Coughing Goat - Sorry for length!!

[katybug]

I read through many of the threads where a similar question was posed, but it never quite seemed to match my situation so I'm hoping that one of you wiser goat owners can help me. My boyfriend and I are fairly new to goats, although I've owned ridden and owned horses for about 20 years. Back in April we got a Saanen wether from the parents of a friend of ours. He was about 6 weeks old and was still being bottle-fed, but was happily eating hay and grain as well. After 2 weeks of being heartbroken by his cries every time we'd leave the barn, we added another wether, this time a Boer/Alpine cross about 5 months old, and they quickly became the best of friends.

My question is this: It seems like since we got him, the Saanen has had a cough. I'm not sure if he had it prior because we weren't around him that much before he came to our place, but I remember noticing it pretty soon after he came home. It's a pretty deep hack, but I haven't noticed any nasal discharge and he is a good eater and drinker so it doesn't seem to be slowing him down any. I really only notice it when we're messing with him and not really when they're out in the pasture. I wormed them both several times with the Safeguard for goats and that definitely made a difference in the Boer/Alpine (he was definitely wormy when he came in), but I haven't noticed any changes in the Saanen. I recently switched to ivermectin because I've read that the Safeguard has very limited efficacy in certain parts of the country. To me, their coats look a little rough, but I'm used to sleek and shiny horse coats so I could definitely be wrong!! They both have great attitudes and seem to be happy, well-adjusted goats, but I'm a bit of a worrier

They have a nice stall in the barn with an old milking stand that they hang out on and their is a door that goes into another stall that opens up into their 2 acre pasture. The pasture was completely grown over so we haven't been feeding them any hay this summer, but they've been getting about a cup of goat and sheep grain (which I've read isn't the best because of the lack of copper). They also have free choice loose goat minerals and plenty of water, which they've been drinking like champs.

I'm not sure what to do about this cough or what it could possibly be. At first I thought it was environmental so we didn't worry about it, but it has really persisted so I'm starting to wonder. He doesn't seem to have any wheezing or other respiratory issues and runs and plays without a problem. Any thoughts or ideas? Thank you!!!

Sorry about the length of this post!!!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Is he bringing up his cud to chew?

[Goat Servant]

The length of your post is just fine, lots of detailed info

Ivermectin should be getting lungworms if thats what it is.
My girls cough but the deep hacking would concern me too.

[katybug]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Is he bringing up his cud to chew?

Yes, I believe he is.

[Jay27]

When I got my buck, he coughed for several months... dry hack, no mucus or drainage. He came from a reputable breeder who does all the appropriate testing and vaccinations. The only difference I could see it that he kept his goats indoors at night, while mine are outside 24/7 (with shelters, of course). He also shows, so he could have random bugs floating around. At any rate, it took a couple months but the cough cleared on its own. If the goat seems otherwise healthy, I wouldn't worry about it.

[katybug]

Originally Posted by Goat Servant

The length of your post is just fine, lots of detailed info

Ivermectin should be getting lungworms if thats what it is, someone else will come along to help you out more.
My girls cough but the deep hacking would concern me too.

Thanks!!! I thought of lungworms, which is why I switched to the invermectin. I plan on treating fairly aggressively because I figure if it is lungworms, they might be at a more advanced stage now. He hadn't hardly any time outside before he came to our place and he was inside with us for at least a month before we started letting him out into the pasture at all. From what I've read it seems like that is something they would pick up outside, so I'm just not sure where to go from here. I figure a trip to the vet is going to be in order pretty soon. Luckily, we live in rural southern Illinois and there are some pretty good large animal/farm vets in the area.

[Alice In TX/MO]

If he's bringing up his cud with the cough, there is no problem. Coughing up cud is normal. He *has* to cough it up to rechew it. He would need no treatment.

Some goats are really noisy cud hackers.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Alice is probly right, he may just be coughing up cud. If you feel better though, I would worm him with the ivermectin. Ivermectin is given to goats orally even if the bottle sais injectable though.

I would also get them a loose cattle mineral instead of a goat mineral the next time you need to buy it. Usually a dark gray or black loose cattle mineral is better than the red colored minerals. The goat minerals don't usually have enough PPM's of copper even though they are for goats.
Also just one other suggestion & I really don't mean to be pushy & hope I don't sound that way but instead of a goat/sheep feed, if they were my wethers & I wanted to feed them some pelleted feed I would get a goat pellet that has the Ammonium Chloride in it, which would help to prevent any urinary stones they may get.

Oh and we really love to see goat pictures, babies, doe's, bucks or wethers, we all here just Love them all!
Welcome to the forum too by the way!

[Laverne]

I can only speak from experience with a goat I got that had a cough. The breeder said he'd get over it. After about 3 weeks of hearing him cough I gave him antibiotics and it totally cleared up.

