Horse Owners Warned About Blister Beetle Toxicity in Goat

Owners are urged to check alfalfa carefully for beetles before feeding to prevent additional cases from developing.
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University of California, Davis (UC Davis), veterinarians recently encountered an uncommon California case of blister beetle toxicity in a goat. Now, they’re urging horse owners to check alfalfa carefully for beetles to prevent additional cases from developing.

Pedro, a 6-year-old male Nubian goat, was showing abnormal health signs that concerned his owners—he was recumbent (unable to rise), bloated, and in discomfort. His owners called their veterinarian, who found him to be severely dehydrated and suggested they bring him to the UC Davis veterinary hospital.

Once at UC Davis, the Livestock Medicine and Surgery Service performed a thorough physical examination on Pedro. His heart and respiratory rates were elevated, he was in severe abdominal discomfort with a fluid- and gas-distended rumen (a ruminant’s first stomach, which receives food or cud from the esophagus, partly digests it with the aid of bacteria, and passes it to the reticulum for further digestion), and in hypovolemic shock. He also displayed signs of an acute kidney injury.

The livestock specialists presumptively treated him for a suspected upset gastrointestinal issue and for his severe dehydration, while awaiting preliminary laboratory results of his blood and urine. His treatments included a rumen lavage, activated charcoal administration, intensive intravenous fluid therapy, pain medication and antibiotic administration, rumen transfaunations (transferring a broad spectrum of microorganisms from a healthy donor animal’s rumen to a sick recipient’s rumen), and gastroprotectant administration. Veterinarians also placed Pedro in a sling during the first days of recumbency and treated him with acupuncture

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