Helping a doe recover from going down.

[CraterCove]

So during our recent move and the chaos of going between GA and FL and moving out of the rental down here one of my does went down. I had just wormed everyone, including her before the move with invermectin so I thought I would be covered for a little while. Goats are ever teaching me not to make such assumptions.

We came home from a trip to Georgia to move things from the house up there to her being down in the field. When I asked the girl I had looking after the goats she didn't have much good input for how long the doe was down but we left on a Thursday and were back Sunday evening. So doing a course of penicillin and b vit injections and red cell. Her famacha was indeed back around a 3 so I wormed her again.

Anyway... I wormed again and I have been supplementing her regular feed with alfalfa, oak branches and redcell and she seems to be recovering---except I don't think she has stood up yet. How do I rehab her? Should I just wait or should I try making her move? How many times a day? Any input would be welcome.

She actually seems quite happy with her set up, flakes of hay, cool water and lots of attention and she's strong enough to glare at me when I give her a shot and fight the redcell being put in her mouth and knock me with her head.

[Backfourty,MI.]

You need to get her up, massage her legs & move them back & forth.
Put her over a bale of straw if you need to but she needs to get up.
Make sure she has plenty of hay & fresh water too.

I would probably worm her with something different than the Ivermectin. Thinking maybe that isn't working very well for her.
A fecal would be very helpful also if you can find a vet around your new place that way you'll know exactly what parasite your dealing with if any.

[CraterCove]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I will take a fecal in... She's the only doe I have had problems with worm wise. Flora is an unregistered Saanen and a good deal, so I thought. She may just not be as worm hardy as the others, most of them don't need worming often, but I check bi-monthly and she seems to always have a degrading famacha score.

[DamnearaFarm]

Everything Katie said.
In addition to physical therapy, I'd make sure she was moved from side to side several times a day.

[southerngurl]

I agree, get her up.

Worm her with moxidectin (quest or cydectin). A shot of bose wouldn't hurt and some cayenne orally is good. You can put a little cayenne and molasses in her water if she's drinking well/. That's better than redcell IMO.

[CraterCove]

Does the cayenne have iron in it? I think I still need to give her the red cell until her color is back, I think.

Making sure she gets moved and rubbing and stretching her legs seem to have helped, She's moving around more in the pen but I have yet to see her stand on her own.

[southerngurl]

No it has b vitamins and also simulates circulation. The molasses has iron and copper and other minerals.

[CraterCove]

Thank you, that information is going in my book. One day perhaps I can revive the ancient art of apothecary.

Flora seems to improve each day... but I have yet to get her up on her hooves again.

[Cannon_Farms]

Here is my 2 cents, not that it seems to get spent

If you give her redcell everyday on top of high quality feed and grain your more likely to OD her on it creating more problems than it will solve. I would highly suggest copper bolus and a shot of Iron. Blood cant absorb iron without copper.

She need to be moved several times a day others gave good advice. I find a mesh stall front to be an excellent goat sling, having horses Im assuming you know what Im talking about,
Right now the lack of movement is more deadly than the worm load.

I wouldnt feed too much grain but would do something like amplify or a beet pulp/rice bran combo to help keep things moving, maybe add a little calf mana but green things are her friend.

I second the quest (2xs horse dose) or the injectable

[CraterCove]

Okay, I can give her another bolus of copper easily. I have given her the quest horse wormer too.

I am giving her oak branches and muscadine vines that grow around here and she has available a mix alfalfa/grass hay bale. Usually, I don't supplement with grain at all, save the amount needed to keep someone still on the stand, and that's just an alfalfa pellet. I do supplement minerals including baking soda. The beet pulp and rice bran, do they usually carry that at an average feed store? Or should I be trying a mill for that? I'll start calling the places open on Sunday. Her bowel movements seem very regular, nice little berries again and she is staying well hydrated.

This incident has really got me thinking about making a sling and harness in one of my stalls for incidents like this. Of course I'd rather avoid this... but I'd rather have a sling that never gets used than be caught without again.

When I am moving her I am rubbing her legs down and moving them at each joint, I am also lifting her and making sure she is always on a clean dry spot and scooping away the mess. Trying to see she doesn't spend too much time with one leg or another curled under her, either.

BTW, anytime you take the time to put your two cents in, Cannon, I try and listen and learn.

[Croenan]

I say get her up over a bale of hay. My baby went down, years ago, and a bale of hay was too big so I used an old beanbag that I made firm by tying up a trash bag. I would stand him up after a while on his own 2 legs, and just let him stand as long as he could and I would do that several times a day. Its a pain but its really worth it if they make a full recovery. Once they get standing on their own, the progress should start to pick up.

Good luck!

[CraterCove]

**update**

Flora stood up on her own today without more than a nudge from me. Your advice has helped me to save this doe. Thank you Cannon Farms for the reminder about the copper/iron connection, I really think that is what has put her on the road to recovery.

[southerngurl]

Good to hear !

[Backfourty,MI.]

So glad she's doing so much better! keep up the good work!