Help! Lost 2 goats and one is sick...

[oppida]

Here's the history- my boer goat died a few months ago from an unknown cause. Vet thought it was something neurological- some sort of bacteria. Other goats were fine at the time. I found her writhing on the ground, neck arched back and couldn't get up. She was very far gone. I decided to put her down.

Fast forward 3 months, last weekend I found one of my goats (sister of the other Boer goat) in a pool of water (about 6-8 inches deep) apparently drowned. Seemed fine the day before. I think she might have had a fever and went to the water to cool down and maybe drowned in the process?

My littlest pygmy goat now has diarreah, cloudy eyes and has been generally lethargic for about a week. Vet has given her pepto, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, eye ointments and did a blood test- white blood cells were elevated indicating an infection. Slight fever.Her eyes are VERY cloudy now and very sensitive to sun.

The vet has no idea what is going on and neither do I. My other 2 remaining goats are fine (so far).

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the water they are drinking (stream water) though I changed it so they can only access regular city water in a trough from a hose. Hay is good, clean. Vet checked the pasture and said it was clean, no toxic plants she could see.

Another thought is mineral deficiency? Their mineral block is gone, maybe for 2-3 weeks now? I have been out of town and hadn't had a chance to replace it. (I'm going to the feed store tomorrow first thing!!!)

Listerisosis?

Any other ideas what might be going on? I don't think I can bear losing another goat!!!! My heart is breaking!

Thank you!

 

[20kidsonhill]

Do you vaccinate?

Have any fecals been done. With all you mentioned you didn't mention any type of worming.

And I would have to say, some sort of general idea to where you are located would be helpful, since climate and plant life can be a factor.

 

[oppida]

Yes, we vaccinate and they are up to date. We need to worm, since it's just started to be spring here.

Fecals have not been done. Should I ask the vet to do so? Or is there something I can look for?

We live in the Sierra Valley in California. Sierraville is the town. In the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. 5000 foot elevation....

 

[oppida]

She is eating hay, drinking water and eating the free baking soda.

 

[20kidsonhill]

i would have a fecal done on your pygmy, since he has scours.

I am not very familiar with your area, but maybe someone who lives close can chime in and has some advice. In our area this time of year is coccidiosis and enterotoxemia as the grass starts to green up and their is more and more pasture for them to eat.
I have a friend who lost 3 adult does last week do to enteroxemia. They live in a an area that floods easily and their goats were not vaccinated with CD&T. However I have also heard there is a Type A enterotoxemia that is not covered by the normal CD&T vaccine.

Figuring some of these things out can be so tricky. Do you feed any type of minerals or herbs on a regular basis? How long have you had goats on this property or other ruminants. I would think if the property has raised ruminants for several years that it would rule out poisonous plants or a water problem.

High levels of Sulfur in the water can cause some problems.

Of course their are several types of poisonous plants depending on your location.

 

[oppida]

Hmmm... We do live in an area that floods. And we just flood irrigated our pasture, but the water doesn't really make it to their area of the pasture....

I know for sure they were vaccinated against enterotoxemia and tetanus, but perhaps not the Type A you were describing. It was in February.

But the symptoms that my first goat had when she died in February are exactly what enterotoxemia symptoms are. But, the only problem is that it was winter, she no new feed source and she was vaccinated...Still could have been I guess! The symptoms were exact!

As for my sick little girl, I'm going to have my vet do a fecal test and also see if she can do some mineral/vitamin injectibles. I was talking to my husband and we think it's been 3 weeks or 4 since the mineral block needed replacing. We just hadn't noticed and but we traced back when we noticed...could be a Vit A deficiency?

Or coccidiosis since we havent' wormed her yet this Spring.

We have had other ruminants on the pasture- sheep. No problems.

I'm so worried about her.

Thank you so much for your wisdom!

 

[elevan]

Make sure that they do the longer float to check for coccidia as it doesn't show up on the short (normal) float.

Also deworming has nothing to do with coccidia, they are a protozoa not a worm. You need different meds to treat that.

 

[babsbag]

With the cloudy eyes I would think pink eye. I have never had it or seen it but I do know that it causes cloudy eyes. The cloudiness is actually a protection mechanism to protect the eye. It is contagious so be careful. I would ask your vet if that is a possibility.

 

[oppida]

I'm using an ointment for Pink Eye. Anti-biotic injections. I wormed today as well.

She is shivering (I wrapped her in a blanket) and still has the very cloudy eyes. She can barely see!

My vet and I are stumped! The combo of cloudy eyes and diarreah and the general "unwell" look to her...It all doesn't add up to one diagnosis.

I'm going to get a fecal done, hopefully Monday. I'm running out of money to be honest- we've spent at least $500 so far and I can't afford the weekend emergency rates. Our vet brought me an anti-biotic injectable and eye medicine today at our kid's baseball game and I'm praying she makes it to Monday.

I'm worried at this point that she might be dehydrated. She was eating and drinking before, but it seems to be diminishing. She has been peeing and it's not yellow, but clear, so that's a good sign.

I have water (and hay, mineral block) in her shelter, so she doesn't have to go out to the sunlight to drink, but I'm not sure she's drinking it. How do I give her electrolytes? I read about giving pedialyte...with a syringe? Or?

Any help on ensuring she's not dehydrated and if so, how to get fluids in her?

Thanks SO much for all you help, I'm a newer goat owner and have lost 2 already, I can't bear to lose another!!!

 

[20kidsonhill]

Well, electrolytes are pretty cheap from a feed/farm store Sav A caf, bounce back or Re sorb are all good ones. Get a drenching/feeding stryinge and put it in the back of their mouth and slowly have them drink it.

or the best way is get an IV kit from your vet and a coule bags of IV fluid and put under the skin 200 cc's at a time or so indifferent locations, it will tent up under the skin like a bulg and absorb.

But yes, gatorades, pedialytes can also work, but she wont drink them willingly, nor will she drink the electrolytes willingly, so you will have to use a syringe with a long type to get her to drink.

Hydration is very very important for all animals, but the ruman is very sensitive to the amount of hydration of the animal.

It is very possible you are dealing with two things, maybe pnuemonoia or a cold typ thing and then a parasite/worm/coccidiosis taking advantage of the weakend state of the animal.

Also still could be poisoning of some sort from plant life, seems like your vet would be familiar with that in your area.

Personally, I would collect he fecal and start worming her.
And lots of hydration.