Goat Diarrhea help

[rabbitpatch]

Charlie, my little boer buckling, has diarrhea and at this point I'm stumped as to what else to do. He is currently 5 months old and my doe is 7 months old. Here's what I've tried so far...

--They were both due for deworming anyway, so I did that first thing. I used SafeGuard paste and dosed it at twice their body weight.

--Charlie was running a low-grade fever, so I started him on a round of Penicillin, which was completed yesterday. He no longer has a fever.

--I have given him electrolytes, but he seems to be drinking as much water as usual on his own so I haven't forced the electrolytes on him. He's not too keen on me forcing them down his throat.

--I have been giving ProBios daily, along with a b-complex paste that includes thiamine. Charlie seems to like the taste of both and takes it willingly, so I know he's getting the full dose of both of these.

--I started him on Corid - today is day 3 of the 5 day treatment round that is recommended.

He is still acting absolutely normal. He eats as much as Molly, he runs and plays with her in the pasture, he attacks me for treats, etc. His diarrhea is absolutely the ONLY clue that anything is wrong with him. I've mentioned before that I'm new at this....these are the first two young goats I've ever had so I'm learning as I go. I'm at a total loss as to what else I should be doing for Charlie and would love some advice.

[southerngurl]

What are they eating?

Safeguard doesn't work in many places. What do his eyelids look like? What has he been wormed with in the past and when?

What dosage on the Corid?

How long has he had it?

[rabbitpatch]

They are eating all the green pasture they want, supplemented with hay just for variety. Until this started, they both looked like they were pregnant with watermelons, so I was only feeding enough grain to mix with their minerals. Charlie has lost weight now obviously, but Molly still looks the same as ever - fat and sassy.

His eyelids were almost white but they are starting to get a little color back. Still not pink like Molly's are though. They were dewormed with ivermectin the last time, most recently was 2 months ago.

The Fiasco Farms website said to dose Corid as directed on label, so that's what I'm doing.

He's had the diarrhea for about a week now. I know that's a terribly long time but, like I said, he was (and still is) acting perfectly normal so I wasn't worried until the last day or so, since it's obvious that nothing is working.

[southerngurl]

Ivermectin is another wormer that is ineffective in many areas. I would worm with a moxidectin wormer. You can use quest horse wormer. You need to mix it up though, because sometimes all the meds are in one end of the tube and you can over or under dose. You give 1 cc per 100 lbs of quest wormer.

Your dose on the Corid is incorrect and ineffective. The fiasco farm people don't (or didn't don't know if they still have goats) use corid, they used herbs so probably had no experience with it. Sorry, but you'll need to give much more. Here is a chart: http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/topic,65.0.html .

The second post by Vicki has all the dosages laid out (prevention and treatment are the same for corid).

Yes, that is undiluted. You can mix with some fruit juice concentrate and it tastes much much better to them. They hate it straight, but if you have nothing to mix it with, give it anyway tonight. Can also use honey etc, but I find they like the apple juice concentrate better.

So most likely your problem is parasitic. Sorry, I know you were doing what you thought would take care of it, but have been given bad info.

[southerngurl]

Also, it's best if you can get away from worming on a schedule. Worm either from fecals, or in a large meat herd you might just go with famacha. Worming on schedule wastes wormer, gives your goats more chems than they have to have and also increases worm resistance to wormers.

[rabbitpatch]

On the dewormer, should I give according to what he normally weighs, or according to his current weight? He's lost weight because of this and I'm guessing him to be around 30lbs right now. Also, if the safeguard is ineffective, obviously it didn't get rid of the worms, but will there be a chemical overload if I use the Quest this soon after giving the safeguard?

Thanks for the info on the Corid...I'll change what I'm doing with that and hopefully it will help him soon.

[rabbitpatch]

Originally Posted by southerngurl

Also, it's best if you can get away from worming on a schedule. Worm either from fecals, or in a large meat herd you might just go with famacha. Worming on schedule wastes wormer, gives your goats more chems than they have to have and also increases worm resistance to wormers.

What is famacha?

I only have the two goats and am planning to get a microscope to do my own fecals...just don't have one yet.

[rabbitpatch]

Okay, tell me if I'm reading the corid dosing correctly.

At 30 lbs, Charlie would need 7.5cc's of it at full strength, straight out of the bottle - right?

Since he has had the low dose for 3 days already, should I just start over and still do the full strength for 5 days, or ???

[southerngurl]

Yes, you are right 7.5 cc's of straight corid for a 30 lb goat. Pretty sure you are going to need to start today as day one. If I remember right the dose on the corid bottle is very low.

[Backfourty,MI.]

