Ruminal acidosis is an important clinical emergency in small ruminants. In this study, eight healthy
farm goats and 24 goats presented at TVCC of the college of Veterinary Sciences and A.H., Anand
with clinical signs of ruminal acidosis and having rumen liquor pH below 6 were examined for
alterations in the ruminal fluid and serum biochemical parameters. Among various rumen fluid
parameters evaluated, the mean values of rumen fluid pH decreased significantly (4.71±0.11 vs.
6.90±0.10), while sediment activity time (46.67±1.20 vs. 24.50±0.78 min) and methylene blue
reduction time (29.50±0.73 vs. 10.03±0.27 min) increased significantly in acidotic goats. The normal
greenish, aromatic viscous color, odour and consistency of rumen fluid of healthy goats also
changed to milky grey/creamy, sour/pungent watery in acidotic goats. The rumen protozoal activity
decreased to nil in acidotic goats as compared to the healthy goats. Among various serum
biochemical constituents, the mean values of glucose (92.43±1.37 vs. 74.13±1.83 mg/dl), BUN
(26.49±0.47 vs. 22.63±1.19 mg/dl), serum creatinine (01.01±0.02 vs. 00.83±0.02 mg/dl) and
albumin (03.22±0.03 vs. 03.05±0.05 g/dl), ALT (56.75±1.55 vs. 27.88±1.14 IU/L) and AST
(93.25±1.82 vs. 54.00±1.75 IU/L), increased significantly, while there was significant decrease in
serum calcium (09.09±0.14 vs. 10.29±0.08 mg/dl) in acidotic goats. The mean values of alkaline
phosphatase (IU/L) in acidotic goats increased non-significantly from the base values of healthy goats.