Goat with no hair, what to do?

[mesa123]

I have an older doe. Don't know age or breed, she was a rescue. We think she was a kid's 4-H goat. We've had her for about five years.

Winter of 2009/2010, she lost some weight and it took me a few weeks of individual feeding indoors for her to bounce back. She also lost a little bit of hair that spring due to what I thought was excessive itching. She was wormed and dusted with a livestock powder and everything was back to normal. She did great all through the summer, fall and even through the winter.

However, early this spring, she started to loose her winter coat in huge clumps and her weight dropped dramatically again. Over the past month, she's eaten a 50 lb bag of Noble Goat, has gotten daily rations of Manna-Pro Goat Mineral and Manna-Pro Goat Balancer. She was also wormed with oral SafeGuard. Her weight is actually starting to come back, but her hair is all gone, not just her thick winter coat, but all her hair. She can't go outside without hair (sunburn), so she's still inside. She gets hay, but being inside all the time, she doesn't get any browsing. If she doesn't get better, I'm thinking of having her put down next time the vet it out. I lost my other goat to cancer about a month ago, and I'm feeling discouraged. I honestly don't know what else to do. Also of note, I saw what I took to be a CL cyst on her face two weeks ago. It had already burst, so I let it drain and its gone now (further reason for her to be isolated indoors). She's also had a chronic cough for as long as I've had her. Any suggestions?

[fishhead]

My goats had a chronic itch and the worst case of flakey skin I've ever seen in them so I put some Ivermectin pour-on on them and the itch is nearly gone.

[Tallabred]

I would deworm her with ivermectin plus - if she has lung worms that would take care of her cough. I would also give her sunflower seeds, BOSS.

But if you really think that it is CL - I would put her down and concentrate my efforts on the others. So sorry for your problems, farming can suck sometimes.

[Creamers]

The kind thing would be to put her down. If it was CL, which is likely was, if you have others goats - it is too late to protect them, but I take it she is a pet and perhaps if you have others they are only pets, too. . .
I am sorry she isn't doing so poorly - I am not sure what the problem is, but it might be related to CL, she might have CAE, too.
Safeguard is almost always a poor choice for worming. Try Ivomec - Plus, Zimectrin Gold, Cydectin or Valbazen. . .
But at this point, it sounds like - in this condition - the poor old gal would be best served by a dignified end.

[mesa123]

To answer your question, yes she is a pet. I also have her two kids which nursed off her before I learned about CAE and CL, so its too late to protect them from that now. But they're just pets too and they'll never leave the farm to risk infecting anyone else. Thankfully, the kids haven't shown any symptoms so far and are fat and happy, and they're pushing four years old.

As far as I can tell, she's not in any pain. She still acts like her normal self. She's always happy to see me and chows down on her food. She has the company of a pony in the stall next to her. She just looks really freakish. I've just never seen a hairless goat before and it can be rather off-putting.

But, yeah, the "she needs to be put down" thought keeps running through my head, so thanks for letting me know I would not be doing her an injustice by pursuing that. The injustice would be keeping her in a stall for the rest of her life. Losing two goats within months of each other is going to be hard though.

[PrettyPaisley]

I'm sorry. There are definitely downsides to loving a pet so much.

[TroutRiver]

I think it was on here that I was told Safeguard is no good for goats...?

Not sure what to suggest, except that I hope you figure it out! I can kind of relate... I have a doe who is 4 years old and looks and acts like she could be 10, has been thin and had perpetual skin problems since I got her almost a year ago. have not been able to get to the bottom of it and it is frustrating. Good luck! It will be interesting to see what others have to say... sorry I can't be more help!

[Jcran]

Hold yer happy horses! We had an angora cross doe who would literally "blow her coat" yearly and sometimes all the way to NAKED! She was well fed, wormed regularly, and had access to goat minerals. We would put an inexpensive fleece vest on her and zip it up the back. She would wear it for a month or two until her coat started to come back in and she would be fine.

[Jcran]

Oops; just read on about CL; THAT is a reason to put her down. I test twice a year and would NOT want CL on my place. I am SO sorry.

[Creamers]

I'm very sorry - if she is beloved pet and isn't in pain - maybe find something to put on her to keep her from being sunburned and worm her with one of the above suggested wormers and see what happens.

[Minelson]

So sorry you are going through this. Frankie lost tons of hair this year. He had very large bold spots all over. Looked like carp. I first used Aloe Vera because he got sunburned bad. When that got cleared up I started using http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.h...8-16ddc2f2cb37
My good friend said I should try it cuz it grows hair back at super sonic rate. Get the Vet Formula. I only paid $31 from the vet so shop around for price if you go this route.
Frankie is looking much better and the hair is growing in fast. The sunburn was the worse part and he hated me slathering him with sunscreen every morning...and I was mortified with the amont of hair left on my hands after rubbing it on. It was terrible!!
After all the research I decided to add zinc to his diet. I also treated him aggressivly for mites. The skin scraping came back negative but I didn't go deep enough I'm sure because of the sunburn. What a mess. I am sorry for you hugs!