doeling - just not feeling well

[Tallabred]

Goldie is 4 1/2 months old and still nursing. I have had the herd for a month and a week ago noticed that Goldie was not as lively as usual, then she was not nursing. This is the doeling that would not come up to me. I now think that the lady I bought her from never caught her - so she has never had anything. I caught her and gave her 2cc of Cydectin. She then got the runs. While I waited 8 hours for the vet to call me back. . .my neighbor who has 40 pet goats gave me SMTZ to give her 1/2 tablet - twice a day. The vet said that it sounded like she was having problems with cocci and to keep giving her the SMTZ. I have given her probios and nutradrench but she is just not eating well. She nibbles, I have seen her nurse but she is SOOO thin.

I weighted her and she was 42 lbs. I am by myself so I could not take her temp but she does not feel hot to me. ( Compared her to my friendly doeling)

I have not seen her poop for days now so I can not take a sample in.

I need to get all 5 caught up on but I guess that I am on my own since the vet did not even know what CL and CAE were. I hate to see Goldie so quiet and skinny. Any suggestions?

[Minelson]

I would suggest a shot of Vitamin B. May get her appetite going...Sorry I'm not familiar with SMTZ. I would keep up with the Probios.

[crazygoatgal]

Definitely Vit. B and what is SMTZ?

[fishhead]

It helped to tame down my wild boer cross wether to put a collar on him and then fasten a short lead from the collar to a wall where I could hold him to work on his hooves. He fought it the first few times but soon got so that when I would take the collar off he would just stand there and let me brush him.

What kind of minerals do your goats get? Baking soda? Feed?

Have you pinched her skin to check for dehydration?

[Tallabred]

Oops - It is SMZT - sulfamethoxazole(I think - I googled it).

I saw that TSC had B complex injectable - is that what I should inject or can you give it orally. My husband gets home tomorrow so I will have someone to help me.

Will the B complex tablets from Walmart do anything for her?

[crazygoatgal]

I inject it sub-q and unfortunately, I can't help with the pill thing.

[Minelson]

Have you looked at this? http://fiascofarm.com/goats/medications.htm#vit

[SignofWater]

I just went through this with a 13 week old doeling. Cocci is pretty nasty. If caught in time and treated, theres a chance she'll pull out of it. But, most of the time kids die from Cocci. They need 3 to 6 cc of Albon. to be tubed fed to her. also make sure she is getting at least a liter of Electrolyres. Probios for her stomach, to help it get moving again. Check her gums. If they are still bright pink or pink she still getting good blood flow. If they are pale, she will need a blood transfusion. Cocci isn't a worm . so worming her wouldn't help for Cocci. Howevr spending three days in my bathroom with the little doeling. Did everything out vet said to do. We lost her. I'm sorry for saying about this, just out right. I hope your little one pulls through for you. Lets us all know how she is doing.

Best of luck!
Cheryl

[fishhead]

You can also treat it with oral sulmet that can be bought over the counter. Add a bit of sugar and she won't fight you as much.

Have you checked for dehydration?

[Tallabred]

Originally Posted by Minelson

Have you looked at this? http://fiascofarm.com/goats/medications.htm#vit

I had looked at that but had forgotten that it had said that the B complex could be given orally - Thanks for getting me to look at it again.

I had initially wormed her because I thought that she had a worm overload - looked weak/getting thin. Then she got the runs so I thought cocci. I caught it early - no blood in her poop - and she went back to a firmer stool immediately. I have 3 more days of the SMZT and she is back to nursing. She is also eating the baking soda and nibbling on peanut hay and some pine needles.

I am trying to not stress her as much as possible - other than catching her 4-5 times a day to put a syringe full of something in her mouth.

I will go to TSC and pick up the B complex injectable. How much should I give her?

[fishhead]

That's good news. I hope she gets better soon.

[Tallabred]

I dissolved the B complex pill that I had and mixed it with some maple syrup. While I was giving this to her my other doeling was pooping. In the poop were dead white worms less than a 1/2 inch long. After I had given cydectin to Goldie on the 9th I decided that I had to tackle the problem of my does coughing- lung worms? So I bought Ivomec plus and gave that to everyone on the 14th. I have not found worms in the does poop but the coughing has disappeared in one doe and drastically reduced in the other.

I have tried to find pictures of adult worms but have not been successful.

The good news is that Goldie went to nurse right after I gave her the B complex and then was out chewing on bark. My neighbor thinks that I should stop the SMZT - it might be decreasing her appetite. She is SOOO thin. She has no back up for anything else to go wrong.

Thank you for the suggestions - Thoroughbred foals are easier!

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Thoroughbred foals are easier
..............

I now think that the lady I bought her from never caught her - so she has never had anything.
......................

I was raised on a horse farm, my mother had as many if not more prevention things she did for mares and foals than we do for our does and goatlings. This kid had nothing done to her for 4.5 months, if you did that to a foal she would have a 50/50 chance of surviving and certainly not if she was confined in too small of area.

There is simply management, worming you have to do when you purchase stock or you will loose some. If you don't put kids stressed from the move on prevention for worms and cocci you will loose some more. Some people only treat goats when ill, it's stressfull and it usually ends up ruining the kids, they certainly can't grow to their potential. So some form of prevention management for your herd is essential. Vicki

[Tallabred]

"This kid had nothing done to her for 4.5 months, if you did that to a foal she would have a 50/50 chance of surviving" .........As long as a mare has had her shots prior to foaling there is not much to do to a foal that first 4.5 months - it is scary that you would consider it a 50/50 chance without whatever your mother did. I have never had to give a horse copper, B complex, selenium(sp) or baking soda just so that it would survive. Worming with horses is simple. They are MUCH easier than goats!


"some form of prevention management for your herd is essential"..........Duh - I just got them after being told that they had everything that they needed by a board member of the Florida Dairy Goat Assoc. I am new so I thought that it was a good start. I bought the whole herd just to reduce the stress.


I have valued your advice but when I see that you have posted on a thread I think "Oh no - who is Vicki going to slam today" I have searched the other threads looking for answers on how to help my doeling - trying not to post -just because enough things are going wrong that I didn't want to be your subject rant of the day. I see on other threads that once you post the OP frequently disappears.

I have appreciated the advice that I have received on this thread from the other posters and was hoping that I would have received advise from the goat guru instead of just a slam.

Cathy Westbrook

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

I now think that the lady I bought her from never caught her - so she has never had anything.
.........................................

Sorry Cathy that you took my post that way. You live in the south and if you have read here very long at all you know how much harder it is to raise stock in the south. Not having any prevention meds at all, a kid doesn't have much of a chance of surviving. No matter who you buy stock from, prevention needs to be done as you have now found out.

I don't think worming or giving cocci meds is hard to do for goats.

My atempt to help you understand that since you have purchased the group, the kids in the group at least needed some sort of management, like you would do for your horses, was all I was trying to say. Vicki

[Tallabred]

I did check her for dehydration and her skin pops right back. Her eyes and gums have a better color to them too. I gave her the B Complex twice today and she seems to be looking perkier and is harder to catch.

My husband gets home tomorrow (he has been gone since the 6th) so I will have another set of hands to help me.

[susanne]

could the white worms you have seen be segments of tapeworms?
ivermectin, sulfas and cydectin are not helping with that but valbazen does.
tapes can kill kids if they have too many as the tapes block the intestine and can lead to entero.
good to hear she is doing better

sounds like you have lots of work to do to tame them down. )

[ozark_jewels]

Sounds like she does have tapes. Reccomended Valbazen dosage for tapes is 1 cc per ten lbs.