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This article was published in 1980
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Pregnancy Toxaemia & Enterotoxaemia
N.B. King, B.V.Sc., H.D.A. Private Practitioner, Bexley
Pregnancy Toxaemia
Definition - pregnancy toxaemia is a progressively fatal disease of goats, seen in the last month of pregnancy and associated with a large single kid or multiple kids. It has many other names such as 'Twin kid disease', 'Twinning disease' or 'Kidding sickness'. It occurs wherever goats are raised and is more common in the metropolitan areas, where individual animals are under closer supervision and symptoms are seen at an earlier stage. It occurs in flock animals when suitable conditions prevail but the condition is usually more advanced when first noticed.
Susceptible Animals - excessively fat does kept in small backyards with little or no exercise, especially those not milking and, of course, those in the last four to five weeks of pregnancy. Milking does forced to come in for milking and probably fed on more sustaining foods with additives like molasses, treacle or salt in the water to encourage appetite and sustain production seem to manage better. Animals which are aggressive and obtain more of their share of food in a yard often put on excess weight this way. In goats, multiple births are very common, triplets, quads and quintuplets often being produced. The strain on the doe of rapidly growing kids at this period is enormous. Take, for example, quads - the kids could weigh 6 to 7 lbs, there are foetal membranes weighing 2-3 lbs and 1-2 gallons of foetal fluids - an additional fifty odd pounds in five months all on a vegetarian diet. The larger does tend to have multiple kids more often than the smaller does, and so as a general rule one finds pregnancy toxaemia more in the bigger animals. However, this is less common in does kidding for the first time.
Cause - demands on the system of rapidly growing kids in combination with a lowered intake or inadequate intake of nutrition. As a result of this, the body converts body fat into carbohydrates and ketogenic substances (while blood glucose is reduced) appear in the blood stream and urine. The effect of these circulating ketones on the brain causes depression and reduced appetite, further aggravating the condition. A detailed biochemical picture is not intended with this paper, as the exact figures are well known and available to qualified personnel. Suffice to say that blood glucose falls from 50 mg % to as low as 20 mg %, while blood ketones rise from 10 mg, to sometimes as high as 100 mg %. The same blood picture appears in Ketosis or Acetonaemia in heavily milking does. Ketones can be smelled in the breath and detected in the urine.
Predisposing Causes - any condition which makes the doe lead a sedentary life and does not take sufficient exercise and food, plus badly compounded rations, with regard to actual ingredients, their preparation and presentation. Goats are very finicky animals and will refuse food when put on to stale food, for example on the uneaten portion of a previous meal; food contaminated by mice droppings, or goat droppings. Even leaves falling on the ground will not be eaten. Food placed in the sun, or damp food, will be rejected. Rations low in carbohydrate or protein, or rations too heavy such as those containing bread, or pollard, causing chronic indigestion, can reduce intake. The accidental break-in to the feed shed when a large quantity of an unsuitable food such as wheat is eaten, can cause digestive disruption to reduce food intake. Poor attention to feet limits exercise. Change of abode from one yard to another, one property to another, or loss of a companion or owner, can result in voluntary starvation - avoid these!. Any problem which interferes with the general health - abscesses between hooves, foot rot, reaction to vaccination or drenching can depress appetite - this should be watched carefully on country properties. Be careful not to change from a poor quality pasture to a good one causing diarrhoea. Make sure there is ample bush or roughage to balance up lush green feed, for goats are browsing rather than grazing animals. We foresee herds of goats produced purely for meat production in the future and pregnancy toxaemia should be foremost in the minds of such breeders.
Symptoms - a careful owner will notice symptoms about four weeks before the doe is due to kid. Firstly, she will tend to lie around and become lazy and will defaecate while lying down. The appetite becomes capricious and 8-10 days later swelling of the feet and lower limbs will be noticed and she will walk with difficulty. The swellings usually appear in front legs first, around the pasterns, the hind legs may never swell. Less and less exercise will be taken until about ten days before kidding, she stops eating completely and cannot stand unless assisted. She moans with every expiration, the eyes become sunken, she loses a great deal of weight, the bones of shoulder blades and pelvis become very prominent, the hair on the face and head stands on end and she usually dies 2-3 days before she is due to kid. In the paddock she will be found on her own under a bush or tree, often breathing through the mouth. On occasions she attempts to kid the day she dies. Constipation is not present, but droppings are flinty, small and covered with a yellow mucous. If the does are in the last stages of the disease and recovery is impossible, emergency destruction is recommended. If done quickly, live kids can be obtained. In expensive does this is the only salvage that can be made. We use the Humane Killer (Greener).
