Rabies in Goats

Josie, I am so sorry you are going through this. I wish you the very best..for you and your animals.

In my "earlier" life we ran a 100 head cow/calf operation. We went out with the tractor to make sure everyone was up and at them. One cow was laying down and her head was kinda bobbin'. Ex hubby said..get down and get her up. I got down off the tractor and was within a few yards of her when she stood and charged. She chased me around the tractor and I finally got up in it before she nailed me.

We shot her. Wrong thing to do because ya almost have to shoot them in the head to get them down. I drove the truck..ex was in the back with the gun. When we called it in..we were supposed to bag her head and bleach anywhere she had been. Well...long story short..rendering did not come to pick her up so we burned her. Took bleach out to the kill spot and where she had been laying. I know I was paranoid for quite some time afterwards..but all praise to God..none of the others came down with it.

The grazing part..especially for cows and horses..is where I think they get nailed. I think it's something we all have in the back of our minds..but it's pretty horrid to think about.

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The ER doc my sister saw told her that it was possible that my goat contracted rabies from eating the feces of an infected animal…the CDC says otherwise.
From the CDC website:
What materials can spread rabies?
Rabies virus is transmitted through saliva and brain/nervous system tissue. Only these specific bodily excretions and tissues transmit rabies virus. If contact with either of these has occurred, the type of exposure should be evaluated to determine if postexposure prophylaxis is necessary.
Contact such as petting or handling an animal, or contact with blood, urine or feces does not constitute an exposure. No postexposure prophylaxis is needed in these situations.
Rabies virus becomes noninfectious when it dries out and when it is exposed to sunlight. Different environmental conditions affect the rate at which the virus becomes inactive, but in general, if the material containing the virus is dry, the virus can be considered noninfectious.

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Do not meddle with the forces of nature, for you are small, insignificant, and biodegradable

You know, if she hadn't been an expensive animal...I almost didn't take her to the vet. I almost just put her down at my place. Had I done that, I never would have known. Scary, isn't it? My vet thinks that happens a lot.
Something I forgot to add to my original story is that we had pulled blood work on her twice at the vets. First time at admission--nothing remarkable showed up. Second time two days later--the only thing that showed up as off was her liver function.

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Do not meddle with the forces of nature, for you are small, insignificant, and biodegradable

As far as rabies vaccines go, the horse vaccine is the cow vaccine, is the sheep vaccine. It's all Imrab 3.
2 cc is the standard dose for large animals.
It is also approved for cats,dogs, and ferrets at 1cc.

Thank you, MARYDVM.
I noticed that when my vet was out to booster/vaccinate everyone(horses, heifers, dogs, cat & goats) that the bottle was labeled for all--just different dosages.
No abortions in my does yet and we're going on 5 days post vaccination now. Hopefully, I'm in the clear on that one.

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Do not meddle with the forces of nature, for you are small, insignificant, and biodegradable

Josie..it IS scary. I agree that many animals probably suffer from rabies and are put down but it is never attributed to rabies. When I refer to "grazing"..I'm not thinking about feces, I am thinking that cows and horses put their faces down to where the smaller animal is. Therefore it is easy to get bitten and I'd bet that most bites from rabid animals are to the faces of the cows and horses.

Again..the very best to you.

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http://homesteadingexperienceswithbobby.blogspot.com/

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/10...y_tomfeld.html

Sherry, I bet you're right. I always vaccinated my horses for rabies, but never the cows. I can only imagine what facing a furious type rabid horse would mean. I think at that point, you would be in more immediate danger from the animal that the virus.
I was worried about my heifers because, even though they had their own hay bale, they would steal the hay the goats drop from their feeder. Even so, the lady at the health department determined that they are at low risk. She said "incidence of transmission of rabies in ruminants is low". Still. I am closely watching for any signs in all of my critters.

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Do not meddle with the forces of nature, for you are small, insignificant, and biodegradable

Josie- what a heart rending story and frightening.
I do think that, even if you were close to putting her down yourself, you have done everything perfectly as you could.
I'm afraid that I would have never suspected such a youngster to have had that much of a chance to get rabies so I would not have thought of it either.
Thank you for seeing that all of us get to hear your story.

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For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.

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Dorothy Kaye Collins

Forgot to call the vet today (it's been a Monday all day), but will make a reminder in my phone to call her first thing tomorrow.

Again, Josie: Thank you so much for alerting us to this possibility. Knowledge is power, and if you didn't tell us, how many more folks may have gone through the same thing - maybe w/o knowing what it is?

I appreciate your generosity. {hug}

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Je ne suis pas Alice

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