lost one doe, now another looks "off"

[MamaDee]

Hi!

Right now I'm really worried. We lost one doe last week to, I believed, polio. She had never really eaten her hay and we figured it was a thiamin deficiency. We got it too late and lost her. We first did general helping (baking soda, electrolyte water, yogurt). Then we dewormed her. When that didn't help we had researched enough to think it was polio. The vet said to watch the others in case that's not what it was. He agreed that it did sound like polio, however. She had all the symptoms.

Tonight one of the other does looks a bit "off". She doesn't look like Mary when we first noticed she was sick, though. It could be she is just cold and isn't happy about that. But.......I don't want to lose another doe. And the other doe looks just fine.

Here are her symptoms:

She is shivering more than the other doe--not constantly, but noticeable. Now the weather has been frigid the last couple of weeks and we've kept the barn closed to keep the wind out but it's still colder than they're used to.

She is sort of shaking her head now and then (kind of tilting it sideways so her ears flag up on down on the sides of her head)

Her tail is not up all the time now. It's not down between her legs, but it's hanging lower than usual.

She is not running to me like the other doe....just walking slow. She seems less stable.

She ate dinner, but not with her usual zeal.

She seems to see fine and her eyes are pink. Her gums are pink. She is not going to one side. Have not seen diarrhea.

We have kept the baking soda in the trough. Tonight we gave her .6 of a cc of thiamin, just in case--since we had some left from Mary.

Now if Mary died of polio it shouldn't be contagious. Unless it came from the water supply, which it shouldn't since we have city water. Their hay is fine.

Looking around for some common denominator all I can come up with is bedding. Since weather has turned cold and rainy (and last week ice and snow covered the ground) the barn floor is damp. We have this really fine rock called screenings for the floor with straw on top. The screenings pack down and make a nice floor. But we noticed tonight that around the edges of the pen it is damp. I guess because there is snow all around the barn the rock is like a wick drawing moisture in. The middle is dry as is where they sleep with straw piled up in a corner. I don't know if damp straw can cause some horrible thing, but it's all I can think of. We didn't have snow when Mary got sick, but it had turned cold.

I'm so scared this is starting all over again. Any ideas? What should I do? I am hoping to go down in the morning and see improvement from the thiamin, but that's what I said last time.

Dee

[DocM]

Is she running a temp? Put a blanket on her, if you have one, or sweatshirt or something.
Is she bred? How old is she?

I'd worry if she weren't eating. Since she ate, she's probably just a little "off", but go take her temp anyway. Goats have bad days too.

I would suspect pneumonia from my experience. Damp weather with temp variations is prime pneumonia weather. I'd let a vet look at her. I had 4 pygmys get it early one winter with listlessness, off their feed somewhat, shivering. She could be running a temperature with the shivering.

[MamaDee]

Take her temperature. Duh. Why didn't I do that when I was down there. I was looking her over every which way and totally forgot that. I'll try a sweater. How the heck do you do that? LOL!

I'm just really scared b/c we lost a doe already. I thought I knew why, but now I'm not so sure.

Oh, and she's 8 months old, not bred.

Dee

[DocM]

I wouldn't suspect pneumonia if she's eating.

Mine were eating with pneumonia, but not as interested as usual in their food. They were slow to come when I called them and sort of picked at their food. 3 of them shivered quite a bit, but the 4th didn't at all, she was just listless.

[dezeeuwgoats]

Pneumonia can kill a goat very quickly. The worst time of year here is strangely in August - when we can get rapid drops/rises in temperatures of some 30/40 degrees within a few hours due to monsoons.

I hope you find out what is going on. I'd treat with b-complex, and probios if you have them - can't hurt, while you are waiting to see what's going on.... The goat coat too.

Niki

[MamaDee]

Well, this morning Lilly looks better, I think. Her tail wasn't so droopy and she wagged it when I petted her. She even had it up at times. She also walked faster to me. We gave her another .6 cc of thiamine and she didn't like that at all! She fought and ran around complaining shaking her head after her shot. Mary never did that. Lilly is peppier for sure than Mary ever was when she was sick.

I noticed the other doe, Lightning shiver a bit, too. So maybe they're just cold. But Lilly sure looks better than last night. I don't know if it's the thiamine helping or she was just off. We'll watch her close. I guess we should continue the thiamine? Every 6 hours? Until she seems back to normal?

Thanks all,

Dee

[DocM]

When I have a goat that looks "off" or isn't acting right, as a preventative, I give them a boost of b complex and some probios. Sometimes it's nothing - just like people. I'm glad she's better.

[MamaDee]

Tonight Lilly is even better. So....either she was starting with the polio or she was just off. I think I'll do two .6 cc doses of thiamine tomorrow just in case. She was almost back to normal tonight. Her tail isn't quite as "up" as the other doe but otherwise she's running around looking peppy again.

I don't know why both would have gotten polio. Mary's eating (or should I say not eating) of hay was obvious. I don't know why Lilly would have the same thing happen. Unless it just took the lack of fresh cuttings from outside to catch up with her. My boys cut them stuff to eat all summer....but then of course that stopped awhile ago. Lilly ate the hay better than Mary so maybe she was alright longer.

Anyway I plan to keep my supply of thiamine up and get some more b-complex, too.

Thanks,

Dee