What Pain Medication Can You Give A Goat? (Find Out!)

 

So, there are a couple of options for painkillers for goats.

Some of them you may have laying around your own medication cupboard already.

Any time you are medicating a goat, though, you should really speak to a vet beforehand.

This ensures you know what you are doing.

Let’s look further into this.

Attention!
This is not medical advice. Always consult with your vet before administering any medication on your goat.

What can you give a goat for pain?

You have a few options, but your best choice is Banamine.

This is a common medication used in the treatment of inflammation and musculoskeletal pain in several farm animals, mainly horses.

It has also been approved for use in goats.

That said, you should still always consult your vet before administering any medication.

It’s a good idea to have Banamine on hand, then, and to know how to administer it.

It is typically a injectable solution, and you need to be able to adequately administer it or risk causing a new problem.

That said, other, generic pain medications will work fine in a pinch.

If you have paracetamol, or ibuprofen, then these are good choices to tide the goat over until the vet arrives.

Again, I just want to stress that while these pain medications will work for your goat, you always want to have them seen by a vet as soon as possible.

Painkillers may relieve the symptoms, but they could still be worsening in a way you can’t perceive.

Let’s look at ibuprofen for goats.

 

Attention!
This is not medical advice. Always consult with your vet before administering any medication on your goat.

Can I give ibuprofen to goats?

Yes, you can, is the short answer.

Ibuprofen is a good and effective way to treat minor pain and inflammation in goats, and the best thing about it is that it is probably the easiest medication to get your hands on.

Any generic version found in a drugstore will work just fine, if you don’t already have any in the medicine cabinet.

All the same caveats apply as they would when you use it, though—don’t give them ibuprofen too frequently.

Wait at least 5-6 hours between doses, just to be safe.

Again, ibuprofen should only be seen as a short-term solution.

You are unlikely to definitively solve the problem with painkillers, so speak to a vet as soon as you can.

Ideally, you should speak to them before administering any medication yourself, even if it’s a quick chat over the phone.

Attention!
This is not medical advice. Always consult with your vet before administering any medication on your goat.

Can you give goats paracetamol?

Yes, you can also give them paracetamol.

Given that it is typically stronger than ibuprofen, paracetamol should be given in even smaller quantities and at longer intervals.

Again, you absolutely should speak to a vet before giving your goat paracetamol.

That said, if your goat is in pain and it is all you have to relieve the symptoms, then paracetamol will indeed work just fine.

It’s just that every goat is slightly different, and unless you’re a vet you can’t be expected to know everything about the medication you’re giving them.

Attention!
This is not medical advice. Always consult with your vet before administering any medication on your goat.

Can goats have Bute for pain?

Yes, goats can also have Bute.

Again, given that Bute is formulated for animals like goats, it is a better option than the painkillers we have looked at so far.

Though the others will do the job, and you’re more likely to have them on hand, Bute is going to do a better job.

As I said, though, if you’re keeping goats, having things like Bute and Banamine on hand is a good idea for situations like this.

Attention!
This is not medical advice. Always consult with your vet before administering any medication on your goat.

How often can you give Banamine to goats?

The general advice is that they should have Banamine no more frequently than once in 12 hours.

Vets will often prescribe a course of Banamine, meaning you have to continuously administer it for the pain.

In this case, no more than every 12 hours is the best advice.

It’s a fairly heavy-duty painkiller, and the fact that it is typically injected can be a bit of an ordeal for the goat in itself.

Banamine is certainly your best option, though, and is likely what your vet will prescribe.

The fact is that you do have plenty of options, then, to help relieve your goat’s pain symptoms.

That said, if you are not a vet, it’s always advisable to speak to a vet, too.

There could be some underlying issue getting worse, even as you relieve the pain with medication.

While you’ve got the choice of ibuprofen, paracetamol, Banamine or Bute, these things always need to be heavily and closely regulated.