Suzanne Nee - Central Point, Oregon



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BEWARE OF WHAT'S GROWING IN YOUR BACKYARD! A story we hope you will never have to write by Suzanne Nee

It was on a cold and rainy March afternoon when the goats decided to go on one of their famous escapades. One of them had figured out how to open the barn door and let everyone out. From in the house, I could hear a loud crash and bang. As I ran to the window and looked outside, there were goats running amuck through the backyard. As quickly as possible, goats were rounded up and put back in their pens. They were given some grass hay to keep them occupied until feeding time and I returned to my chores.

My husband had come home from work early and suggested I go for pizza while he fed the kids. I thought that was a great plan (anything to get out of chores for an evening).

When I returned, my husband came running out of the house in a panic. He was so upset it was difficult to understand what he was trying to say, so I followed him out to the barn to see what the excitement was about. In shock, I looked to the ground at something he was pointing at. Tears began to well up in my eyes. There, laying in the dark, was my beloved Saanen doe bloated, and stone cold dead, and in the barn three more goats were frothing at the mouth, vomiting and screaming in pain. This was my worst nightmare. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

While waiting for the veterinarian to arrive, I went over and over in my mind what they might have gotten into that afternoon. I had only found part of a rosebush eaten, a few of my herbs and a few leaves off a flowering bush that had been given to us the previous fall. I knew the rose bush and herbs were safe, so it could only be one thing.

The veterinarian finally arrived. We showed him to the barn. After examining the goats he confirmed our suspicions, the goats had been poisoned. We then spent the next hour trying to get a mixture of ginger, epsom salt, molasses and warm water down them with a stomach tube. It was awful trying to get tubes down animals that were so sick. As soon as tubes were placed in their mouth, they would begin to heave all over again. Sable, one of the yearlings was in such pain, and vomiting so severely, it took three of us to restrain her. We were trying to prevent her from suffocating on her own vomit. When we had gotten as much in them as we could, the veterinarian instructed us on what was to be done for the remaider of the evening, and then left.

Not more then an hour after he had left four more goats begun to show symptoms. I called the veterinarian again, he instructed me to come to his home for more supplies and to do what he had done with the others.

We grabbed Wisdom, one yearling Nubian from the pen, for she seemed to be the worst. As we attempted to push the tube down her throat she began to fight violently. We stopped and gave her a rest and began again. Every time we got the tube half way down she would throw up, or start flailing her head and legs about. By the time we managed to get the tube and medication down her it was to late. Before I could remove the tube a blank look came over her and her body went limp in my arms. We tried mouth to mouth and massaging her heart for five minutes but we lost her. My husband ran in to call the veterinarian again.

All I could do was sit there on the barn floor crying and holding the little black Nubian in my arms. I had done everything I knew to save her and still had lost her. At that time I felt so helpless.

When the veterinarian arrived for the second time that evening we went another two hours tubing sick goats. Sable, the yearling out of the first batch he had treated was still not responding. We were terribly concerned about her because she was three weeks short of kidding. The veterinarian told me point blank he wasn't sure she would survive the night, but i was determined to pull the rest of them through. I realized we were all tired but ask the doctor to open up and examine the little black yearling that had died.

To our surprise we were unable to find anything but three small leaves of the plant we had pulled up out of the yard. He was then sure that this was the cause of death, for the only other thing we found in the rumen was normal feed. He told me he had done everything he could and to call if we had any more problems.

I spent the rest of the morning on the milkstand, afraid to leave for fear of losing another animal. Every two hours were spent tubing and making sure everyone was okay. I listened for what seemed an eternity to goats moaning and screaming in pain. The barn smelled putrid. The goats had spent most of the night vomiting.

Morning arrived and the goats seemed better. The vomiting had ceased but some were still in extreme pain. Now I had the task of making sure mineral oil got down them and nursing sick goats back to health.

I spent the morning on the telephone with nurseries , going through books, and calling OSU to see if I could identify the plant that had caused all this Damage. Finally I identified the plant, got information on its toxicity and what little information I could in recovery and treatment. I then called the veterinarian. We had done everything the night before that could have been done for them.

Two days passed and the goats were not getting any better, but they were not getting any worse either. On the afternoon of that day, Betsy, my five-year-old Nubian, could not hold down fluids I had been tubing her with, and finally had given up and laid down to die. In a matter of a couple hours she had become listless, eyes sunk, and she refused to move off her side. She was rushed to the veterinarian to see if she could be saved.

Intraveneous therapy was started on her immediately and she was kept overnight. It took quite a bit to pull her through but dumping a half gallon of mineral oil, and keeping her on IV for a day and a half seemed to pull her through. I brought her home.

