Pregnancy Toxaemia is caused by the goat's inability to obtain sufficient nutrition. If a doe is carrying multiple kids she may not have room left to eat enough food, the quality of the food may be lacking or a combination of both.

It usually occurs in the last 4 weeks of gestation and the first symptom seen is sluggishness. You may also notice, in a goat who had developed an udder, that the udder is decreasing in size again. The goat may lay around, be reluctant to rise and not very interested in eating. The next symptoms that may be seen are swelling of the "ankles", a complete loss of appetite and weight loss.

The goat will probably die if not treated. I am told that in feral goats, they will abort their kids rather than die.

Preventative measures I use successfully are to avoid paddock grazing. In my situation the goats have to walk quite a distance to pasture. I have a "Springers" pen to which goats are moved once they are about 4 weeks off kidding. These goats get the best lucerne hay available, ad lib, along with a grain mix, formulated for my goats, once a day. They also receive molasses in their water.

At the first sign of symptoms, a doe is drenched with 50 ml of Ceton twice a day until symptoms are no longer seen and she appears active. I don't see the sluggishness anymore abut on occasion I see a doe with swollen ankles who is still running around eating quite Ok - in this case I just I just keep an eye on her to make sure she remains eating and active. When my dry goats and goatlings are eating pasture, heavily pregnant does often got Pregnancy Toxaemia, I believe it was due to too much energy being expended on getting to and from the feed. My goats regularly have quads and I've had a few sets of quins and a set of sextuplets without the does getting sick.