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Vetdle Archive

Archive Case #69: Caprine Pregnancy Toxaemia

Goat veterinary case - Hard - May 11, 2026

Clinical Clues

  1. A heavily pregnant doe carrying multiple fetuses is found isolated and reluctant to rise.
  2. The owner reports she has eaten poorly for two days and now seems disoriented.
  3. Examination reveals depression, weakness, and a sweet ketone odour on the breath.
  4. She intermittently presses her head against the wall and appears neurologic.
  5. Blood testing identifies hypoglycaemia with marked ketosis.
  6. Negative energy balance in late gestation can cause severe metabolic disease in does carrying multiple kids.

Diagnosis

Caprine Pregnancy Toxaemia

This case is most consistent with Caprine Pregnancy Toxaemia because the late-gestation doe has anorexia, ketone production, neurologic depression, and hypoglycaemia. The most important clues are the multiple pregnancy, reduced feed intake, and metabolic findings, which strongly support pregnancy toxaemia.

Learning review

Review the case evidence

Use the paired clues to explain how the evidence in this goat case supports the provided diagnosis, Caprine Pregnancy Toxaemia, then compare your reasoning with the case explanation.

Evidence checkpoints

Clues 1-2

  1. Clue 1: A heavily pregnant doe carrying multiple fetuses is found isolated and reluctant to rise.
  2. Clue 2: The owner reports she has eaten poorly for two days and now seems disoriented.

Clues 3-4

  1. Clue 3: Examination reveals depression, weakness, and a sweet ketone odour on the breath.
  2. Clue 4: She intermittently presses her head against the wall and appears neurologic.

Clues 5-6

  1. Clue 5: Blood testing identifies hypoglycaemia with marked ketosis.
  2. Clue 6: Negative energy balance in late gestation can cause severe metabolic disease in does carrying multiple kids.

Self-review prompts

  1. After clues 1-2, what evidence from this goat case shaped your initial interpretation?
  2. When you compare clues 3-4 with clues 1-2, what changed in your reasoning about Caprine Pregnancy Toxaemia?
  3. How do clues 5-6 align with the case explanation for Caprine Pregnancy Toxaemia?

Educational Use

Vetdle archive cases are educational veterinary games for diagnostic reasoning practice. They do not provide veterinary advice, diagnosis, treatment, or professional medical guidance.