Baby with stiff back legs?
 

He's about 2 1/2 months old and was wethered about 4 weeks ago. I've noticed the last few days that he seems a bit stiff in the back end when he walks. He runs, jumps, and plays just fine. His appetite is good. His poo is normal.

Any thoughts?

Has he had a CD&T and/or BoSe shot? The two things that come to mind are Tetanus or White Muscle Disease.
Was he banded or cut? How does the site look? He might have an infection starting.

I would have to ask Alice about his shots. I got them when they were 6 weeks old. I checked and it's been 3 weeks since he was banded not 4. He was given a tetanus shot at that time. He is moving like he did after being banded so maybe the area is hurting. I'll have to check it.

I have LA 200. Is that okay to give if he does have an infection starting?

Not sure if LA200 would be the best thing but if that is all you have then it's probably better than nothing. Personally I think PenG might be better.

Im pretty sure goat polio starts out with stiff back legs... try some thiamine or Vit. b complex

A big dose of Thiamine (B-1 vitamin) can't hurt him, and if it IS the start of goat polio then it will help. If you don't have B-1, then B-complex injectable can be purchased at Tractor Supply or most feed stores. I'd give 4cc under the skin every 8 hours (again, can't hurt).

But it sounds more like something related to the banding; maybe the band broke and he's feeling the pain of blood supply attempting to go back into the testicles?? I would like to know what you see when you check his little "parts"!

I'd check temperature. He may have just fell wrong or got butted and could be better soon. I hope.

Perhaps his testes are barely hanging on and feel funny, are swinging by a string, or are stuck to his belly hair. The timing is about right.

I checked his "parts". It looks like they are about to come off. While I'm out later I'll get him some Vit B or Thiamine just in case.

He is still the same. I gave him antibiotic for almost a week with no improvment. I tried for a week to locate B complex injectable before someone finally told me you can't get that over the counter anymore. I get some capsuls from Walgreens and gave him two every morning and evening. It made no difference at all. Maybe I'm not giving enough? The dose for an adult person is 1 capsul.

He's not any better or worse. When he's been laying down and he gets up, his back legs seem really stiff. Once he's up walking/moving around, that gets much better.

His testicles still haven't dropped off. They've looked like they are ready to for several weeks.

In every other way he is fine. He has a good appetite, pees and poos normally, run and jumps and plays with his brother.

Should I wait and see what happens once the testicles fall off? Try something else? Or could he be perfectly fine and just need to work the kinks out once he's been laying down?

I don't have internet at home right now so will check back here tomorrow when I come to school.

Thanks all.

Have you ever seen selenium deficiency in your goats? Might be worth it to get some Bo-Se. It's vet RX. while you are at it, you could get the B complex from a vet too.

I wouldn't mess with the testicles if they are about to fall off. Though I don't have any experience there. Just seems better to leave them alone.

Madness, these are my first goats so I wouldn't know what to look for. His brother is perfectly fine. If one was deficit in something, would the other be showing signs?

I'll do a little research on seliemium deficiency and see if that fits. I need to call my horse vet anyway and see if he treats goats. I might just have to take the little guy there if I can't get this figured out.

Thanks

I'm no expert on Se deficiency. No one that I know of near me give shots - not even the person we got these goats from who has been breeding for 13 years and we feed/manage the same way. We even did blood tests and they came back within normal range. But we have some goats that are showing signs and some that aren't. Essentially, giving them the profilactic dose of 1 cc for 40 lbs for Bo-se is not going to harm goats. It can only do good. I used to think it was super easy to overdose, but after reading and reading and reading, I don't think you can with giving a goat that amount once, or even a few times a year. It's extremely rare to have browse that has toxic levels in it, but it does happen. The symptoms are slightly different and I wouldn't think it would be the case in a young kid.

Do talk to the vet. If not a usual goat vet, you might not be happy with the diagnosis...or lack thereof in my experience!

Madness, sorry for taking so long to get back to you. My son had to go to the emergency room Wednesday and was there overnight. He fine now.

Anyway, I went by my vet on the way home Wednesday. Turns out he does treat goats. I'm not sure how a good a goat vet he is though. He's supposed to be a good horse/cattle vet. I talked to him about what was going on and that it was suggested I try Bo-se. He said we are not in a se deficient area and that the last goat brought in with those symptoms turned out to have tetnus. But he let me buy the bo-se. I went straight home and gave it to Morgan. It's been two days and no change. I'm not sure what to do now.

I might have to go ahead and take him to the vet and see if he can find something.

Thanks for your suggestions.

He had the first round of CDT at a month of age.

With the one goat kid we really suspect of Se deficiency, it took maybe a week to REALLY see an obvious improvement. I've heard lots of stories about seeing them totally turn around in 24 hours. I saw one post on dairygoatinfo where someone said up to 10 days. I honestly do not know if what we had was a Se deficiency caused problem that was solved by the shot or if it was something that just "worked itself out". I certainly lean strongly toward the Se answer, but I'm afraid the evidence (blood tests, length of time to improve, etc) isn't entirely clear.

So, that's just my lengthy way of saying the kid could still improve with the Bo-se as it may just be taking time to work. Still - I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to take him to the vet.

I know vaccines are not 100%, but since he did have the tetanus shot (I'm assuming CD&T toxoid like Alice said and NOT tetanus antitoxin), it just doesn't seem to fit. But if it was just the tetanus antitoxin...well, not sure then!

It was the CDT vaccination, right on schedule.

Is he urinating good?

Thanks Alice. I know he was up to date on everything when I get them from you. Besides, I don't suspect tetanus at all since it is progressive and he is the same. I was just posting what the vet said.

Laverne, his urination is normal. He is stiffest when he first gets up then gets better mobility.

Madness, I wasn't sure when to look for improvement. I guess since it isn't worse, that is hopefully a good sign. I have noticed his brother, who is not wethered, mounts him a lot. It could be he is just sore from that.

Thank you all for you help.

We've seen plenty of mounting and I don't think I've seen anyone having their legs sore from that. Can you try separating them to see if there's an improvement? I've just found that we when decide it's a something not to worry about, it turns out to be a bad problem...

I'm certainly not going to stop looking for the answer. I am going to give it just a little longer and see if the bo-se starts working. If he's not showing improvement soon, I will get him in to see the vet.

Thanks,

Update on Morgan. I've noticed in the last few days that he is moving almost normally even when he first gets up. Either the bo-se worked, or whatever was going on worked itself out.

I'm so relieved! Thanks everyone for your suggestions. One day soon I will post pictures of both of them.

I learned from sad experience that White Muscle Disease is present at birth and manifests immediately. If a kid develops muscle weakness later on then it is Floppy Kid Syndrome and will get worse and kill them. Try the link below for treatment if you think that's what it is. I have had success with it, we have a happy healthy doeling that at one point everyone thought was dead.

http://www.goatworld.com/articles/fks/fksrw.shtml

Thanks for the suggestion Hyamiranda. He doesn't really fit any of the symptoms of FKS. His gait is stiff but not wobbly and he can run and jump just fine.

I got a shot of bo-se from my vet and it does seem to be working. That or whatever was going on has worked itself out. He's walking with a more normal gait, with very little stiffness.

I'm glad he seems to be acting better. The info on FKS is handy to have. I hope he continues to improve.

Are you sure as to his age? I'm almost 60 and it sounds like the problems I have.

LOL - I'm not that old yet, but I walk kinda stove up, too!

I'm positive of his age. He was 6 weeks when I picked him and his brother up and they are both registered mini manchas.