Please help! Anemic doe

[tnd5]

I have a 7 year old doe that is severly anemic. She is wild and very hard to catch. However, she got knocked down, and simply laid there and let me walk up to her. She is now in an isolation stall. I wormed her with ivermectin and valbazen on Thursday and then again on Sunday. She is getting 3cc of Fortified Vitamin B complex SQ once a day and 6cc of Red Cell PO twice a day. She has fresh water every day, unlimited hay and medicated pellets. Her poop is very soft and she does not seem to have a temperature. However, she is very weak. She lays down and stands by herself, but does not move around much. I let her out by herself yesterday to graze and she did. When I was ready to pen her again, she just let us pick her up and put her back in the stall.

Does anyone have any more suggestions on what I can do to build her back up and increase her strength? She is (was) my herd queen, but just doesn't seem to care anymore.

Thank you in advance

[Milk n' Honey]

I am so sorry but once a goat is down, you have a serious situation. That is why it is so important to periodically herd all of your goats into the barn and check the gums and eyelids for pale color. I know it is a pain in the neck to do it and in our experience, it takes two of us to catch and handle the wild ones. My husband and I work with them together. I would be checking the other goats eyelids and gums now, since you know you have one goat with a problem. That doesn't mean any others will have a problem but just to be sure. Anyway, it sounds like you are doing everything right. Is that the correct doseage for Vitamin B? It sounded low but then you didn't say how big your doe is. I would say to just keep doing what you are doing. Keep in mind though, a goat that is down can bloat very quickly. It is many times the bloat that kills them. Keep her well hydrated. If you can get one of those IV bags of fluid from the vet that allows you to put a big fluid bubble under her skin (SQ), then I'd think about doing that, if she is down and weak. Also, keep moving her. It will help her rumen to keep functioning. She is hopefully still eating hay. If she is drinking, adding some electrolytes would help. You might even want to start her on Probiotics since bloat is a huge risk at this point. You need to keep her stable to give her body time to build the iron levels back up and that can take a couple of weeks. I hope you can get her back on her feet. It sounds like you are trying to do what you can. Good luck and many prayers to you.

[BlueHeronFarm]

I would also run a fecal to be sure those wormers are still working for you. You may have to reworm with a different formula, if not.

[tnd5]

Thank you for the replies. The doe weighs approximately 55 pounds. She is a pygmy. I am giving her 5cc of probios after every treatment. On the b complex dosage, I am also unsure of the dosage. I read somewhere that 3cc was appropriate. Should I increase that?

I do have the IV bags and have considered hydrating her. I will do that today. I have to be careful as I am alone and just had back surgery 2 months ago, but, of course, she comes first!

I am going to get a fecal on her, (I do my own), also, today. The other 13 goats are fine. Eyelids are bubble gum pink, etc. I will, however, do fecals on them, also.

Again, thank you. ANY and ALL suggestions are welcome!!!

[chris30523]

I had the same problem with one of my does. The weather here has been great for the worms!!! I also penned her to keep her from getting knocked over. The only thing I did different than you are is injectable pig Iron. I checked with the vet and she said to worm with all three classes of wormer,(can't get levamisole and it is dangerous) so I did the cydectin,valbazen.I also treated for lice so there was nothing pulling her down. She got 2cc inj of the pig iron every other day for a week,plus the red cell and B-combo and I treated her for cocci with sulmet.She got probios powder in her feed also.She is doing much better now and is out with the other goats. I have been checking eyelids when ever I can catch someone.

[mygoat]

In my most recent order to Jeffers I got a tube of oral pig iron paste to keep on hand for any reason. It's only like 4.35, so keeping it on hand is not a big deal.

For the Vitamin B complex, the dose is 5cc per 100 lbs, and you should try not to go too over on the dose. 3cc should be fine for a 55 lb goat... Just keep in mind that you can overdose a goat on the COMPLEX.

