pregnant goat walking weird

[blueberrygirl]

My very pregnant (due any day) boer has been walking weird for several weeks. We were pretty sure it was because her hooves were bothering her (it started right after an accidental too close trimming). But she is now having a very hard time getting up & her front legs are very stiff at first. She takes labored stiff steps but it gets better after a few minutes (yet is obviously still painful). We are new to goats (last nov) & someone just mentioned to us that there are also diseases that could cause this. Any ideas?

 

[madcow]

It could be a couple of things. Firstly, during the latest stage of pregnancy the doe will secrete hormones which will loosen up her ligaments and that could cause her to walk kind of posty legged or stiff legged, especially if she is quite large with the pregnancy due to the possibility of multiple kids. Of course delivery should help that and eventually go away.

Secondly, it could be she has some sort of mineral deficiency. The growing kids put a tremendous amount of strain on her body and also sap her of important minerals (such as selenium) if she isn't getting enough to support her body and the growing kids at the same time during the late stages of pregnancy. Be sure she's getting adequate mineral supplements at this time when she and the kids most require them. A deficiency can transfer to the kids as well and they should be monitored for the same stiff leggedness, like they are walking on tip toes, once they are born. My herd queen was purchased while she was about 6 weeks away from kidding and she had a selenium deficiency which transferred to the kids in utero. It just took a trip to the vet once they were born for her and her kids to get injections to correct the problem and they were okay. If you think it might be a deficiency take her to the vet for advice and/or treatment before she gives birth to give everyone their best chance of correcting the problem early on.

Thirdly, you didn't mention if she had any swelling in the joints, like the knees, associated with her walking problem. Swelling of the joints could be a symptom of caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE), which is a serious retroviral disease. Has she been tested for CAE in the past? If you have seen swelling, especially if it is progressively getting worse, or if she has had any weight loss, you should not hesitate in getting her to a vet promptly and certainly quarantine her from the other herd members, as it is contagious. This disease shows up in goats either 2-4 months of age or at 1-2 years of age.

I hope this points you in the right direction, but keep in mind, I'm not a vet, and there could be other possible things this could be besides what I listed above. Maybe someone else has other ideas as to what this problem could be.