteriostatic or bacteriocidal in function. Bacteriostats slow down bacterial growth by various mechanisms, while bacteriocides kill bacteria outright. One classification is not better than another; each has important functions and specific applications. As a general rule, you should not use a bacteriocide (example: penicillin) in conjunction with a bacteriostat (example: oxytetracycline). |
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