18/08/2026
Was quite worried about Annie for a few days, she was sitting on Thursday night, froth at her mouth, very quiet and clearly painful, cramping like she was in labour. Ruled out bluetongue very fast, although it's in everyone's minds at the moment, all her symptoms were coming from her gut. Antispasmodic pain relief gave her a settled night, but she became bloated and wobbly like she was drunk by Friday morning. Gas swelling the rumen can press on the major blood vessels returning to the heart and cause shock which can be life threatening, so intensive treatment began. The most important thing was to reduce the pressure from the gas, so she got a tube down her throat to try to release it that way, but she most likely had frothy bloat, where the gas bubbles are trapped in foam and don't belch out as normal. So she got an emergency needle to relieve the pressure out the side, and a dose of regular vegetable oil to help disperse the foamy bubbles, which can be poured straight into the gut through the tube that's handily in place through her mouth along with a heap of fluids to help with dehydration. She was also medicated with further antispasmodic, additional pain relief, antibiotics to prevent infection from bacteria leaking out the weakened gut walls, calcium to support both the wobbliness/weakened muscles and the turnover of the guts, multivitamin to improve the gut flora and antacid powders to return the rumen contents to normal. I was very relieved to see her interested in feed by Saturday night, although still wobbly, and quiet in herself. she was tucking in with much more vigour since then, and no real stagger left last night at all. She's still quiet, but I feel she's almost back to normal.
