Nubian Buck Dying,... (Was lost, rest of herd?)

[Goat Whisperer]

I'm so sorry you have to go thru this

If it were my goat, I would be giving LOTS of nutri-drench and probiotics. CALL THE VET ASAP! S/he may be able to give some advice until they can get out to you!

Hopefully @elevan, @Southern by choice, @Roll farms, @20kidsonhill will chime in and give some more advice!

Does it sound like anything in this link?
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/listeriosis.html

 

[elevan]

@dejavoodoo114

Get a heating pad or hot water bottle and stick it between his back legs right in the crotch area. That will help bring up his temperature. Be sure to wrap it in a towel so you don't burn the skin.

Give nutri drench and probiotics.

When was the last time that you saw him pee?

Do you have Red Cell on hand? If so dose him with that. That will help with the anemia.

Is he still not moving? Do you have the Tetnus Antitoxin (not the vaccine)? If so give it to him per the directions.

Can you hear rumen sounds?

Call your vet...regardless if she is 2 hours away, she can give some advice over the phone.

 

[20kidsonhill]

Sorry, I have not been on in a while. I hope he recovered.
1. Bring him in where it is warm and warm him on a heating pad or with warm towels from the dryer.
2. after warming and body temp is up to 100, access the situation closer, Anemia probably means worm load, dehydration ect...
Give 1 cc of pig iron per 100 lbs of body weight,(one time a week)
Give B-complex daily or at least the first three days and then again when you give him iron again, (injectable B-complex, as an injection)
Drench the goat slowly, with warm electrolytes, I really like resorb or Sav A caf plus has a nice orange taste to it.
repeating drenching every 2 to 3 hours, But don't force it and stress them out or chock them on the drench.
Once warmed and a little more alert, figure on gathering a fecal or worming with a mild wormer. Then in a week when the goat is stronger, worm with a stronger wormer.

This is going off that fact that you feel he is anemic, Not bloated, no scours, I personally would give Procain G shots as well, since he may be acceptable to infection at this point, and it is good for treating polio, listerosis,
To treat polio/listeriosis, it requires high dosages of Procain G and B-complex/thiamin given every 6 hours. Along with supportive care such as energy drenches and hydration.

To me the fact that he is on his side and his head is down, could mean just about anything that would simply cause him to go down and become cold and low on blood sugar and dehydrated. With the colder weather they can go down quickly during the night.

 

[dejavoodoo114]

Sorry I have not updated this.

I had brought him in next to the fire and called the vet as soon as I saw how sick he was. When she called back she also thought he might be anemic and suggested I take him to the UT vet hospital for a blood transfusion. We made the arrangements and I took him in despite the bad weather (I ended up stuck in town because of the snow). When I got there his heart rate was Very low along with his temp and his breathing. They did the test to see if he was anemic and found that his levels were perfectly normal. The vet told me that his gums etc were Grey not White and while white means anemic, grey means shock. I wish I had known this because I have steroids for shock. They kept him over night to try and stabilize him but we lost him in the morning.

They told me they would do a necropsy the next day which was very important to me as I had a doe about to kid that was also not gaining weight properly. After putting all the pieces I had together this is what I could see: In November 4 of my goats started loosing weight, 3 does and my buck. In Dec I put all 10 goats in the barn and started giving extra grain to those four. I also wormed them etc... In January, in 2 degree weather I lost one of my does who was pregnant and another aborted. I was relieved at the abortion because she was not healthy and I could not get them to gain weight fast enough.

Despite the low body weight the buck and remaining pregnant doe were active and eating well and otherwise normal so I just continued to give them extra feed. Then the buck went down and we lost him. Which is truely tragic because the doe that aborted had amazing show lines as did the buck and we bought her for him. Now there will be no kids of theirs next year like I thought when it happened.

I knew the other doe was going to kid soon and was anxious for the necropsy. However, all the snow delayed it. Thursday she went down and could not get up again. She did not appear to be going into shock but she was too weak to stand. By being a large pain in the butt UT finally called the off duty vet Sat and found out that my buck had High levels of cocci. I had corrid on hand and immediatly started that doe on it and B complex because it was all I had. She had twins (First freshener) Monday morning, the first was dead when it came out, it was in the birth canal for up to an hour before I pulled it out. The second, a buck almost a pretty as his sire, lived. Then last night with the afterbirth was another kid. The vet thinks it died in utero and so was expelled with the placenta. So three all together, she is alert and eating and normal except she still can not stand on her own. I have now switched her to Amprol (?) and started all my other goats on it so I don't have to worry about the thiamin levels.

I am still waiting for the final info from the necropsy but the vet thinks its all because of the cocci. I have been kicking myself for not figuring it out soon enough to save my buck. I knew about cocci from loosing chicks to it but know nothing about it in goats. That is my next research project.

Thank you all for your help and if you didn't know before remember that Grey=Shock and White=Anemic...

 

[Hens and Roos]

So sorry to hear about your losses and hope things start getting better for you

 

[Sweetened]

For Cocci: PROBIOTICS

You can give it on top of what you're giving them now. Get good quality plain yogurt with bacterial cultures into their stomachs. This can ONLY help. Cocci is an overabundance of a naturally and normally existing flora. Help the gut, regulate the flora. I would, personally, be willing to give her 1cc of Aloe Vera JUICE if she was my goat. It's a purgative, and would encourage the gut to empty and cleanse. That's entirely your decision and, if you get to a desperate last ditch state, keep it in the back of your mind. It's like a master reset for the gut. Good luck.

 

[babsbag]

For Cocci: PROBIOTICS

You can give it on top of what you're giving them now. Get good quality plain yogurt with bacterial cultures into their stomachs. This can ONLY help. Cocci is an overabundance of a naturally and normally existing flora. Help the gut, regulate the flora. I would, personally, be willing to give her 1cc of Aloe Vera JUICE if she was my goat. It's a purgative, and would encourage the gut to empty and cleanse. That's entirely your decision and, if you get to a desperate last ditch state, keep it in the back of your mind. It's like a master reset for the gut. Good luck.

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract of animals caused by coccidian protozoa. I don't think that I would call if a naturally eixistng flora.

I am sorry you having a tough time with your goats. Hopefully you are ahead of the troubles now.

 

[Sweetened]

They are a spore forming parasite naturally found within the gut flora at low levels. Their existence is persistent in the gut much like most humans carry staph on their skin almost all their lives. It becomes a problem when the body is out of balance, thus part of the gut flora system that regulates health.

Regardless of my use of the exact definitions, treat the gut you treat the animal, that's a universal thing, throughout all animal life. It was merely a suggestion, as it's something that I have saved animals from in the past. I usually mix oregano oil into a container to ward off any secondary onslaught to the immune system.

All the best.

 

[dejavoodoo114]

We lost the little buck last night. We are thinking of taking the doe who just kidded to the hospital. She is alert and drinking and eating and everything but so were Rocky and the buckling. This way they can keep an eye on her and do any tests to see if it is for sure cocci or something else or a combination. Also, I hope they have some ideas for helping to get weight back on. I have one other, the doe who aborted, who I would like to see with more weight. I can never get those kids back now that Rocky is gone.

EDT: I have been giving them all probiotics since Thursday when Rocky died and Snowflake went down. Along with B-Complex and electrolytes.

 

[SheepGirl]

If they still have his body you can see if they can get some sperm/semen from his testes. I know of someone who did that with a ram that passed and now he can use him for ai.