# Stiff neck, wobbly after dog attack



## kathleengp (Nov 16, 2011)

I have a 9 month old male (castrated) pygmy.  He was out freeranging and my German Shepherd started herding too enthusiastically last week.  I found them with the goat trapped and the shepherd gumming his neck.  The goat had 3 small wounds which I cleaned and applied antibiotic ointment to.  He looked wobbly and beat up.  His horn stubs which had been showing signs of a somewhat botched dehorning before I got him were bloody and both flopping off his head.  I pulled off the horn stubs and applied antibiotic ointment there too.

Since the attack he has been hiding in the dark (actually crawling into a chicken coop) and has been very wobbly, preferring to sit most of the time.  Today I noticed that he can't bend down his head to eat.  I put out food and he tried but then just kept following me around.  I finally caught on and had fed him.  He was very reluctant to let me touch him (unusual) and seemed very sore to the touch.  His neck is oddly stiff feeling, not really swollen, just really hard.  I have seen him pee and poop ok.  He eats but not as much.

Suggestions?

Thank you!


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## elevan (Nov 16, 2011)

Don't use the antibiotic ointment on the horn bud sores as you don't want them to stay moist.  Use blue kote or iodine 7 instead.  Use the same stuff on the bite wounds too after you thoroughly spray them out with some sterile saline (use contact solution if you have to).  Do not bandage.

He's obviously in pain.  Can you get some banamine from the vet?  If not you can give children's liquid ibuprofen for pain.  After that I would use asprin if needed for pain.
Here are dosages for you:


> Pain Relief
> Asprin  325 mg per 10# of body weight orally
> Ibuprofen(liquid)  2x childrens dose by weight orally (Do NOT use more than 48 hours or you could cause liver damage)
> Banamine  (Rx)0.25 ml / 25#  IM injection


Give him a shot of vitamin B (or a vitamin B gel if it's all you have).

A trip to the vet for an x-ray would be a good idea too.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 16, 2011)

Has he had his C/D-T vaccination?  If not, I'd be thinking about tetanus..  A couple of members here have had experience with tetanus, so hopefully they'll chime in to let ya know whether these seem like the symptoms they saw..


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## elevan (Nov 16, 2011)

Good call cmjust0.  If he's not current on CD/T then I would be tempted to go ahead and give the tetnus antitoxin.  Open wounds are prime for tetnus to enter.
_
I have no experience with tetnus but I personally would err on the side of caution._


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## ksalvagno (Nov 16, 2011)

I would be getting Banamine into him. 1cc per 100 lbs. Vet Rx so if you don't have any, you will need to get some from the vet. Once a day for 3 days.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 16, 2011)

It's not so much about an 'open wound' as it is a puncture, or a deep wound..  The kind of wound that doesn't even have much of a chance to bleed before it seals up.. 

See, clostridium tetani is an anaerobic bacteria, which basically means it won't survive and multiply (aka, _infect_) in the presence of air..  When you get a puncture-type wound, however, with a dirty object (an animal's tooth, for instance, or a rusty nail, etc) there's really excellent chance that some bacteria got pushed deep into the wound and then was sealed up..  If it was aerobic that got sealed, you're OK..  If some of that bacteria was anaerobic, like clostridium tetani, well...that's 'home' to anaerobic bacteria, and it'll take right off.  

That's why your mama never went "Ghaaaa! You need a tetanus shot!" everytime you fell off your bike and scraped your knee..  When you stepped on a rusty nail, though...different story.  Shallow wound vs. puncture wound..  

Incidentally, in my family at least, the whole rusty nail/tetanus mental connection somehow morphed into *any* wound from *anything rusty*..  So, if you scraped your hand on a rusty piece of metal....GHAAAAAAAAAAAAATETANUS!

So, yeah, I'd say in this case that tetanus antitoxin is probably not a bad idea..  I've never had to use it, so I really don't have any idea *how* to use it -- as in, dosages -- which is why I'm hoping someone with some tetanus experience will chime in..  Something to keep in mind, though, is that tetanus is a bacterial infection, and all the anti-toxin does is neutralize the toxins made by the bacteria as they mutliply..  It does *nothing* to combat the infection, so antibiotics would definitely be in order as well..

In fact, I'd just go ahead and start this one on antibiotics right now, simply because of the wounds..  I'd probably go with PenG, 1ml/15lbs 2x/day through an 18-20ga needle.  Just in case.  I'd also probably shave down the spots where the dog's teeth penetrated the neck, scrub them down, and open/flush them if possible..  If the wounds are closed, I'd really consider soaking some gauze in an antiseptic -- chlorhexadine, for instance -- and slapping the soaked gauze on it..  My thinking is that some of the antiseptic may work its way down into the wounds, kinda like having a human patient soak a puncture wound..


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## ksalvagno (Nov 16, 2011)

Is this goat by himself? I would be getting a buddy for him if he is by himself. He may never again feel confident and want to hide after this if he is kept by himself.