[tnd5]

OK, here is an update.....Cinnamin is doing a bit better. She ate about 1/2 cup of oats and a few wild grapevine leaves. She took a few drinks of the grape pedialyte and a few slurps of the koolaid flavored water. That is more than she has done since yesterday. My order for more LRS has been shipped and should be here in 1-2 days, meanwhile, I will drench her if need be. I am on my way to give her my last bag of 500cc LRS SQ. She has had her first cocci treatment and will get another 14 days of it. I did a fecal and found NO worm eggs, but a few cocci.......I will continue with the Fortified B complex at 3cc once a day, and 6cc Red Cell once a day, unless I should back off a little? I will continue to cut browse for her and try to encourage her to eat something. She is actually chewing her cud for a minute or two! Please continue to pray for her and if you have any more suggestions, PLEASE let me know. Just FYI....she is a pygmy, approximately 50-55 pounds....7 years old, not pregnant.

Thank you all and please keep the suggestions and advice coming!

[Liese]

How many days now have you been giving the B complex and red cell? I would think that you will need to continue the red cell until you see red-pink lids and gums. In some other post I saw a recom. for Geritol because it was accepted better by her goats and less struggle; more expensive I'm sure. Lixitonic went down pretty well here but I was able to split a bottle with someone else and it does have beef liver in it but I'm sure you aren't milking or planning to eat your little girl.

My Goats, How can you overdose on B's? Can you tell me where I can read about that? That surprises me since B's are water soluble.

[Patty0315]

First off why did you worm her once then again a few days later ? Ivermectin is for stomach worms . Valbazen will get tapes but hardly touches stomach worms anymore. You need to fecal before worming and then after to see if ivermectin is still working in your area . If not switch to cydectin. Do not worm several days apart. You tarket would be 10 days after the first worming then 10 days after the second. That way you get the worms as they start to mature and wipe them out.

I am not sure what you seen for coccidia but it is normal for adults to have some . I also do not know what you are using that you treated today and then for 14 days . That is a long treatment protocall . Excess medication only taxes an already week system. Most coccidia treatments last 5 days.

Patty

[tnd5]

OK, Patty.....I wormed this doe twice in a 3 day period, due to the fact that I did NOT want there to be an overload of dead worms for her body to try to evacuate. I realize that ivermectin is for stomach worms and valbazen only works on tapes. I did see some tapes, along with stomach worms in her fecal. Ivermectin is working fine in this area. I will worm her again on Friday, which will be 10 days. I know adult goats have a little coccidia in their systems, but there were more in the fecal than what I find acceptable in my goats. I will go with the 5 day treatment and than do another fecal on her. If there are still unacceptable amounts of coccidia, I will continue the treatment.

Thank you all for your assistance. Keep praying for her and for me to have the wisdom to help her.

[mygoat]

Originally Posted by Liese

My Goats, How can you overdose on B's? Can you tell me where I can read about that? That surprises me since B's are water soluble.

With the vitamin b COMPLEX you can overdose... at least on the 'complex' part. while it's hard to overdose in regular vitamin b, whatever extra is added to the vitamin b complex should not be overdosed. At least, that's what I've read on this board before!

[Liese]

Originally Posted by mygoat

With the vitamin b COMPLEX you can overdose... at least on the 'complex' part. while it's hard to overdose in regular vitamin b, whatever extra is added to the vitamin b complex should not be overdosed. At least, that's what I've read on this board before!

B Complex is simply a compostition of B's 1-12 so I don't follow you there, all B's are water soluble no? I am looking at my bottle of fortified B Complex, the label indicates that can be used daily no time limit.

[mygoat]

Looked on the label of the vitamin B, and I guess you're right, it can't be overdosed. It's just something I heard once here on the board, never really checked. I had only heard it about the complex.

[tnd5]

Just wanted to let you all know I lost Cinnamin this morning. She died peacefully with her head in my lap.

Thank you all for you help.

[BlueHeronFarm]

Oh, I'm so sorry.

[Liese]

Very, very sorry to read your news, but being with her to the end and her peaceful passing ... well, she's left good memories for you.

[fishhead]

I'm sorry to hear that she's gone. You did try.

It might be a good idea to take a careful look at the rest of the goats to make sure they are all okay.

[Blossomgapfarm]

I am so sorry.

[tnd5]

I just want to say, Thank you, everyone, for the kind words and prayers. Cinnamin & I tried so hard for a full week before she gave up. I spent the night with her in the stall the night before she died, so she was not alone. My heart hurts so bad.

Again, thank you. You will never know just how much you are appreciated.

[Liese]

Yeah, tnd5 I think we all know how much your heart hurts right now - it's very hard but hang in there, we're all here for you.