Diarhha in 3 year old goat

[11langenkamp_w]

I have a 3 year old goat that has had diarhha for over a month now. . .i have been giving it pepdo bismo and have tried 3 diffrenet types of wormers but still has it. It looks skinny and when you feel her you can just fell all the bones. . Dont know how much longer she will make it Any tips or advice would be greatley appreiated thanks

 

[marlowmanor]

I'd be taking her to a vet. Getting a fecal ran would be beneficial too.

 

[elevan]

1 - Get a fecal done ASAP

2 - Give her electrolytes orally (pedialyte or gatorade)

3 - Get Scour Halt from the feedstore and give it.


What de-wormers did you use?
What dosages?

 

[20kidsonhill]

Probiotics(jprobios)
spectam scour halt for pigs(bacterial scours) Given twice a day, but not more than 3 days.

I would put her on antibiotics.

Vitamin B complex injectable

She needs a quite a bit of care at this point. My list of things would be fairly large to stop the loose poop and get her immune system built up.

It is possible that she is dealing with coccidiosis, She could have initually had a worm problem, but now cocccidiosis is the problem.

I am also interested in hearing exactly what you wormed with and dosages.

 

[Chris]

By chance is your feed high in Molasses, Oil or Sucrose?

As for what to give it;
Electrolytes orally, (I like A-Lyte Solution and Concentrate. It provides vitamins, amino acids and electrolytes)
Scour Halt,
Activated Charcoal,


Chris

 

[elevan]

Chris - wouldn't the activated charcoal bind the other things that you would give as well as any toxins? I would probably space it out to avoid making the other things useless.

 

[Marianne]

OK, here's what I do for scours in adults after letting the problem persist for 24 hours to clear the system of something eaten. Let the goat enjoy a hand full of Fritoes (about 2X/day) with Gatorade. That goat will love you! Of course, you will have to share Fritoes with the others because goats think that's great stuff. Now the electrolytes are taken care of. Then, start probiotics, vitamin B complex, Quaker Old Fashioned Oats from the grocery (helps firm the poop), and blackberry leaves (I keep a supply of dried leaves, or you can use Scour Rid). If the problem has not significantly improved within two days, fecals. Since your problem is persistent, get those fecals done now. If fecals are not possible because of your location, I would worm with Ivomec pour on (1cc/22#) as I'm convinced that in this particular herd it works wonders. Problem still not resolved...Baycox, but unless you have cocci in your herd it may be unlikely you would ever get that far.

 

[Chris]

Chris - wouldn't the activated charcoal bind the other things that you would give as well as any toxins? I would probably space it out to avoid making the other things useless.

It shouldn't but you could give the Activated Charcoal and Electrolytes on the first day of treatment then give the Electrolytes and Scour Halt as directed by product after that.

Chris

 

[SheepGirl]

What's it's temp?

 

[Roll farms]

Fecal to find out what you're dealing with....pepto won't 'fix' anything. It may stop a goat up, but *something* causes the scours, you have to fix that *something* - whether it be parasites, dietary, bacterial, environmental, or poison.

It could be Johne's. No amount of meds / pepto / dewormers will fix that. Sale barn animals or animals w/ unknown background (not from reputable breeders) are most suspect.

http://johnes.org/goats/faqs.html#3

Regardless of cause - once it's established - supportive therapy (electrolytes), Red Cell or Omega3 drench to help build them back up. B vitamin shots. Probiotics daily.

If it's parasites - treat them properly w/ the right dewormer, have follow-up fecals ran to see if treatment is working. eta - if this were a kid I'd suggest a cocci float. Cocci may be an issue in a weakened adult animal but I suspect it's not the root cause of long-term diarrhea.

If it's bacterial - scour halt or neomycin sulfate.

(FYI - they don't do anything for an already sick animal if the problem isn't bacterial....waste of money and risk killing 'good' bacteria in an already compromised animal).

If it's dietary - feed them properly. Regardless of cause, GOOD hay and a balanced goat ration and good goat mineral will help put weight back on.
Alfalfa hay has worked best here on emaciated animals in improving condition rapidly. Not alf. pellets or cubes, good 2nd or 3rd cutting hay work best.

If it's poison / environmental - get rid of whatever they're eating that's making them sick. I've heard of goats getting sick from eating painted wood and treated OSB wood.

We never use pepto / kaolin / any form of anti-diarrheal in ANY animal here unless we've established a cause of the scours. Stopping them up defeats the purpose of the body in scouring in the 1st place - Nature's way of 'ridding' the animal of toxins. Plug them up and you hold the toxins in...and the condition can worsen while the goat looks 'better' to you, because it's no longer scouring. You get a false sense of security until the real cause flares back up / worsens and the animal sickens and dies.

(I'm not saying we never use kaolin - we do, esp. w/ young kids - but you have to find out the cause and treat it as well or the problem will be recurring and possibly fatal.

Treat the cause, don't just mask symptoms. Supportive therapy once cause is established. Proper balanced diet.

Good luck.