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## kathleengp (Nov 16, 2011)

Thank you so much everyone!  Ok Blue Cote stuff I have around here.  As for the tetanus antitoxin, can I get that at Tractor Supply? Same witht he penicillin - I'm pretty sure I've seen that there.  Tetanus does make sense as he had a puncture would on his neck from the dog.  

I am new to goats and have only had them since this summer.  I do not know if they were vaccinated so I'll assume not.

I feel so bad.  When we got the goats the dog just came alive with enthusiasm - loved to follow them around and annoy them, sit beside them etc.  I had not had the goats out of their pen in quite some time (they do get into things even though they love to be free!)  I guess the dog got so excited he just lost it!  I didn't think to supervise and they were together for several hours.   They have a large enclosed area with plenty of vegetation but they love love to roam around the whole place and play.  They stay right here and let us lock them back up at night.  Now I know - if the goats are out, the dog is IN! 

And don't worry - I have his sister too - he's not all alone.  I also have 2 horses at home for other "hoof" company


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## elevan (Nov 16, 2011)

kathleengp said:
			
		

> Thank you so much everyone!  Ok Blue Cote stuff I have around here.  As for the tetanus antitoxin, can I get that at Tractor Supply? Same witht he penicillin - I'm pretty sure I've seen that there.  Tetanus does make sense as he had a puncture would on his neck from the dog.
> 
> I am new to goats and have only had them since this summer.  I do not know if they were vaccinated so I'll assume not.
> 
> ...


Goats and dogs that are not trained livestock guardian dogs are often a bad combination.  


You can get the tetnus antitoxin (make sure it's antitoxin and not toxoid/vaccine) and the penicillin at Tractor Supply.  You also should pick up the CD/T vaccine as you'll need to give that 2 weeks after giving the tetnus antitoxin.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 16, 2011)

Yeah, but the thing is I don't think you just give the one vial of anti-toxin..  I'm pretty sure it's like every 8-12hrs, or something like that..  And *definitely* accompany it with antibiotic, like PenG 1ml/15lbs 2x/day..  

OP - do some research on this..  Find articles..  I'm gonna PM Kim Roll and get her over to this thread, as I know for a fact that she's dealt with tetanus before..


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## Roll farms (Nov 16, 2011)

What you're describing right now doesn't sound like tetanus....yet.  
My goat went from 'ok' to 'fully locked in tetanus' in 18 hours.  She appeared fine to me the night before, but looking back, I can't swear she wasn't acting 'off', either....
I was too new then.

She couldn't move / eat / anything - 







Her legs were straight out, neck bent like in the pic.  Teeth grinding.  Starting to bloat.

I called the vet, but it was pretty late by the time I figured out what was wrong.   She told me to bring her in the next day.  
I did not have antitoxin on hand, but I did have Pen G.  I researched online and got the dosage, gave her that and baking soda (for the bloat) and vitamins / electrolytes by trickling it down her throat.

The vet gave her the antitoxin the next day, along w/ a shot of Dex.  She started recovering almost immediately - was able to hold her head up on the ride home.

We didn't give more antitoxin (not to say you shouldn't...I just didn't b/c the vet didn't say to....), we kept up the Pen G shots for 10 days and she recovered fully.

I treated a 4-H kids' doe w/ the same symptoms a few yrs ago w/ antitoxin / Pen G and she recovered long enough to die in childbirth 6 mos later.:/

I would def. put your doe on a 10 day course of Pen G, at minimum.  
Might not hurt to see a vet / get some banamine.  I suspect he's sore, shocky, and stressed out from the attack.

Good luck.


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## kathleengp (Nov 17, 2011)

I want to thank you all so much for the advice yesterday.  I went to TSC and got both the antitoxin (and the vaccine for the sister now and him later when he's better) and the PnG. I gave him both the antitoxin and the Pn yesterday and already this morning there is such an improvement!

He was spending 95% of his time hiding in the coop.  This morning he has been outside 80% of the time!  And he is moving his head quite a bit - he looks to have about 1/3 or so of his mobility back already!

Although he has a way to go there is no question he turned around and is on his way back!  I'm so relieved  

Thank you for the advice and encouragement 

I'll keep him on the Pn for another week or so to make sure.


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## elevan (Nov 17, 2011)

Glad to hear he's making an improvement already.  Keep us posted.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 17, 2011)

That's great!   To turn that quickly after PenG and Tet Antitox, I'd bet diamonds to doughnuts he was starting a tetanus infection..  As I understand it, the incubation period varies pretty wildly..  Could have just been stiff and freaked out, of course, but still...my gut tells me the antitox was key.

Either way, good job getting him treated and on his way to recovery!


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## LizFM (Nov 17, 2011)

You can't leave a dog with herding instinct (or a really good cow horse) out alone with livestock. They'll pester them to death. Sometimes literally. Hindsight is 20/20 of course. Glad the little guy is coming around.


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