Wether with no appetite

AuntKitty · #1 03/21/13, 03:45 PM

I have a 5 year old Nubian wether who, until recently, was a chow hound. Now he sniffs at his feed (alfalfa pellets, some grain, few BOSS, peanut hay, good coastal hay) and walks away to stand by himself in the barn while the others eat. He has always shoved his way in to eat just like the others, but now almost acts like he is afraid to get into the mix. No one is butting him that I can see, and he is bigger even than my buck so he has never been intimidated - he just seems to have lost interest. His famacha is ok for him and I dropped off a sample to the vet for a fecal to see what his wormload is before I worm him. I am switching over from Ivermectin to Cydectin and this will be his first round of Cydectin. We had a dry winter and then a foot of rain last month and I am sure there was a massive worm bloom in the pasture, so I am 99% sure his problem is worms, but its just so weird how he goes off on his own like he's not worthy to be with the herd. Temp is normal, no scours, berries a little clumpy but not bad, walks fine, pees & poops fine, no straining to urinate.

Once I get the fecal results I will worm with Cydectin, give Red Cell & Fortified B Complex and cooper bolus. I have been giving him Replamin but maybe he needs a copper boost as he has lost some hair on the underside of his tail and around his anus. That is strange too as his coat is shiny and black and the hair on his topline has a wavy curl that looks like a jeri curl. I have been threatening to rename him "Billy D Williams"

Does anyone have any other ideas? TIA

Kitty

Alice In TX/MO · #2 03/21/13, 03:53 PM

I would worry about urinary calculi. Watch him long enough to make sure he is peeing freely.

The other thing happening this spring is pneumonia.

AuntKitty · #3 03/21/13, 04:01 PM

Thanks Alice. No coughing, peeing freely.

Minelson · #4 03/21/13, 04:10 PM

Maybe check his mouth....

Nancy_in_GA · #5 03/21/13, 04:13 PM

We had one behave just like that this fall. It turned out to be rumen acidosis (long story which I'll post one day when I get the details down).

Try giving him baking soda.

Not saying that's what's wrong with yours, but it can't hurt.

And see if you can get his body temperature. Ours had a low temp.

MDKatie · #6 03/21/13, 04:19 PM

Have you checked his temp?

**mygoat** · #7 03/21/13, 07:15 PM

Is he eating hay?

yarrow · #8 03/21/13, 07:34 PM

I was wondering about a mild case of acidosis too... here I would take his temp.. if it were normal..I would give him my 3 big B's.. (baking soda, banamine & B12).. fixes up a lot of those *not sure exactly what's going on* cases

susie, mo ozarks

AuntKitty · #9 03/21/13, 07:36 PM

Temp is 102.9, within a point or 2 of others in the herd. I have not seen him eat hay. I've even tempted him with peanut hay and he acts all excited but then just sniffs it and walks away. He grazes in the pasture though. Tonight he ate a peanut butter cracker (I normally put peanut butter on the end of the syringe when I give wormer so I am trying to prime his appetite for it so I can get that big dose of Cydectin down before he catches on) and gobbled down some pine from a fresh picked branch. He ate about 2 mouthfuls of the pine needles and then walked away to stand by himself when the rest of the herd came rushing over. I am starting to think he is being bullied by someone but I just haven't seen it. We'll see what the fecal says and this weekend I am moving the buck and other wether (who has horns) to their summer pasture so maybe the separation will bring Homer around. He isn't even playing with the babies and normally he is crazy in love with them.

AuntKitty · #10 03/21/13, 07:43 PM

I'll try the baking soda - didn't even think about that but the dish was empty, so maybe that's it.

Thanks everyone!

Kitty

Minelson · #11 03/21/13, 08:07 PM

Check his mouth too...

**mygoat** · #12 03/21/13, 08:28 PM

Temp is still pretty normal.

With nothing else to go on, I'd say acidosis.

cut grain - permanently. He doesn't need it.

Besides a few treats, hay only. My wether is obese on a grass hay diet.

Tallabred · #13 03/21/13, 09:22 PM

OH NO Kitty!! Not Homer! Can't really add anything here. I agree on the 3 B's. The B complex helps in building the appetite. If he will eat raisins that gives some sweetness to him.

If you need anything give me a call.

AuntKitty · #14 03/22/13, 09:01 AM

Thanks Cathy. I saw him eat baking soda last night and the dish was empty this morning so I added more. Normally they have it free choice but someone had pooped in it earlier this week and it started to rain hard as I was cleaning the dish and I went in the house, so naturally I forgot to refill it. It really can be the simple things with goats, can't it? He ate some hay while I was out there before I left for work so hopefully that was it.

I thought about something in his mouth too, but couldn't see anything. He only gets a little bit of grain because when he is just on hay and browse, he tends to get too thin. Now, whether that is because he is holding out for grain or not, I don't know.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Kitty