The day after she was brought home the others seemed to be doing much better. They had all started to drink small amounts of water and were nibbling on their hay again. I felt good now because I was sure the worst was over. Or so I thought.

That afternoon, Sable, the pregnant yearling that had been so ill the first night went off her feed and was found standing in the corner with her head pressed against the wall screaming in pain. I called the veterinarian. He had thought possibly she was getting ready to abort and had advised me to keep an eye on her. Several hours had gone by and she was getting worse. I called again, He reassured me that there was nothing we could do if she was aborting and just to watch her.

I went to drench her with a little electrolytes and to my horror that same blank look came over her face that had been on the little black yearlings face. In panic I took the syringe out of her mouth and laid her down. She laid on the pen floor motionless. I listened to her chest for a heartbeat-nothing. I looked to see if she was breathing-nothing. I started CPR and couldn't get her to respond. In anger of losing another goat to this deadly plant, I hit her in the chest with my fist. To my surprise she started breathing again. I ran into the house to call the veterinarian. He agreed to meet us at his office and my husband and I loaded her in the truck and headed out.

It was pouring rain so hard I could hardly see where I was driving. I kept looking in the rear view mirror to see how my husband and Sable were doing. I could see my husband frantically hitting her in the chest and blowing in her mouth and nose. As we pulled into the clinic we had lost her, or so we thought. The doctor ran out with a shot of something and to all our surpirse she was alive again!

We ran into the office and Dr. Wilson got her started on an IV as quickly as he could. She was given a mild sedative to keep her calm and it was a matter of waiting. We lost Sable and her kids and hour later. We were unable to revive her a fourth time.

I ask that he do a post mortem. I wanted to know why she looked like she was getting better and all of a sudden was ill again. When he had examined her, he found that her intestines had twisted around the uterus cutting off everything. There was nothing any of us could have done to save her. So now in five days I had lost three adult goats and two kids. A numbness came over me. I had no more feeling about what was happening to my animals.

I went out the next morning to feed and found another goat with her head pressed up against the wall, disinterested in feed or water, the blank stare on her face. In a panic, I loaded her in the truck and ran her to the veterinarian's office. She was kept overnight for observation. She had become impacted and the toxins in her system were making her ill. I had pushed a gallon of mineral oil down her before she had been taken in. She was released the next day.

The others that had been ill recovered eventually with two hour drenching of eletrolyes and mineral oil, shots of Banamine and antibiotics, and with heavy doses of B-Complex, vitamins.... and very little sleep for two weeks.

I am sure you would all like to know what caused such an awful ordeal. It was a flowering bush called Andromeda. It can grow to extremely large size, has small lime green leaves, and flowers that fall into clusters in pink and white. It is a very fragrant plant which is why the goats are attracted to it. If eaten, the flowers, stems and leaves are extremely toxic. In the two goats that were posted, one had two leaves in her rumen, the other had three, The information obtained from OSU was for general livestock. Death is within 1-4 hours, which held true for the goats. Recovery according to OSU was 1-4 days. My goats took two weeks to recover. This plant is related to foxglove. It is a form of digitalis which produces symptoms affecting the heart.

I have looked in many poisonous plant books and have not found this one. I wrote this so no one will ever have to go through the pain and suffering my animals and I endured. So Please know what is growing in your backyard!

Information pertaining to this plant follows:

TRIVIAL NAME: Fetterbush, Lilly of the Valley Bush
DESCRIPTION: Pieris are evergreen shrubs or small trees. The leaves are simple, usually alternate and leathery.
The flowers are usually white (but can be pink) and grow in clusters. The flowers are very sweet smelling.
TOXIC PART: The leaves and nectar (in honey) are poisonous.
SYMPTOMS: A transient burning sensation occurs in the mouth after ingestion, followed by salivation, emesis, diarrhea, and a prickling sensation in the skin after several hours. Headaches, muscular weakness, and dimness of vision is also noted. Bradycardia followed by severe hypotension can develop. Ingestion has caused fatal poisoning.
REFERENCE: AMA Poisonous Plants
The above information reflects human consumption. The information on livestock was very vague.
DEATH OCCURRING: Occurs within 1-4 hours. True for the goats.
RECOVERY: 1-4 days. Goats were 2 weeks, with after effects being longer.
This plant is related to Foxglove; it produces Digitalis, which in large doses causes cardiac arrest.

I have looked through many lists of poisonous plants, and have not found this one listed. I am hoping by writing this that no one else will have to go through the pain and suffering which my animals and I had to endure.