Causes and symptoms of ketosis in goats, diagnosis and treatment and prevention
Ketosis is a metabolic disease in goats. The disease occurs if animals are fed protein feed and not fed with carbohydrate-rich foods. The desire of some goat breeders to fatten the animal quickly leads to violations. Obesity harms goats no less than humans. The main food of these animals should be fresh grass and sun-dried meadow hay.
Description of the disease
Ketosis is a condition that develops as a result of a violation of protein-carbohydrate metabolism. Goats with this disease are diagnosed with indigestion, low milk yield, depression, and pregnant females have spontaneous abortions (miscarriages).
With ketosis, there is an increased content of ketone bodies in the blood, and this pathology can be detected by the sharp acetone smell of milk and urine. The disease directly depends on the conditions of keeping and feeding pets. Goats get sick if they eat only concentrates and protein feed, but little grass or hay.
Ketosis is carbohydrate starvation resulting from dietary inaccuracies. Goats get too much protein food (grains, meal, cake, legumes) and little succulent meadow grass, sun-dried hay and sweet root vegetables (carrots, sugar beets). The disease is initially treated with one nutritional adjustment.
Reasons for the appearance of ketosis
This dangerous disease occurs in goats if they are not properly fed. It should always be remembered that hay and fresh grass should be the basis of the animal's diet. Livestock breeders, wishing to improve the menu of their goats with protein food (grain, meal, cake), do not get high milk yield, but sick animals. Prolonged starvation, too long a break between feedings, can also lead to illness.
The main causes of ketosis are:
- the absence in the diet of herbs with a high content of carbohydrates and vitamins (clover, fescue, timothy);
- an excess of protein (protein) food (grain, cake, legumes);
- deficiency of sweet root vegetables (carrots, sugar beets);
- feeding with oilseeds (rapeseed, field cabbage, mustard);
- poor quality feed;
- prolonged fasting;
- stress.
Ketosis is more common in fatty goats. Well-fed animals can develop this disease in the future. A prolonged lack of useful feed (fresh grass and hay) and feeding goats with concentrates (grain) and protein-rich crops can lead to metabolic disorders in the body.
Signs and symptoms of the disease
It is possible to detect ketosis in domestic goats by signs characteristic of this disease.It should always be remembered that healthy animals are active, calm and have a good appetite. If goats refuse to eat, are overexcited or, conversely, sleepy, then there is a reason to suspect they have some kind of disease. It is difficult to define the disease on your own. However, it is worth examining the animal, and it is recommended that you contact your veterinarian if you find any alarming signs.
Symptoms of ketosis:
- skin, milk, feces and urine smell like acetone;
- lack of appetite;
- tachycardia, shortness of breath;
- digestive problems (constipation, diarrhea, intestinal atony);
- overexcitement turning into a depressed state.
Signs of a severe stage of the disease:
- weakness, drowsiness;
- weakening of muscle tone;
- decrease in milk yield;
- exhaustion of the nervous system;
- noticeable enlargement of the liver (the right side is larger than the left);
- spontaneous abortion;
- postpartum complications;
- mastitis.
In a sick animal, depending on the severity of the disease, certain signs may be observed. Ketosis at the initial stage is determined by the acetone odor of milk and urine. Before treating a goat, you need to show it to the doctor and do laboratory tests. Ketosis is very similar in symptoms to poisoning.
Diagnostic rules
The disease is determined on the basis of the clinical picture and laboratory data. If you find symptoms similar to those of ketosis, take your goat to your veterinarian. Blood, urine and milk should be sent to the veterinary laboratory for analysis (to determine the content of ketone bodies).
A sick goat should be examined by a doctor, determine the condition of the organs, and measure the temperature. The final diagnosis is established on the basis of laboratory data. If goats have a high content of ketone bodies and low levels of sugar, protein, leukocytes and hemoglobin, then the animal is in ketosis, and it urgently needs to be treated.
How to properly treat ketosis in goats
This disease is often confused with poisoning. Laboratory tests of blood, urine and milk help make the diagnosis. If ketosis is detected, animals are transferred to a special diet. The disease is treated with drugs and the introduction of carbohydrate-rich foods into the diet. Protein foods are completely excluded from the diet.
Medication treatment
Goats are treated with medications given by mouth or by injection. Animals are prescribed "Catosal". It is a drug that stimulates metabolism. It is not recommended to prick it for pregnant females. The doctor may prescribe intravenous glucose, subcutaneously - insulin, hydrocortisone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, sodium lactate, Sharabrin liquid, choline chloride, vitamins A and E, sodium propionate.
Goats are given sweet water in the morning (half a glass of sugar for half a bucket). During the day, pharmacy vitamins and minerals are added to the drinking water. In the evenings, give a solution of baking soda (1 teaspoon per 1 liter of water) to alkalize the body. The course of treatment is 10 days.
Diet adjustments
You can normalize the acid-base balance by adjusting the diet of goats. In order to increase the sugar content, animals need to be fed with carbohydrate-rich feed (carrots, sugar beets, potatoes). The diet should contain fresh grasses and hay, cut during flowering and heading, as well as dried in the sun. There are a lot of carbohydrates in such plants: red and pink clover, fescue, meadow timothy, hedgehog.
Along with the increase in the amount of grass, hay and sweet vegetables in the diet, the goats are no longer given grain, meal, silage, oilseeds and legumes. In mild ketosis, one nutritional adjustment is enough to completely cure the animal. In severe cases, goats are treated with medication. If the problem is ignored, the animal can die.
Possible consequences of the disease
Ketosis is a disease that can be initially treated with one dietary adjustment. The diet is enriched with sweet vegetables, the amount of fresh herbs and hay is increased, and protein feeds and concentrates are completely excluded. The disease is simply impossible not to notice - milk and urine begin to smell like acetone.
If you ignore the warning symptoms and do not change the diet of goats in time, complications can be serious.
In a sick animal, milk yield decreases, complications arise during pregnancy and childbirth, and miscarriages are observed. In severe cases, toxicosis, convulsions, muscle tremors appear. A protracted form can lead to coma and even death.
Prevention
The disease is easier to prevent than to cure. Ketosis prevention is about feeding your goats fresh grasses rich in carbohydrates, sun dried quality hay and sweet vegetables. Grain, cake, meal, legumes and oilseeds are given only in winter, but in minimal quantities. The nutrition of animals must contain pharmaceutical vitamins and minerals. Goats should be given fresh water twice a day.
Animals should graze in warm sunny weather in the meadow, eat fresh herbs, and in the rain they better stay in the barn. Goats need to move a lot and cannot be kept indoors all year round. In summer, goats must be taken out to pasture. The main food in the summer is fresh meadow grass.
In winter, animals are recommended to be kept in a barn, where the temperature is not lower than 15 degrees Celsius. In a cold room, they stop giving milk. The main diet in winter is hay (up to 4 kg per day). In winter, it is imperative to give goats pharmaceutical preparations with calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D. Coniferous and pine branches are recommended as top dressing. Grain should be kept to a minimum (it is the cause of ketosis). Every day in winter, you need to give finely chopped beets, carrots, pumpkin (up to 1.5 kg per day).
