Caecum impaction in goat: A case study

Abstract

Caecum impaction is a condition, caused by poor dentition, a sudden change in food, parasitism, and coarse roughages in which caecum remains impacted with indigestible food mass resulting in colic along with depression and anorexia. A 10-month, indigenous Terai mixed breed, male goat having weight 15 Kg was brought to Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Paklihawa, Province Number 5, Nepal, with complaints of anorexia, abdominal swelling, history of excessive wheat flour feeding, and no faecal discharge for two days. Temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate were 102.2oF, 130/minute, and 28/minute respectively. On physical examination, a heterogeneous rod-shaped mass was felt in the right caudal abdomen and abdominal ultrasonography revealed mixed echoism pattern in the lumen of caecum indicating the presence of a foreign body in the caecal region. Laparotomy parallel to the last rib on right paralumbar fossa followed by typhlotomy were performed. Semi-digested hard faeces were milked out manually through caecum and incision was corrected properly. The goat was kept under observation with post-operative care for seven days till the complete recovery. Thus, this case study described a rare case of caecum impaction due to semi-digested feeding particles in goat.