Coughing... Lung worms OR Virus?

[Southern by choice]

Yes

from modern Latin Strongylus, from Greek strongulos ‘round.’

This is a family- IOW there are many kinds of "ROUND" worms. The most dangerous is the Haemonchus contortus also known as the barberpole worm. It is a bloodsucker.

You must treat the cocci and do a PROPER deworming and repeat dewormings so eventually all stages are killed THEN he will gain weight and hopefully start to thrive.

I suspect the cocci is doing far more damage than the parasites. Cocci destroys the lining of the intestines so nutrition is not absorbed well. Cocci causes coughing, like I said before.

Although if he isn't in a quarantine area he is dropping this everywhere and exposing your other goats.

 

[babsbag]

You might talk to your vet about doing a preventative round of Corid on your other goats, unless of course they have already been exposed, in which case you may need to get fecals done on them too and treat them all.

 

[greybeard]

As far as dewormers -
I do not pay attention when people say such and such doesn't work anymore. Now there are dewormers that will NOT work on certain parasites but that is a different story. As far as dewormers many will preach all day long how Safeguard doesn't work yet the majority of the people that say this were NOT using the dewormers in the way it is suppose to be used. Same for ivermectin.

There are 3 ways dewormers work... some KILL, some stun and are pooped out, some interfere with glucose uptake. The protocol for repeat deworming depends on dewormer. Most dewormers work only on 4th stage. Repeating is necessary and time between varies.
Then there is the refugia and reduction test.
Many people underdose.
Many have no clue of the weight of their animal.
Many use dewormer and still don't understand that dewormers don't do anything for cocci.

Same with antibiotics... so many people have no understanding of how to effectively use them... and many don't know the course for individual anti-biotics, but they will run to the feedstore and pick up something. This is what leads to resistance of dewormers, anti biotics.

What region are you in?

One of the best posts in this thread.
[disclaimer:I am not a goat person at all so I will not offer any specific or even general suggestion as to the treatment of the animal(s) in question], but having followed the thread for awhile and seen it become quite confusing, I will offer some suggestions to both the original poster and to the 2-3 most experienced and knowledgeable goat folks in the thread.
Sara: (and everyone else)
1. 1st, edit your profile so your location shows up in the box left of all your posts. (IMO, this entry should be a required entry across the board--at least a region or state for all members)
2. When you post about a problem, include as much basic information as possible, including about the animal, weather and climate conditions, recent known medical, both preventative and treatment history, whether on pasture or dry pen, type feed and frequency, and do it in list format. Be as detailed as possible, but be concise and short with each entry. If there are specific questions about one or two of them, your advisors and mentors will ask them.
a.
b.
c. etc
3. I know you are concerned about your vet. Keep in mind, that veterinary medicine is a science, but it's not an 'exact' science, any more than human medicine is. Neither humans nor livestock come with an onboard diagnostic program they can just plug into and know exactly what is wrong. Try to be patient with them, and has been said, develop a good long term working relationship with your vet.
One of the things sorely missing from BYH is a licensed vet member that will pop in occasionally, browse this particular section and interject their professional opinion, even if it's just to back up what general member(s) have already state--or to separate the grain from the chaff so to speak. (we are fortunate to have @ least one on each of the cattle forums I'm on, and they are an invaluable asset ). Inasmuch as this emergency section is mostly goat related, (as are the majority of the members) perhaps some of you could persuade your own vet to join and look in on things as time permits...
4. When you get a new animal, always assume they are in need of deworming. Nothing comes on my place, regardless of source that doesn't get dewormed and vaccinated within it's first 5 days here. Cheapest insurance there is. After that, a deworm regimen needs to be followed specific to your locale and species. (I never take a seller's word on this--just not worth it to me)

To the mentors here (you know who you are) :
Obviously you are each doing your utmost to help, but often on a long illness related thread like this, (10 pgs and started Oct 17) it is helpful for you more knowledgeable folks to get together off-thread (PM or cell phone) look at all the data and info, do some brainstorming and come to a consensus agreement on treatment, and post your results. Sara is no doubt a bit confused right now on what to do. (We do this quite often on the cattle boards when a 'sticky wicket' is encountered)

Good luck to all on this problem.

 

[OneFineAcre]

