Test results are in...now what?

Well, the person I got this doe from said they never tested her. She got her from someone else that never had her tested as they only had her for a short while as a weanling. The breeder does not test her herd...she raises for show and meat. I just found out from another friend that knows the original breeder that they do not test. I did buy the doe "as is." I'm going to have her retested and if she is positive, she'll just be any expensive pet. I dont like taking animals to the auction and I certainly wouldnt want to pass her on to someone that doesnt know anything about CAE.

That is what I would do too. But I do understand culling and that decision also. If the goat was suffering in any way I would put her down.

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Teach only Love...for that is what You are

the chance for her being negative is not good at all.
sorry this happens to you.
can you manage to keep her away from the rest of your negative animals????
although rare, horizontal infection is possible. here is a little story i had recently. in a pen with six does, one got injured from a hook where the water buckets hang from, (chewed on it i guess and got stuck) her mouth was bleeding profoundly. blood in feeding area and on hay feeder, literally everywhere. if she would have been a positive doe, the outcome for the rest of the animals would not have been good at all. goats sometimes do not do very smart things and to run a positive doe with the negatives is a call for disaster. of course it is your call and how you decide to manage the disease is just your business.
read about cae as much as you can.

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Susanne Stuetzler
Ain-ash-shams
Nubian Dairy Goats

please visit us at
http://www.ain-ash-shams.net

Horizontal transmission IS possible. I had a doe that was originally born and raised in a tested, CAE free herd in WV. She was part of a trade with a big show herd here in MI when she was 2 years old. I purchased her from said big name show herd in MI when she was 4 going on 5 years old. Tested her for CAE and she was positive. This doe was NOT a milk drinker, either. Before I was aware of the status of that doe, I was milking her and another doe. I milked the doe that turned out to be positive first... and unfortunately my other doe at the time was a milk stealer, and turned up positive because of it at a later date, despite having previously tested negative twice.

I'd isolate that doe immediately, if you don't butcher her. Retest all your negatives in 4-6 months.

If she wasn't showing symptoms I'd say isolate her with a wether or something, breed and then let her kid out. Supergluing teats shut before she kids will keep the kids from nursing. If you pull kids at birth and raise on pasturized milk (or milk from a recently tested CAE Neg doe), or storebought cows milk, then you SHOULD be good. I would still make a separate kid pen and raise the 'positives' away from the 'negatives'. If she has one doe kid or something, you can always wether an extra buckling out of one of your other does and raise that with her so she's not alone. I'd keep the 'positives' away from everybody else until they are 6+ months old and old enough for their first reliable test.

However, since she IS showing symptoms I'd put her down ASAP. Not worth the risk, trouble, and pain she is likely going through. Pregnancy will only aggravate it, as will stress of isolation.

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Dona Barski

"Breed the best, eat the rest"

Caprice Acres

French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.

If you want to retain her genetics, seperate her from the other girls and breed her. Be sure to hand breed, so you have a due date on her. When she's about ready to kid, super glue her teats or use teat tape and be sure to attend the birth. I'd also suggest breeding the La Mancha does first, so you can harvest some colostrum from them for the babies. If she's having difficulty walking or maintaining her weight, put her down after she kids.
I bought two does who were presumed negative. One was out of doe from a well known CAE negative herd and the other's dam had repeatedly tested negative. Turns out the fancy doe may possibly been sabotaged in a public setting and gave the virus to her daughter and another doe kid in the pen with her. I took the does back to the breeder who quarantined them and we bred them. One gave birth to twin doelings who were raised on prevention and the doe will be bred again (and retested) this fall. She shows no symptoms. The other doe went over on her due date and had a large, breech stillborn doeling. She had lost weight and freshened with very little milk. Since I already have her daughter and I was concerned about symptoms I was seeing, she was sold to a meat buyer. This way I was able to sell her knowing she won't be bought by someone who will try to breed her.