Picky eater help.

[Lesheffer]

Just crazy.... must be something else wrong with her since she doesn't want to eat....

The question though.... is what.

Are you going to worm her again? Since she is so pale?

And.... maybe due to the anemia, she needs vitamin b, pro biotic, and red cell for iron.

Her worming has been completed. She got red cell for two weeks. I've started giving her b complex again with probios. Her color has improved a little, but not where I would comfortably call a 3. At milking, I offer her goat pellets in the feed bucket, then give her beet pulp in a bowl on top. This morning I got her to eat soaked beet pulp with soybean meal. After watching her eat last night and this morning, I'm wondering if she has teeth sensitivity. She will eat a couple bites, but chews cautiously. She got a hard piece of something and she refused to eat after that.

 

[Lesheffer]

Her worming has been completed. She got red cell for two weeks. I've started giving her b complex again with probios. Her color has improved a little, but not where I would comfortably call a 3. At milking, I offer her goat pellets in the feed bucket, then give her beet pulp in a bowl on top. This morning I got her to eat soaked beet pulp with soybean meal. After watching her eat last night and this morning, I'm wondering if she has teeth sensitivity. She will eat a couple bites, but chews cautiously. She got a hard piece of something and she refused to eat after that.

 

[Alaskan]

Her color has improved a little, but not where I would comfortably call a 3.

That would make we worm again with a different class wormer.

Or... take a fecal sample and see what you see.

There are many kinds of worms, and some can become resistant to regular meds.

I'm wondering if she has teeth sensitivity. She will eat a couple bites, but chews cautiously. She got a hard piece of something and she refused to eat after that.

That does sound like a possibility. But to check her teeth???? You would need 2 people and probably have to hog tie her as well. Or have the help of an experienced and good vet. But it does sound like a thorough teeth check is in order.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

@Alaskan has given you good advice. I agree that with the Famacha readings she's not where she needs to be yet.

I've got a couple of ideas. Was your doe wormed just once? W have found that worming in 10 day increments for a month works better than one or two wormings. We also have found that combining wormers works better than one wormer these days. So many parasites have become resistant to worming medications. Valbazen and Cydectin has worked well for me, however, keep in mind that Valbazen is not to be used in pregnant does. We use the full dose of both wormers given one after the other. We also copper bolus several times a year to help keep their parasite resistance at a higher level and try to worm on an empty stomach if possible. I follow up with probiotics within 24 hours.

Wouldn't hurt to check her teeth too. Good luck with her!

 

[farmerjan]

Your observations at milking of her eating and getting something hard made her quit makes me really lean towards a problem with her teeth or jaw. Do they "float" teeth in goats like in a horse? I know that occasionally a cow will have a problem with teeth but they mostly just lose them... but she may have an infection in her jaw, and chewing on a certain tooth could make it painful if she hits it.... cows on silage and all can actually get by with few/no teeth and some have the teeth worn to nubs... grazing makes it very hard for them to get enough with short/no teeth... but being fed a total mixed ration in a bunk is not very difficult for a cow to get enough to eat without teeth.
I would seriously look into the teeth/jaw angle.

 

[Thefarmofdreams]

Another thought on the teeth/jaw angle... Do goat teeth get sensitive to sugar when they're hurting? Like people? If so, maybe that's why she won't eat sweet feeds...

 

[Lesheffer]

We had the vet look at Olive's mouth. She had a thorn lodged between her gums and her tooth. We're not sure why it didn't abscess.
As far as worming, we do use two classes of wormers, every 10 days for 3 treatments.
Thank you so much to everyone who offered ideas. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Fantastic! Glad you got some relief for her!

 

[Alaskan]

She had a thorn lodged between her gums and her tooth.

That will do it!

Did the vet give a different idea/suggestion as to worming, since she is so pale?

 

[Lesheffer]

The vet said to continue red cell daily for another two-three weeks, check famacha and do fecal weekly. If fecals are good we aren't going to worm again, but will continue fecal weekly for a couple weeks after that She says that Olive's famancha should starting improving soon. I've never had a goat with that high of a score before, so this is new for me.