You won't hurt him giving him the corid after giving the safeguard. I'm wondering if it's coccidious(sp?) what about the little doeling, did she ever get her cocci treatment before or should you do the corid treatment for her too.
If his eye lids are white I would guess he has a heavy worm load.
I sure hope the corid kicks in soon.
I would put there loose mineral in a place that it will stay dry & let them get it when ever they want any. I wouldn't give him any grain, especially while he has the runny poo. Also make sure they have hay all the time, that's like wood for our heat stove, it keep's there rumens working good & they will not over eat hay or get fat eating it.
Best of luck with the little guys, they are addictive for sure.
Also welcome to the goat forum!

[rabbitpatch]

Originally Posted by Backfourty,MI.

You won't hurt him giving him the corid after giving the safeguard. I'm wondering if it's coccidious(sp?) what about the little doeling, did she ever get her cocci treatment before or should you do the corid treatment for her too.
If his eye lids are white I would guess he has a heavy worm load.
I sure hope the corid kicks in soon.
I would put there loose mineral in a place that it will stay dry & let them get it when ever they want any. I wouldn't give him any grain, especially while he has the runny poo. Also make sure they have hay all the time, that's like wood for our heat stove, it keep's there rumens working good & they will not over eat hay or get fat eating it.
Best of luck with the little guys, they are addictive for sure.
Also welcome to the goat forum!

Sorry if I was confusing...my question was if it's okay to give the Quest dewormer so soon after giving the SafeGuard.

As for my doe, I have only had her a little over 2 months. I have never treated her for cocci - but then she has not had symptoms.

[Backfourty,MI.]

yes you can still give the Quest wormer too, You might want to do the doeling too since they are running together & you don't know if she's had a cocci preventative before or not. Just to be safe.

You might want to try the little buckling on some pepto bismol & see if you can get the runny stuff to stop or at least slow down. Thank goodness he's still dinking alot, maybe he won't get dehydrated at least.

[rabbitpatch]

How much pepto is an appropriate dose? I tried giving him some a couple of days ago but wasn't sure on the right dose and probably was not giving anywhere near enough. He will eat the pepto tablets like candy....the box says 2 tablets is the proper dose for an adult human.

For the doeling, should I dose her the same as the treatment dose, or a bit less as a preventative? She weighs close to 50lbs, so the treatment dose would be 12.5cc's...

[SLD Farm]

Take a fecal sample to the vet before you push any more chemicals. That way you will know what you are dealing with and aren't using what you don't need to. It might not be worms and you are worming unnecessarily.
I would definately go with pepto now. A week is too long and there is a high chance he is dehydrated even with drinking water. He is losing more than water. Think, when people have diarrhea they lose potassium and other minerals. The same with goats. Mix the electrolytes in with his water at least. I have had luck with giving pepto at 20-30cc every 4-6 hrs until you see improvement.
The white eye lids show anemia. You can give him a dose of iron. Red cell is good if you can get it. Only needs a 1/2cc with one so little. I also use iron tablets that I get from the Dollar Store. Just crush one up and put it on his feed.
Good luck!

[southerngurl]

If you want to wait for a fecal for the cydectin, at least start the corid today. He needs it anyway.

[Backfourty,MI.]

A fecal at the vet is definately a good idea but if the 2 never had any cocci preventative they both still need that I would think. I would give it to them if I had just bought 2 young babies. Can you call the breeder you got them & ask if the doeling or little buck ever had anything for cocci before?

I was thinking more like 10 cc of the pepto about every 4-6 hours the first day & see if that helps. I have never given as much as SLD Farm says above but that doesn't mean there not right.

[goatkid]

If the Corid doesn't do the job and the fecal says it's cocci, liquid sulfa should work. There is also a product out there called Diarsanyl that helps stop diarreah.It is given an hour after the oral cocci meds. The dose is 5cc for a kid.

[rabbitpatch]

In case the pepto doesn't work, can you tell me where to find this Diarsanyl? Is that the brand name?

[betsy h.]

I live near Gatlinburg. PLEASE Read your private messages!

[mommatoseven]

I would take him off pasture, and leave him on hay with probiotics sprinkled over it. Too many fresh greens (pasture) can cause diarrhea just like too many grains. That usually happens in younger goats, but it is a possibility. You could also give him yogurt if he will lick it up or acidophilis tablets crushed over hay to go with the other probios.

I use ivomec 1% at 4cc per hundred pounds for caprine. In dogs it is 1cc per hundred pound for heartworm prevention, but higher in caprine because the parasites have become so resistent.

Bottle fed babies often have diarrhea from too much milk, but that is in younger babies too.