Bloat Treatment Drench
For cattle, sheep, and goats.
Product Description
A docusate sodium drench in an emulsified soybean oil base, used as an aid in the treatment of frothy bloat in ruminants and as a fecal softener.
Frothy bloat happens when gas produced in the rumen gets trapped in a stable foam rather than collecting as free gas, so the animal cannot belch it off. Pressure builds fast. Docusate sodium is a surfactant, which breaks the surface tension holding that foam together so the trapped gas can coalesce and be released.
It’s most associated with cattle grazing lush legume pasture, alfalfa in particular, and with high grain rations in feedlot settings. Producers in those situations generally keep a bottle on hand, because bloat does not wait.
Administer as a drench or via stomach tube.
Active Ingredient
Docusate sodium in an emulsified soybean oil base
How to Use
Give as a drench or through a stomach tube at the dose on the label for the species and body weight.
Passing a stomach tube is also diagnostic and therapeutic in its own right, since it releases free gas bloat immediately and tells you whether you are dealing with froth or trapped gas. If you are not experienced with tubing, call your veterinarian rather than attempting it, since passing a tube into the trachea is a fatal mistake.
Drenching carries its own risk. Hold the head level rather than high, give slowly, and let the animal swallow. Fluid that goes into the lungs causes aspiration pneumonia.
After treatment, keep the animal moving and standing if possible, and get it off the pasture or ration that caused it.
This is an emergency
Bloat kills quickly, sometimes within an hour of the first signs. An animal with a distended left flank, obvious discomfort, straining, open mouth breathing, staggering, or going down needs a veterinarian immediately, not a wait and see approach. A drench is first aid while help is coming, not a substitute for it.
If an animal is down or struggling to breathe, call your veterinarian now. Severe cases need trocarization or emergency rumenotomy, and the window is short.
Prevention is where this is actually won
Bloat on legume pasture is predictable, which means it is manageable. Fill animals on dry hay before turning them onto lush alfalfa or clover, avoid turning out onto wet or dew-covered legume stands, introduce new pasture gradually, and consider a poloxalene block or an ionophore where appropriate. Talk to your veterinarian or extension specialist about a prevention plan if you are losing animals to it.
Additional Information
For cattle, sheep, and goats. Store as directed on the label. Keep out of reach of children.
Check with your veterinarian regarding any withdrawal requirements for food-producing animals.
