Star gazing?

[JR05]

I have a 3 mos old doeling boer. Starred to point her nose to the sky and just stand there. Seemed to being shaking or shivering so took temp. at the time it was 106.2. Loaded her up with pen-g for 5 days seemed to be alright. Then 2 days ago she started in again with the star gazing and trimbling but no temp. Gave her clostriduim perfinges c&d bactern-antitoxin 9cc 3x's now and goat and sheep serum. Still star gazing but not as bad. temp ok this morning. I do vaccinate all my animals but I have had one get the enterotoxemia anyway. Are these the symtems for it or am I dosing her with the wrong stuff? My vet is not available on wed and thurs because he does auctions and the other vets in area are stupid about goats. There is no diarrhea and she seems to eat/drink ok and will get up and run/walk when I go out there. Any suggestion?

jr05

[coso]

Look at this thread here http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthr...ighlight=Polio

Please read the whole thing.

[Faithful Heart]

Found this at: Diagnosing & Treating Listeriosis

# Polioencephalomalcia (Goat Polio) - a Thiamine (Vitamin B 1) deficiency. From improper feeding, particularly feeding too much grain and too little roughage. Symptoms - Excitability, "stargazing", uncoordinated staggering and/or weaving, drunkenness, circling, diarrhea, muscle tremor, head against wall, and apparent blindness. As it progresses, convulsions and high fever may occur, and if untreated, the animal generally dies within 24-72 hours.

# Treatment - Thiamine is the only effective therapy, and treatment can result in improvement in as little as two hours, if the disease is caught early enough. Dosage is related to body weight: Daily treatment for 5 days and then weekly as required.

and this:

# Listeriosis - caused by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, found in soil, water, plant litter, silage and goat's digestive tract. Brought on by feeding silage, sudden changes in kind of feed, parasitism, dramatic weather changes and advanced stages of pregnancy.

# Symptoms - Depression, decreased appetite, fever, leaning or stumbling or moving in one direction only, head pulled to flank with rigid neck, facial paralysis on one side, slack jaw, and drooling, abortions.

# Treatment - Administration of Procaine penicillin every six hours for three to five days, then daily for an additional seven days.

[JR05]

Thank you for all the information. As I suppected she has Listerosis. Finally got in touch with the vet on the run, he gave directions on treatment so we are doing that. She seems to still be a little moppy but she is eatting and getting around.
My next question to you because I forgot to ask the vet, Is there a vaccine I can give the rest as no one is showing signs of illness and it has been 10-14 days since this all started. What is the incubation period? I still have one doe that is prego and is due anyday is she still in danger should I go ahead and give her the shots just incase?

jr05

[Milk n' Honey]

jr05,
Sorry that you hace to go through this. We just lost a goat to this disease. It is terrible. Sounds like you may have gotten her in time. Everything we read about this is that it is not contagious. It is caused by some kind of feed change or stress usually. I guess moldy hay is the main cause. We gave very high doses of la200 along with fortified vitamin B for the thiamin. The biggest thing if she has stopped eating is to keep her hydrated. Everything that we read told us that it was a very slow recovery, so don't give up. If you got to her in time, there is a chance of saving her. Good luck

[Milk n' Honey]

As long as she is still on her feet, the chances are pretty good. If she goes down, you'll have a hard time saving her. The Thiamin shots are important, I've been told but you have to get that from the vet.

[Faithful Heart]

Has the vet seen the goat? Listeriosis and Goat Polio are very serious illnesses, needing intensive care for awhile. Each one needing different care. Did you read all of what it said in that link I'd posted for you? Also, you said this was a 3 month old. Read that it's not very common for Listeriosis to show up in kids (read below).

Listeriosis and Goat Polio

These are just small portions of what was on that link.

Unlike Goat Polio, Listeriosis is more common in adult animals than in kids. It is entirely possible to buy infected animals and introduce this disease into a previously uninfected herd, because some goats are carriers who never display any symptoms. Listeriosis is brought on by feeding silage, sudden changes in kind of feed, parasitism, dramatic weather changes, and advanced stages of pregnancy. The encephalitic form is most common, causing inflammation of the nerves in the goat's brain stem.

Goat Polio: Diagnosis is available via laboratory tests, but the producer does not have the luxury of the time that such tests take. Thiamine is the only effective therapy, and treatment can result in improvement in as little as two hours, if the disease is caught early enough. Thiamine is a veterinary prescription but very inexpensive. Producers should always keep thiamine on hand. Dosage is related to body weight; 10 mg/kg should be given every six hours for at least 24 hours. (One kilogram equals 2.2 pounds.) Initially, IV dosage is best, but SQ or IM can be used. Some producers even give thiamine orally after the initial treatment. If thiamine is unavailable but the producer has multiple B vitamins on hand, make sure the dosage is based upon the amount of thiamine in the multiple B vitamins. The key to overcoming Goat Polio is early diagnosis and treatment. Complete recovery is possible under such circumstances.

Listeriosis: Symptoms include depression, decreased appetite, fever, leaning or stumbling or moving in one direction only, head pulled to flank with rigid neck (similar to symptoms of tetanus), facial paralysis on one side, slack jaw, and drooling. Diarrhea is presently only in the strain of Listeriosis which causes abortions and pregnancy toxemia. Listeriosis can be mistaken for rabies. Immediate treatment is critical. There is no time to waste with Listeriosis. Recovery is more "iffy" than with Goat Polio. The exact manner in which both Listeriosis and Goat Polio affect the goat is not well understood at this time. Treatment involves administration of high doses of procaine penicillin every six hours for three to five days, then daily for an additional seven days. Forty-thousand IU per kg of body weight of procaine penicillin is needed to cross the blood brain barrier and put sufficient amounts of the antibiotic into the tissue of the goat's central nervous system. Remember that one kilogram (kg) equals 2.2 pounds.

I personally wouldn't want to mess around with the wrong treatment without having the vet test the goat to find out which it is for sure.

[Milk n' Honey]

Faithful Heart is right. In kids, it is usually Polio. In fact, it seems Listeriosis isn't actually as prevelant. That doesn't mean is can't be Listeriosis though. I would want to know for sure. It seems that I read somewhere that there isn't any fever with Polio but there is with Listerosis. You may want to google "goat Polio" and check on that though. Also, on hot days, a goat's temp can raise a degree or two and it isn't considered fever so be aware of that. We just got lucky on our doe, I guess. She died with Listerisos but she was a yearling doe and not a kid. You better hope it is Polio b/c it is much easier to treat. Like Faithful Heart though, I agree that you should make sure you are treating the correct disease. The treatments are not the same and it will affect your success. Good luck to you!!

[JR05]

The kid is up and running around. She is eatting and drinking water when I look in on her. As to the polio- she only had the "star-gazing' system and none of the others. She did run a high fever several days. The vet put her on the thimaine as a precausion and the LA200 shots. Suggested the banamine for the swelling (brain) and fever. She is not staggering around and is very quick to run away when she sees me coming with that big nasty needle! Yes I hope I caught it soon enough too. My hubby is always saying Iam paranoid around the goats but I tend to catch most things before they get too bad. Thanks for your advice and I will keep you updated. We have had the listeriosis before many years ago,2 prego does aborted then, no one else got sick.With this weather the way it has been so hot then cold nights its a wander we all don't have more sick animals.

jr05