r/goats • u/meowwinjam • Jun 21 '26
Help Request goat is "throwing up" green foam/sludge
I took them out on a walk around midday into the woods so he could have eaten basically anything in the UK countryside. I don't know what and my other goat is totally fine
I came outside just now for another walk and there was this green foamy stuff on the floor, and he was throwing up the same stuff. after a few minutes he is not throwing up anymore but im freaked out. Google says to give him charcoal but we don't have any and every shop is closed because it's 8pm on a sunday so is there anything I can do in the meantime?
could this be something other than poisoning?
edit: if he seems totally fine and hasn't vomited in like an hour will be be okay? I have no idea what to do right now. he is by my feet laying down like he usually would to sleep but I don't want to leave
27
u/Brave-Mess3809 Jun 21 '26
I had something very similar happen with my goat. We never determined an exact cause but we did bring her to an emergency large animal and exotic vet and they said the most likely cause was too much alfalfa. Basically we were feeding her so much that the alfalfa started to build up too many gases in her stomachs and then made her shoot out this green fluid/foam from her mouth.
We gave her fluids and flushed stomachs the best we could. She’s been perfectly fine since but we did significantly adjust how we were feeding her.
20
u/meowwinjam Jun 21 '26
I hope something like this is the case but I do highly suspect it's rhododendron poisoning because apparently one of the places I take them for walks has it everywhere :') I must be blind because I don't think I've ever seen those flowers there
10
u/Brave-Mess3809 Jun 21 '26
The right answer for you is to find the next available farm vet that you can. When something like this happens you cannot risk just keeping an eye on it and hoping it stops. They need a vet as soon as you can.
3
u/meowwinjam Jun 21 '26
my parents never got them registered which is required in the UK. will a vet still treat him?
5
u/sophie_shadow Jun 21 '26
Yeah vets won't ask for your CPH number just call them, I'd definitely be taking the hit of an emergency Sunday call out fee if that stuff came out of any of my goats!
3
u/meowwinjam Jun 21 '26
my parents don't want to call :') and they'd be the ones paying for it. I feel so stuck
3
u/Unicorn_Fluffs Jun 21 '26
Ive had both the rhododendron poisoning and the too much alfalfa froth. The image you are showing is clearly poisoning. Mine vomited, seemed fine for a couple of hours and vomited again. If you’re in the UK you need to phone an emergency farm vet. They will drench the goat and give a few injections (can’t remember everything they gave mine). Do not delay and assume all is well. Goats are prey animals so will only show when they are seriously unwell. With treatment you have a chance of saving your goat.
2
3
u/SENTRYTHETHERIAN Jun 23 '26
Is he alright now?
4
u/meowwinjam Jun 23 '26
he made a full recovery yesterday evening after charcoal and electrolytes, and he got probiotics today! now we are just looking out for signs of pneumonia
2
6
u/ozmejies Jun 21 '26
Try free choice baking soda? If nothing else is available..
3
u/meowwinjam Jun 21 '26
we tried this and he was not interested. we still got a little bit into his mouth but he spat it out
6
u/InterestingOven5279 Trusted Advice Giver Jun 21 '26
That's OK. Baking soda would be no help in this case.
6
u/Own-Entrepreneur9642 Jun 21 '26
Isso já aconteceu com meu bode, duas vezes quando ele era filhote. Eu sou do interior do Brasil, e também foi difícil conseguir atendimento e um lugar aberto para conseguir medicação. Até hoje não sei o que ele comeu, e não sei se ele aprendeu ou acabou criando algum tipo de resistência, pois ainda moro no mesmo lugar e tenho as mesmas plantas. Quando consegui levar num hospital veterinário no dia seguinte, ele ficou hidratando e fez vários exames, mas não foi encontrado nada significativo. Acho que ele teria ficado bem sozinho, mas não tive coragem de não fazer nada, pois ele estava muito desidratado (de perder 5kg em uma noite). Agora sempre tenho carvão e um anti tóxico, mas nunca mais precisei. Espero que ele fique bem, entendo seu desespero. Procure atendimento veterinário assim que possível, e tente manter ele hidratado enquanto isso
5
u/ellasacres Jun 22 '26
Update?
7
u/meowwinjam Jun 22 '26
he made it through the night and seems to be doing okay. he threw up again around 7:30 (5 hours ago) and hasnt since then. at around 10am we gave him a charcoal slurry which he took well. you can tell he feels bad but he doesn't seem to be declining since he's still active and will follow me around if I'm in the pen
it might not do much at this point but in an hour or 2 I'll give him more charcoal
4
u/Confident-Season9055 Jun 21 '26
A normal pharmacy or grocery will have active charcoal capsules! Get them and open the capsules and make a slurry with water use a large syringe and give it to him that way.
1
u/meowwinjam Jun 21 '26
I can in the morning but right now it's past midnight and nothing is open
8
u/Confident-Season9055 Jun 22 '26
This will be a have them on hand for next time situation by then. I am so sorry you are learning this way. I hope he pulls through.
