This condition which is also called ''acute carbohydrate engorgement'' or ''lactic acidosis'', is life threatening and must be handled as an emergency. Treatment must begin as soon as it is realized that the goat has eaten a more than normal amount (as little as half again as much) of grain or other sources of readily fermentable starch. The longer treatment is delayed, the more difficult it is to reverse the progressive chain of events that will end in death in 2 to 4 days.