Eye Infection

[BubbleTea]

When I went out this morning to check on the goatys.....I noticed one of them had one of their eyes closed. I opened it up and it was red and the skin around the eye looked very red. What do I do??? :waa:

[Ksar]

Hi Bubble Tea
I would look for tears running from the eye and also a white spot or cloud over the eye, is she preffering to stay in the shade or in a dark place? If you see these signs then could be pink eye. If there is no spot or clouding she could have gotten something in the eye like dirt, or debris. Flush the eye with sterile water and watch for improvement or worsening. Are flies bad, they are associated with pink eye outbreaks. If Pink eye, a simple administration of a triple antibiotic cream(like neosporin) directly to the eye & lids will cure in a day or so, One application seems to work for me, tho it may take more. A severe case of pink eye will cloud the entire eye over, and can result in blindness or worse.
Hope this helps

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Pinkeye, soremouth and ringworm are simply nusiance problems, sooner or later everyone will have all or one of them. There are as many treatments for pinkeye as there are breeders. The biggy with any of them is to make sure you don't give it to yourself! Using a spray bottle filled with vinegar, port wine, anything that would change the ph of the eye, will help keep the eye clear. Terramycin, triple antibiotic all will also work, wear gloves. Drops of Tetracycline right into the eye or even a very strong salt solution will also all help.

BUT!! Stop the treatment, because you are just treating symptoms, and all the symptoms come back. It has to run it's course. Even an ulcerated eye from pinkeye will heal in time, they will not go blind although they can have a permanant grey haze spot in the eye.

Clean the barn, make sure the hay is not up overhead and dropping sand and debris into the eyes when the goats eat it. If she won't leave the barn, make sure she has water and something to eat that she can find with her eyes shut.

Address the fly situation.

Please don't give antibiotics unless you simply want to do them as eye drops. A doe who will have a sluggish rumen from not enough exercise and low roughage intake during this time she really can't get out and browse does not need antibiotics killing off rumen flora. Vicki