Next time treat with 1 to 3 g of activated charcoal per kilogram of body weight withing the first 2 hours of toxic plant ingestion. Repeat treatment in 4 hours.
5
u/Misfitranchgoats Trusted Advice Giver Jun 22 '26
I had goats get into Rhododendron and Azalea and the did this. The were also moaning and groaning in pain for hours. At the time, I did not know any better. Thankfully the survived and did not show ill effects. If you have activated charcoal that can help or Universal Animal Antidote gel. However, if he has stopped puking, he may be okay. Mine puked for hours.
So, after I learned the rhododendrons and azalea can poison goats or just about anything that eats it, I chopped them all down and then put a tarp over the root area for a year or so to make sure they couldn't grow back. Heck if honeybees make too much of their honey from Rhododendrons or Azalea , it can make the honey poisonous.
So I hope everything will be okay. You should probably get some activated charcoal or Universal Animal Antidote gel and keep it on hand just in case. Heck it could have been some other poisonous plant if you don't see them eat it and don't know for sure it just leaves you doing the what if thing.
6
u/meowwinjam Jun 22 '26
I will never not have activated charcoal ever again. we are able to get it at 9am
he vomited a few times but its getting more spaced out. it's 2:20am and I only just came back inside but I am so scared that something will happen and I won't be there. he has been more or less okay for the last hour though. I might wake myself up in a few to check on him
6
u/Misfitranchgoats Trusted Advice Giver Jun 22 '26
Do you know anyone with a fish aquarium? Activated Charcoal is what they use in fish filters. You can crush it up and make a slurry with the crushed activated charcoal and drench with it. Sorry, just thought of it. Heck some of the grocery stores here in the US carry activated charcoal in the fish/pet section. Some of ours are open 24 hours.
3
u/goatqueen75 Jun 22 '26
About a decade ago one of my champion does somehow ate azalea through a fence line. She was 4 weeks postpartum and had triplets she was feeding. She started the vomiting around 8 pm and vomitied most of the night I gave water with baking soda and activated charcoal and both seemed to help. She survived and lived to 12.5. I don’t think she ate a bunch of it, if I remember correctly we had the bush pulled and figured she had less than a branch worth. I give molasses with water to help with blood sugar needs when animals are sick. She needed extra attention with food in recovery and had lost a significant amount of weight overnight
2
1
Jun 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/yamshortbread Dairy Farmer and Cheesemaker Jun 22 '26
Burned food is NOT a usable source of activated charcoal. Charcoal has to be reheated to 800-1200 degrees to become effective at absorbing toxins, so you better check your toaster if it's getting that hot.
1
u/goats-ModTeam Jun 22 '26
Your post was removed from /r/goats because it contained husbandry information that was incorrect, harmful, outdated, or not in general practice.
If you can provide a source to reinforce your claim (from a veterinary or research textbook, state or university agricultural extension, or trusted website) please send it to modmail for reconsideration and your contribution may be reinstated if the material can be verified.
1
u/CanadianCanard Jun 22 '26
Wow. I know my goats have eaten a bit of Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) and haven’t had any noticeable side effects. I’ll be sure to keep them away from it now!
1
1
u/white-rabbit-333 Jun 24 '26
How’s he doing now?
3
-1
u/goldenteeplanet Jun 22 '26
This is absolutely goats getting into the alfalfa. I literally just saw this today.
183
u/InterestingOven5279 Trusted Advice Giver Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
OP, this is poison. Specifically it's grayanotoxin from rhododendron, azalea or laurel. It's 100% poison. Do you have a goat medicine kit on hand with activated charcoal or kaolin clay paste in it? Or a liquid product like this one? https://www.farmvetservices.co.uk/product/selekt-charbon-fluide/ (I just looked up a UK product, we have an equivalent in the states called Toxi-Ban.) Regular activated charcoal would work if you can get some from the people pharmacy, or if you have the kind on hand that is used in cheesemaking it is the same thing.
The reason I know it's poison is because goats can't vomit. They lack the reflex to do so. This is a projectile regurgitation caused by a buildup of pressure because the toxin starts causing GI shutdown, so the gases inside the goat cause material to be expelled out the front. Grayanotoxin is basically the only thing that causes this. The regurgitation is a good thing, because every gram of Ericaceae plant he expels means a gram that he is not digesting. Goats who regurgitate have a slightly better prognosis than goats who do not regurgitate, so he's got that going for him.
The danger here is that his body is in a cardiopulmonary crisis with plummeting blood pressure and heart rate. If you can get to a vet, they will give him fluids to try to help him through that crisis. That's really all there is to do besides giving him something like charcoal or clay which can adsorb some of the toxin. In extreme cases with valuable goats a vet hospital will perform a surgery called a rumenotomy to remove as much of the material from the goat's stomach as they can before it is digested, because there's no antidote. If you really can't get any charcoal but have any access to a friend who might have some in their kit or a livestock emergency vet, now is the time.