Cissy is positive for CL, vet is trying to convince not to euthanize.

[lupinfarm]

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5461

These threads belong together. The above thread is one posted by my mum. She was worried because I was semi-freaking out earlier.

 

[Roll farms]

The question is, if you get a confirmed CL diagnosis....have you decided what to do?

I live w/ it.
I don't regret it (most of the time)....but if you decide you can't, don't send the goat down the road to be someone else's problem.

I just couldn't make myself kill them over it...

 

[lupinfarm]

We can't live with it. I have nowhere to isolate her at all and its horrible but I won't make it someone elses problem either. She'd be humanely euthanized by the vet.

 

[Roll farms]

I will for you that it's not.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

I was thinking this could be an injection site abcess...but re-read your post and see that they haven't been given any shots recently.

Pls don't panic. Panic never solves or helps any situation. If it does happen to be CL - ask around and maybe even your vet knows of people with CL positive herds - that may give her a home.

If it is CL you can actually make a vaccine using the contents of the abcess. Each farm or herd has it's own distinct vaccine.

I raise goats and test my herd against CL. Three years ago several weeks after selling three of my babies a lady that I sold them to called me and announced that according to her vet, the babies had CL. I was totally freaked out. Long story short - I spent hundred of dollars testing my herd - all came back negative. No abcesses were found at all. I keep a closed herd and went over and over in my mind each and every transaction and quarantine situation that I had encountered over the years. I had a vet and vet tech do the procedure an send away the samples. They draw blood from each animal and mark the vial. Waiting for the results was difficult. Each day I'd run my hand over each and every goat looking for signs of CL. My herd was clean. When I got the negative results back - I shared them with the person who had purchased my babies. I called her and sent her the printed lab report. I also sent it to her vet. I came to find out that when her vet treated one of the babies for an abcess - she (the vet) assumed it was CL. SHE NEVER SENT IN A SAMPLE of the contents of the abcess. SHE JUST ASSUMED it was CL. Her vet never ever answered my telphone calls. The messages were left with a real live person and on an answering machine

Meanwhile, the woman and her family proceeded to tell anyone and everyone that would listen, that I had CL in my herd. They were very careful to say how fair I had treated them and how informed they had become as buyers and new goat people thanks to me...but I had CL in my herd. They spent a lot of time at the Goat show at our State Fair - telliing their tale. Once given the negative results...they never did say they were sorry or make an attempt to retract anything they had said previous to getting the negative results.

This is why I caution you not to panic. I wish I had all those days of pain and panic back. During the time I was waiting for the results to come back from the lab. I did a lot of research. I went into it thinking I would have to wipe out my entire herd or every goat that tested negative. This is when I found out that there are farms that keep closed herds that are CL positive and the goats live their lives out without any trouble. During this time I learned about the vaccine that I could have created for my herd. I spent hours on the phone with the lab that creates the vaccine. It is expensive - but when faced with culling an entire herd...it seems almost resonable.

I can't tell you how painful the entire situation was. Don't panic - take some time to do some research. People like to pass on information about CL taht may or may not apply to your farm and not all of it may be true. You'll live through this...so can your doe. There will be better days ahead. Good luck on Wednesday.

Joni

 

[lupinfarm]

My issue is that finding a CL positive herd will be next to impossible since NO ONE tests :/ My vet may be able to help but Cissy is a Pygmy cross and thus is probably not going to be high on the priority list for a CL positive herd (and since most herds here are commercial herds, see what I mean?).

Anyway vet had an emerge call and is late to our place, I'm not there but she should have come and gone by now.. just waiting for an update.

 

[cmjust0]

I don't think it's CL. Yeah, it's an abscess, and yeah, it's in one of the right places for CL...but still, I don't think it's CL.

Jes sayin'.

 

[lupinfarm]

Vet came

She says she doesn't believe it is CL (and infact she said ITS NOT CL, DON'T WORRY) but she said its a good thing we called her BECAUSE it IS an infection (likely a splinter from the fence Cissy enjoys rubbing herself on) and it is very infected but the kicker is that it is right over the jugular and there was a risk of Septecemia. She drained it, gave Cissy a shot of antibiotics and blukoted it.

She said it is not a common place in her experience for CL abscesses to show up.

Mum and her had a chat about Case-Bac. She says she IS prepared to sell us Case-Bac but to be aware that in older goats it CAN cause fatal reactions and if we are willing to take the risk (she'd give us epi, but...) then she will sell us some. If we want some for kids born on the property, she definitely will sell us some. She said give it time, Canada is in the testing process of a CL vaccine (I'm assuming Glanvac) and it may be available within the year (unlikely).

 

[cmjust0]

Did the vet actually save some of the exudate to be sent off for testing just in case?

 

[lupinfarm]

I wasn't there. And I don't believe so. I can't even afford to have the test done at over $40 for the test alone, that doesn't include vet fees and shipping. However, I am going to as soon as I can afford to, have blood pulled on both her and Mione to be sent off for CL testing. I should have had it done at the time I had the CAE done, would have been cheaper but what can ya do, right?

Apparently the pus shared no characteristics with CL pus (aside from being pus lol) and we're going to run a blood test later this month on both just to be sure.

As a bonus though, mum has started calling the kid creep "April's Apartment" and April has been hanging out and sleeping in her little Kid Den lol.