# Diarrhea in 9 week old goat - help!



## woodsie (Mar 28, 2013)

I am calling on the goat experts for help with my new little buckling. Here's the background

I bought a beautiful little Nubian buckling a week ago and he has come down with diarrhea for the past 5 days. He was bouncing around and eating and pooping fine for the first 3 days and then came down with the runs. He is fluctuating...starts to firm up a bit then gets worse overnight/morning. He was a bottle baby (fed goats milk) and I was giving him cow's milk bottles as he was really looking for a bottle ( 1 a day, 5 oz), but have cut them out since the diarrhea has begun. I also have cut out all grain, so he is now on straight alfafa/grass hay 1st cut and he is still eating and gets up but have not seem him chew cud.

I have been giving doses of human acidophilus 3 times per day (2 capsules emptied into in a tsp and given orally) not all of it gets in his mouth but a descent amount does. I have given a tsp of pepto in the mornings when/if he looks very run down and has runny poop on the back of his legs/bum. He does seem to get a little better after the acidophilus but I didn't give a does before bed as he seemed to be getting better and this morning we had poop everywhere again and he seemed hunched up.

Poop is brown and ranges from pasty and/or liquid to starting to clump into berries but still wet. 

I have talked to the breeder and this is the info she gave me. He has not been vaccinated or wormed HOWEVER they were pulled from mom instantly and were raised indoors and then moved to a property were NO goats have been on previously (she moved)...so she figured no worm exposure (his sisters have no symptoms). Unlikely coccidiosis as there was no exposure except potentially at my house but he has not been here long enough to start showing symptoms, according to her...correct me if I am wrong. 

Any suggestions would be supe appreciated!

Cobie


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## 20kidsonhill (Mar 28, 2013)

coccidiosis doesn't really work that way,  I would treat for coccidiosis.


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## SkyWarrior (Mar 28, 2013)

Hmm, I think this should go in the emergencies section.

How old  is the kid?  (Never mind--I should read the title!  )

I would do the following:

1. Keep liquids going into him.  Bottle feed him pedialyte (unflavored) or something with electrolytes in it.  He's going to get dehydrated with scours.

2. Treat him with scour-stop or some other scours medication.

3.  Probiotics for animals.  Probios is the one I use.  At least twice daily.

4.  Worm him with either fenbendazole (sp?) aka Panacur or Ivermectin.  Contact your vet for the appropriate dosages or follow the package.

5.  Check his temperature.  High temperature in indicative of an infection.  May need antibiotics. 

6. Treat for coccidia.  

7.  Treat for Clostridium C&D.  Give Clostridium C&D antitoxin.  Follow up in 21 days with vaccinations.

8.  Give a bolus of baking soda.

Scours is BAD NEWS.  It takes very little to kill a kid.  Does this sound like a shotgun approach?  Yes!  It is.  And with good reason.  You don't want a dead kid.

Good luck!


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