Posted by Maggie on December 19, 2000 at 13:00:59:
My vet called yesterday about a client's dairy goat. Here's the situation: the doe has been in with a young buck for quite a while. She seems to never go out of season and is wearing the guy out. She has been tested for hormone blood levels, and that checks out okay. She has been xrayed and ultrasounded for cystic ovaries and uterine infection both came back negative. She has been treated with lutalyse and cystorelin to try to bring her heat cycle back to normal. The vet used about a quarter of the cattle dosage for these drugs. Her last pregnancy ended strangly, she had a prolonged gestation and when she finally kidded she expelled fetal bones. I've looked this up and it's called fetal maceration. The fetus dies and the doe's body absorbs the soft tissue leaving the bones to be expelled. After this kidding she was put on antibiotics and oxytocin to help her clean up. She seems to be healthy just won't cycle normally or settle. She has been removed from the buck's pen today and a vet at the NCSU Vet. School recommended doubling the dosages on the lutalyse and cystorelin, believing that the doe does have cystic ovaries but was given too low a dose of hormones to remedy the situation. I've racked my brain for other possiblilies. Anybody have any ideas or suggestions?