One of the best posts in this thread.
[disclaimer:I am not a goat person at all so I will not offer any specific or even general suggestion as to the treatment of the animal(s) in question], but having followed the thread for awhile and seen it become quite confusing, I will offer some suggestions to both the original poster and to the 2-3 most experienced and knowledgeable goat folks in the thread.
Sara: (and everyone else)
1. 1st, edit your profile so your location shows up in the box left of all your posts. (IMO, this entry should be a required entry across the board--at least a region or state for all members)
2. When you post about a problem, include as much basic information as possible, including about the animal, weather and climate conditions, recent known medical, both preventative and treatment history, whether on pasture or dry pen, type feed and frequency, and do it in list format. Be as detailed as possible, but be concise and short with each entry. If there are specific questions about one or two of them, your advisors and mentors will ask them.
a.
b.
c. etc
3. I know you are concerned about your vet. Keep in mind, that veterinary medicine is a science, but it's not an 'exact' science, any more than human medicine is. Neither humans nor livestock come with an onboard diagnostic program they can just plug into and know exactly what is wrong. Try to be patient with them, and has been said, develop a good long term working relationship with your vet.
One of the things sorely missing from BYH is a licensed vet member that will pop in occasionally, browse this particular section and interject their professional opinion, even if it's just to back up what general member(s) have already state--or to separate the grain from the chaff so to speak. (we are fortunate to have @ least one on each of the cattle forums I'm on, and they are an invaluable asset ). Inasmuch as this emergency section is mostly goat related, (as are the majority of the members) perhaps some of you could persuade your own vet to join and look in on things as time permits...
4. When you get a new animal, always assume they are in need of deworming. Nothing comes on my place, regardless of source that doesn't get dewormed and vaccinated within it's first 5 days here. Cheapest insurance there is. After that, a deworm regimen needs to be followed specific to your locale and species. (I never take a seller's word on this--just not worth it to me)

To the mentors here (you know who you are) :
Obviously you are each doing your utmost to help, but often on a long illness related thread like this, (10 pgs and started Oct 17) it is helpful for you more knowledgeable folks to get together off-thread (PM or cell phone) look at all the data and info, do some brainstorming and come to a consensus agreement on treatment, and post your results. Sara is no doubt a bit confused right now on what to do. (We do this quite often on the cattle boards when a 'sticky wicket' is encountered)

Good luck to all on this problem.

And veterinary medicine is unlike human medicine in that the patient can't tell the doctor where it hurts and how it feels.

 

[Sara1226]

I apologize. I will not post on this thread any longer. I'm sorry this has gotten so long and I'm sorry my location isn't on here. Not only am I new to goats, I'm new to this site and didn't know how to list my location. In my defense, I DID deworm him as well as all my other animals when they come in. This goat was clearly ailing long before I got him.

I've said it more than once... I'm doing the best I can. His latest fecal showed a lesser load of parasites so... I atleast have knocked the parasite load down and I did something right.

Each and every one of my animals mean the world to me. Even my 19 chickens have names and they are not for dinner. I'm not a huge farm and I don't have farming knowledge. I have these animals, some of them rescues, because I love them. I will continue to keep trying. No more posts. Thanks to everyone again!!

 

[NH homesteader]

I think greybeard was trying to be helpful to everyone. Please don't take it as a negative to you.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Ditto

I don't think anyone was trying to be rude.

Something everyone needs to remember is that when on a public forum where there is no voice or facial expressions that the "tone" can often get lost.

 

[greybeard]

I apologize. I will not post on this thread any longer. I'm sorry this has gotten so long and I'm sorry my location isn't on here. Not only am I new to goats, I'm new to this site and didn't know how to list my location. In my defense, I DID deworm him as well as all my other animals when they come in. This goat was clearly ailing long before I got him.

I've said it more than once... I'm doing the best I can. His latest fecal showed a lesser load of parasites so... I atleast have knocked the parasite load down and I did something right.

Each and every one of my animals mean the world to me. Even my 19 chickens have names and they are not for dinner. I'm not a huge farm and I don't have farming knowledge. I have these animals, some of them rescues, because I love them. I will continue to keep trying. No more posts. Thanks to everyone again!!

You've nothing to apologize for.
Please, DO continue to post.
I meant absolutely no disrespect to anyone. I'm sure you are doing all you can with a very difficult problem, as is everyone else. As I said, I offer no specific treatment to this problem as I am totally unqualified to do so. And yes, we understand that the problem existed before you got the animal--that is usually the case.

It's just that sometimes, when there seems to be multiple problems reported all at once, (lungworms-roundworms, cocci-vaccinations-different medications) threads and treatment recommendations can get confusing especially if someone is new to a species, or even new to a breed within the species.
Perhaps it's just me that is confused.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

I thought your post was very good, it didn't this it came across as rude

I kinda had the same feeling you did…

 

[Southern by choice]

One of the things sorely missing from BYH is a licensed vet member that will pop in occasionally, browse this particular section and interject their professional opinion, even if it's just to back up what general member(s) have already state--or to separate the grain from the chaff so to speak.

Sounds good but not a very good reality.
The issue with goat vets is they are primarily cattle vets that also do some sheep/goat.
Even the "goat" vets never agree on anything. This is why there are so many online goat forums. Some don't think adult goats can have issues with cocci, some don't think goats can have cocci in the winter, some don't think EPG's are important "just go by eye color", some say deworm every 3 months, some say switch dewormers all the time, some say there is no problem if there is no diarrhea, the list goes on...and on...

Many problems do go offline but that also doesn't help others.
Often the very first thing that should happen or needs to be done the person doesn't do. Most things goat are simple not falling in the category of "Zebra in the horse pasture".