[Cannon_Farms]

pneumonia can also be a cause which is what Laverne probably was dealing with hence why it cleared up with antibiotics. Its common in kids especially if they are kept in a barn type confinement where they are exposed to allot of ammonia, our out in a open field with no shelter.
It takes worming several times in a row to kill lung worms, because they do not live in the intestines or stomach you have to get enough chemical in them to make it well into the blood stream.
When you say you used Ivermectrin what dosage did you use?
I use the TSC dry pellet goat feed for my boys and their range minerals. I dont feed any other feeds from there and the minerals work well with my soil content here. Copper bolus can also benefit these guys as a natural dewormer.

[katybug]

Originally Posted by Backfourty,MI.

Alice is probly right, he may just be coughing up cud. If you feel better though, I would worm him with the ivermectin. Ivermectin is given to goats orally even if the bottle sais injectable though.

I would also get them a loose cattle mineral instead of a goat mineral the next time you need to buy it. Usually a dark gray or black loose cattle mineral is better than the red colored minerals. The goat minerals don't usually have enough PPM's of copper even though they are for goats.
Also just one other suggestion & I really don't mean to be pushy & hope I don't sound that way but instead of a goat/sheep feed, if they were my wethers & I wanted to feed them some pelleted feed I would get a goat pellet that has the Ammonium Chloride in it, which would help to prevent any urinary stones they may get.

Oh and we really love to see goat pictures, babies, doe's, bucks or wethers, we all here just Love them all!
Welcome to the forum too by the way!

Thanks!! I'll definitely buy the cattle mineral next time and I didn't realize until I started reading the forums that the Goat & Sheep feed wasn't the best for them so I plan to switch that too as soon as I need to buy another bag. They really don't get very much at this point, but I'm sure I'll increase it a little as we move toward winter. Has anyone used the Goat Balancer by Manna Pro? I saw it on their website and was curious about it.

I wormed them with the horse ivermectin at 3x their weight for the Alpine/Boer cross since he just needed to be wormed regularly and a little less than 4x for the Saanen, since he's got the cough. I was going to worm the Saanen again at the same rate at Day 7, which would be tomorrow. I was going to repeat at Day 14.

Pictures!! These are all from a couple months ago. I just realized I don't have anything completely current. Still cute though!!
The Saanen in my lap is name Aberforth for the Harry Potter character. He goes by Abs. The Alpine/Boer is named Totes McGoats, from the line in the movie "I Love You Man." My boyfriend's doing

From when Abs came home at the end of April. In his new stall that my boyfriend put together for him

My bf with the two goats and his ----zu

Eating limbs we had just cut down for them from our many trees. We had them in the back yard with us.

Eating is hard work. It's always good to rest in between meals

[katybug]

Oh dang, pics didn't work. I'll reload them.

[QoTL]

I don't want to alarm you here, but did want to throw out something just in case you can't stop the cough.

Coughing after exercise can also be a sign of congestive heart failure.

Here is a note from goat medicine, found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=lY-...0goats&f=false

The clinical signs of congestive heart failure are similar to those seen in other species. They include increased jugular pulse, jugular distension, moist cough, tachycardia, submandibular edema, ascites exercise intolerance, chronic weight loss, and possibly diarrhea.

I'm not saying this is what is wrong with your goat, but thought it was important to include in case you are seeing the other signs and symptoms listed as well.

[katybug]

Let's try this one more time...

[Alice In TX/MO]

You have to have the pics on a picture hosting website like Photobucket. Then copy the IMG url for that pic, and paste it here.

[katybug]

My boyfriend, Abs (the Saanen), Totes (the Boer/Alpine), and Momo, the shi-tzu






Before we brought him home. Abs with his mommy


In his new stall that my boyfriend made for him on the night we brought him home!!


Eating is hard!! Time for a rest!!


I don't know why they wouldn't work from picasa, but I've got it figure out now!!! Thanks for bearing with me!!

[katybug]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

You have to have the pics on a picture hosting website like Photobucket. Then copy the IMG url for that pic, and paste it here.

I have them on picasa, but I must be doing something wrong...hmmmm.

[katybug]

Originally Posted by QoTL

I don't want to alarm you here, but did want to throw out something just in case you can't stop the cough.

Coughing after exercise can also be a sign of congestive heart failure.

Here is a note from goat medicine, found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=lY-...0goats&f=false



I'm not saying this is what is wrong with your goat, but thought it was important to include in case you are seeing the other signs and symptoms listed as well.

Thankfully, I don't think I'm seeing any other symptoms of this, but it's definitely something to keep in the back of my mind. Thanks!!

[Minelson]

I love those pictures!! Abs and Totes are so cute

[QoTL]

Originally Posted by katybug

Thankfully, I don't think I'm seeing any other symptoms of this, but it's definitely something to keep in the back of my mind. Thanks!!

I agree- adorable!!

And very glad to hear there aren't other symptoms