Post-mortem Appearances - the liver becomes a yellowish orange colour and very brittle, the fatty tissues near the liver become stained also, but the fat in the abdominal cavity has whitish flakes of necrosis throughout. One large kid (sometimes up to 15 lbs) or multiple kids are present showing signs of malnutrition, sometimes, but not always, decomposed. Very few other changes are present. Where animals are milked right through pregnancy, very few cases of pregnancy toxaemia occur, probably due to regular exercise and a level plane of nutrition. One booklet commends no concentrates for the last three weeks of pregnancy, and followers of this advice have reason to regret this advice. A gradual increase in nutrition to kidding is desirable.
Treatment - the success of treatment really revolves round: an early diagnosis.
1. Forced exercise - lead around the yard 20 minutes two or three times daily.
2. Improved or corrected diet to include additional carbohydrates and proteins to the diet while doe still eats. Selected shrubs are essential - forced feeding 20 minutes three times daily pushing fresh leaves down the throat. Leaves most readily eaten are loquat, mulberry, roses, apple and wisteria. High protein leaves such as Sally wattle, lucerne. and clover are helpful.
3. Drenching with glycerine - if severe, 4 oz (120 mls) twice daily in an equal quantity of warm water until she commences to eat herself, usually 2-3 days, drench slowly. If not so severe, half this quantity will suffice, in 2 daily doses. Stock glycerine is 0.K.
4. It is unwise to use cortisone injections for treatment (Betamethasone can cause abortion) but small doses (4 mg) Prednisolone can help in the early stages, as it mobilises glucose.
5. Concentrated Vitamin A/D injections - I give 4-5 ml of 12000 units Vitamin A and 2000 units Vitamin D per ml once weekly into the muscle. Often this is sufficient, on its own, in the early stages, and I was giving this before cortisone and glycerine were used with success, but now I combine it with the glycerine first and, only use cortisone on very severe cases. Most cases recover.
6. Keep the doe going until 7-10 days before she is due to kid, then give 5-7 mg Betamethasone (will make her kid within 36 hours). Do not use Stilboestrol (15 mg for induction) as it dries up the milk, but it may have to be used if Betamethasone is not available to counteract this. Chorionic gonadotrophin 3000 units can be given to stimulate milk production after kidding. Some retention of foetal membranes may occur, remove them manually after 12 hours, don't leave 24 hours. If an antibiotic is given, use Penbritin or Streptomycin/ Penicillin, never Chloramphenicol as it dries up the milk production. Plenty of leaves and bushes for several days, no bran mash ... introduce concentrates SLOWLY ... can have some of doe's own milk to drink. Kids born 1-2 weeks prematurely usually survive with careful attention. Production of milk is always reduced in affected does.
Summary - pregnancy toxaemia, a nutritional disease in goats, caused by inadequate nutrition in the later stages of pregnancy can be recognised at four weeks before kidding and treatment by appropriate methods usually results in recovery.
Enterotoxaemia
Definition - a disease in goats caused by the toxin of Clostridium perfringens type D. Two distinct types occur - an acute and chronic form. The disease is prevalent in all parts of Australia.
Susceptible animals - in the acute form, goats of all ages and both sexes in good or poor condition can be affected. In the chronic form, adults only appear to be affected.
Seasonal incidence - occurs more often in springtime in range conditions of good feed. In dairy goats can occur at any time of the year.
Predisposing Causes - this disease occurs when the organism, which lives normally in the alimentary tract and soil multiplies excessively and produces sufficient toxin to cause visible symptoms. The predisposing conditions are factors which slow down peristalsis and retard movements in the intestines. Soft, lush foods or foods rich in carbohydrates are responsible for these conditions and so, for many years I have called this disease 'Monday Morning Toxaemia'. This is the result of owners obtaining fresh greens during the weekend when the animals have been on dry foods during the week. Other times when enterotoxaemia develops is when recently kidded does are given a stimulating bran and molasses mash; or where, accidentally, goats break into a feed shed and eat a large meal of grain or poultry foods. Care must be taken when nursing a sick animal, say with pregnancy toxaemia, not to give too stimulating a meal. In field conditions animals switched from one paddock to another with abundant green food without leafy or dry roughage can see cases cropping up. Heavy worm infestation, both tapeworm and Lung worm can predispose also.
Symptoms
(a) Acute - in all cases, diarrhoea is the first symptom - usually yellowish green - the animals may not be affected for the first few hours but then the diarrhoea changes to a gelatinous whitish mucous, later having some blood through it. Finally large clots of blood and sheets of bowel lining appear. By this time the animal is shivering and cold to the touch. This is best felt in the mouth. The normal temperature of a goat is 102-104°F but here the temperature may drop as low as 91°F. Later the animal lies down, struggles violently, cries pitifully and dies soon after. Often, however, death comes very quickly. I have seen kids shown at a show at 11am and dead at 2pm. In many cases these animals with the acute form are found dead in the morning.
