Help! Goat down!

tltater · #1 11/29/04, 10:12 AM

I have a pygmy goat 4months shy of being 2yrs old. Yesterday she didn't come out to eat and when I went in to check on her she of course went away from me and out the door (normal for her). Then she went down by the fence and just leaned there. She would go anywhere from there. I took some feed to her (goat feed mixed with alfalfa pellets) and she would eat if I held the bowl up. I picked her up to put her back in the shed and when I did her head went immediately to the left and she had it completely on her side. She was up walking yesterday and last night but this morning(oh, I put her in a med. dog kennel by herself after I found her the way she was) she was laying down and can't stand. I started her on pennacillin sub Q injections yesterday, goat drench, and no grain. When I did a search yesterday it sounded like listeriosis. She is producing goat berries not sure if she is urinating. Fed her water from a syringe this morning and she doesn't seem to be interested in hay today(was eating it yesterday). Anything else I should be doing? I will be calling the vet but he's unavailable right now. Thanks for any help to this beginner.

Tracy
Southwest NY

GoatTalkr9 · #2 11/29/04, 11:19 AM

Does she seem startled if she doesn't know you are approaching? My goats that had goat polio..the symptoms were so small at first. The main thing that stood out was that they seemed surprised to see me when I was right in front of them.From a few feet away,I thought they just didn't notice me or were too miserable to look at me. Turns out,they were losing their vision..and fast! Get thiamine into her NOW. If you don't have that,Fortified B complex. B complex will work as a last resort,but takes much higher doses. I had to use Fortified B complex,large doses. They CAN come back form this..don't give up. Mine had a really bad night until the B started kicking in. I had one that took over a month to regain most of his vision. My vet said many look at how awful the goats seem to be,and give up. Please don't. And B won't hurt here in large doses..her body will take what it needs and she'll pee out the rest.Good luck!

tltater · #3 11/29/04, 12:05 PM

I will try the B vitamin. What is the dose? I just went out recently and took her temp.(101.6) and afterward she got up on her own and turned away from me, pooped and stayed in the corner in the back. When I walked away she turned and came back to the front. I don't know if this was the right thing to do but I gave her a small handful of grain and alfalfa pellets and she was nibbling at that. I haven't seen her drink or urinate yet though.

GoatTalkr9 · #4 11/29/04, 12:39 PM

How much does your goat weigh? I usually give my goats a shot of 5 to 6 cc's of Fortified B..but you will need higher doses.At least give that to start.Do you have regular B complex,or Fortified. Fortified is best,and I was told to give it in shot form,not orally when mine were so sick.On the GoatTalk site under Health care,you'll see a thread of "Here I go again..". That thread covers my struggle with goat polio,plus doses,meds that I had to give. Reading it could give you an idea of what you're dealing with.
Click here: www.GoatTalk.com :: View topic - Here I go again
I'm not an expert,I've only gone through this with my goats..which is why I refer you to the site and the gals who got me through it.They can also help you narrow it down better what exactly your goat is going through.