(b) Chronic - this is often hard to diagnose; bouts of diarrhoea, fluctuating appetite and depression, and wasting, both in does and bucks can occur. Simply inoculating these animals with toxoid will be rewarded by a rapid recovery. This condition should be suspected when other methods of worm treatment, indigestion etc. have failed. Once recovered, a strong immunity is produced for life.
Post-mortem Appearances - decomposition is rapid, bloat develops quickly at or soon after death, beware of blaming bloat as the main cause. Symptoms are not so spectacular as seen in sheep, sometimes inflammation in the small intestine is quite severe. Pulpiness of the kidneys may also be missing, especially in the per-acute cases. Some haemorrhages under the serous membranes and sub-endocardial tissues are seen; in the chronic cases no visible changes may be seen at all except from time to time mucous-filled droppings.
Treatment - must be commenced as soon as possible, owners should be prepared for such emergencies and have on hand drugs, vaccines, antitoxins and equipment ready.
1. Give 15-20 mls of pulpy-kidney anti-toxin, and repeat in 3-4 hours (if necessary), into the vein if able, or into the abdominal or chest cavity, or failing that, into a deep muscle. Anti-toxin is expensive but with valuable animals one must be prepared for this. If vaccination is due, give ET toxoid at the same time, subcutaneously. The anti-toxin will reduce the efficiency of the vaccine which will have to be repeated again in one month. Re-vaccinate all stock at the same time, particularly if losses are occurring in the field.
2. Treat individual animals with 1g of Streptomycin i/m and sulphur tablets. Sulphaguanidine is best up to 200 tablets will be needed for an adult goat. For an adult, 30 tablets every 2-3 hours, for 9 hours; then 15 every four hours, until recovery. If available, 5 ml. Chlorodyne is given with each dose of tablets. Precede each dose of tablets (by 10 seconds) with 5 ml (1 teaspoonful) dose of a weak copper sulphate solution (make up 1 tablespoon in 1 litre of water). This copper sulphate (bluestone) solution, closes the groove from the oesophagus to the fourth stomach and sends the tablets into this area. The solution stays stable for years, so keep one made up. Argument whether copper sulphate closes the groove or not, will be made, but we proved by dyes on post-mortem examination that most cases did work, at a field day. We found that sulphaguanidine works better than sulphadimidine and pthallylsulphathiazole (Thalazole M&B).
3. Repeat streptomycin in 6-8 hours i/m. Even if goat is cold, do not give up, rug up with bags and bring into shed. Chlorodyne eases the pain and thickens up the intestinal contents. If this is not available, use Kaomagma with pectin 1-2 tablespoons with every dose of tablets. Buscopan compositum 2-5 ml i/m (made by Boehringer Ingelheim) repeated in 3-4 hours relieves pain and re-establishes peristalsis and will replace Kaomagma and chlorodyne. More solid excreta usually starts to pass about 4-6 hours after treatment commences. Give leaves and bushes - especially blackberry leaves - goats will seek these out themselves, when they have diarrhoea.
Paddock Control - move goats out of lush paddocks immediately and drive them to give then exercise, this often reduces losses. Revaccinate.
Paddock Prevention - allow goats into lush paddocks for a short period at first, 1-2 hours. Always leave a strip of dry feed in a cultivation paddock so goats can mix the dry and lush feed (see also Mycotoxicosis).
Feeding Care - Watch for unusual occurrences such as lush feed after the weekend gardening, a break into the feed shed, or poultry shed, the feeding by a neighbour of a loaf of bread, the stimulating bran mash after kidding, all these are potential causes of losses. Be wise ... vaccinate again.
Vaccination Procedure - vaccinate all does 2 weeks before kidding - use a multi-vaccine or at least ET, tetanus, 5 ml dose. Vaccinate kids at 4 weeks and 8 weeks, 5 ml each time, except for those in selenium deficient areas, then use 2 mls. Vaccinate at one year again. Keep records. BEWARE ... some does particularly Saaenens develop vaccine reactions - anaphylactic shock which is distressing. Have some adrenalin available 2 cc of 1 in 1000 into the vein or muscle may help. I understand CSL is investigating this problem. Test a few first, if losses from vaccinating occur, give the adrenalin first and wait 5 minutes before the vaccine.
Summary - enterotoxaemia is a highly fatal disease of goats, especially young goats, and a chronic disease of older goats, caused by the toxin of Cl perfringens type D in the bowel, when conditions are suitable for the growth of this organism. Management can produce or reduce the prevalence of this disease, the only real prevention is a strategic vaccination programme.