Raised goats for years. No idea what this is??

[B.O.M.B]

Signed up for BYH in hopes of getting some help. Have a 6 month old Boer goat. He is a Billy. Was fine until a week or so ago. Noticed he was acting like a drone, just standing there. Then he started drooling. He is drinking, but not eating. He pees and poops just fine. No fever. Thought initially it might be bloat, but no other symptoms of that. Not actually bloated. Then thought maybe choke. Massaged throat didn't feel anything. Called vet last Tuesday. She thought possibly aspirated on feed and suggested LA 200 for 3 days. No improvement but not worse. Only eats small pieces of hay and drinks. No pellets. Still a drone and drools/coughs. Called vet back and they came out this past Friday. Examined him. Thinks possible inner ear infection or Listeriosis. Vet thinks goat has some mild nuereologic symptoms. Told us to give 10ml of penicillin 2x daily and vitamin B. Never gave that much to a full grown cow!!! But she's the vet. As of today, no change. Still coughs when he exerts himself. Doesn't seem to be drooling now. Still drone like. Tried to give him a hand full of grass and he dove into it like crazy. But just as quick he gagged and spit it back out. It's like he wants to eat but can't. Completely clueless on this one. We've dealt with polio, urinary calculi, all kinds of issues, this one as us stumped and it appears the vet is also unsure. Any advice, ideas, suggestions would be appreciated...

 

[Grant]

Did the vet scope the throat? Seems like the logical move.

 

[Baymule]

What do you mean by drone like? I don't have goats, but I thought of meningeal worm. I looked for drooling goats and came up with Listeriosis

Listeriosis in sheep and goats

Listeriosis is a disease that can affect all ruminants as well as other animal species and humans.

www.canr.msu.edu

I wish you the best for your goat.

 

[B.O.M.B]

Did the vet scope the throat? Seems like the logical move.

No, she chose not to and went with the penicillin treatment that would cover the inner ear issues and Listeriosis. We keep going back to the throat/ blockage issue. He was grinding his teeth a lot as well, which is a sign of pain. The poor thing is now a pin cushion.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Is his balance off?

I just spent a week treating a sick sheep that had balance issues. No circling or tilting and no fever so I wasn’t too concerned about listeriosis. I did do a 5 day course of penicillin, just in case. I also did a five day treatment with Safeguard in case she had meningeal worm.

I believe what she actually had was an inner ear infection. I caught her shaking her head frequently and she was not happy when I handled her right ear. I used a 50/50 water/white vinegar solution to clean her ears out.

The thing that worries me about your goat is that you say that he seems eager to eat, but then drops the food before actually eating.

My concerns are either that he’s got something stuck in his throat or he’s got a bad tooth.

Is your vet experienced with small ruminates?

 

[B.O.M.B]

Thanks for that input. Sounds very similar to our young Billy. Our Billy has no circling and no tilting. We don't see a nuereologic behavior like Listeriosis would show. We see a goat in pain. Vet considered inner ear issue and he did seem tender by his back jaw/ear area, but she is treating for both. As of this morning no real improvement. When you offer him fresh grass he goes crazy and wants to eat it all, but he gags and spits it out. Called Vet back out this afternoon. She still won't tube, doesn't think it's choke, and shot him with a dose of an antibiotic that is good for a week. Plus we continue the Penicillin for two more days. This poor goat is a pin cushion. I feel the Vet may be overlooking the simple things at this point. This is a well known Vet in out area and experienced with goats/ruminates. We are the ones not experienced with Vets...lol! We are so used to being able to treat everything on our own. If it was an inner ear infection however, all these meds should have cleared that I would think. So still stumped...

 

[purplequeenvt]

Thanks for that input. Sounds very similar to our young Billy. Our Billy has no circling and no tilting. We don't see a nuereologic behavior like Listeriosis would show. We see a goat in pain. Vet considered inner ear issue and he did seem tender by his back jaw/ear area, but she is treating for both. As of this morning no real improvement. When you offer him fresh grass he goes crazy and wants to eat it all, but he gags and spits it out. Called Vet back out this afternoon. She still won't tube, doesn't think it's choke, and shot him with a dose of an antibiotic that is good for a week. Plus we continue the Penicillin for two more days. This poor goat is a pin cushion. I feel the Vet may be overlooking the simple things at this point. This is a well known Vet in out area and experienced with goats/ruminates. We are the ones not experienced with Vets...lol! We are so used to being able to treat everything on our own. If it was an inner ear infection however, all these meds should have cleared that I would think. So still stumped...

My ewe didn’t really start to get better until I flushed her ears a couple times. Mix up some vinegar solution with 50% white vinegar, 50% water and squirt it in the ear. Make sure you get a good hold on the ears, squeeze them closed and massage for a few seconds before letting him shake his head.

I suppose if he’s in pain from an ear infection, that could cause enough discomfort where he’s not wanting to eat.

Something else to consider.....he may get an upset gut after not eating well and getting so much antibiotics. Don’t be surprised if he gets diarrhea.

I’ve been giving probiotics to my ewe since finishing the antibiotics and, this may sound odd, but I’ve also been giving her some beer. A dark beer (like Guinness) is helpful in stimulating appetite and restarting the rumen. I gave her a flat beer morning and night for a couple days.

 

[Mini Horses]

Did the vet look inside his mouth for any object stuck in there? Does he have any bad odor from his mouth? Yes ear & tooth issues would create pain to chew.

Try the ear wash it can't hurt. And agree with rumen upset...also, after all the meds & not eating. If he's drinking, put some nutri drench in his water to help with blood sugar/vit/min.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I had an issue this year with one of my babies. He was maybe in the 5 month old range when I noticed he was holding cud in his mouth for extended periods. He wasn't gaining weight like his brother or others in the same pen. His cud was fresh, and he was always willing to eat, but he obviously was not getting enough food all the way through. He would pick up food, but hold it in his cheeks, some fell out when he would drink, some stayed in his cheeks for a long time. He was a bit anemic, stool sample showed barber pole and coccidia, but not in numbers that my vet thought should show the symptoms we were seeing. Our vet had us do a few different dewormings and antibiotics. He did not appear to be recovering so after a few weeks, the plan was to anesthetize, check his mouth, tube him and if he still showed nothing we might be able to fix, I was prepared to say goodbye instead of waking him up. This was my keeper buck for the year and an absolute favorite. After the money Id dropped on him already, I wasn't taking the decision lightly. I made the appointment and was still doing the antibiotics as prescribed. I felt so defeated, but the night before the appointment, he wasn't holding cud in his cheeks. And then in the morning, he was making a ruckus in the truck on our trip to the vet. He was a little more anemic on the labwork than previously, but he looked ok and he was alert and active, stool sample was good. We went ahead with the anesthesia, no obvious issues, gasses seemed OK, mouth and throat were fine, but with the minimal improvement from the previous day, I was willing to keep going, so he came home. He is a big beautiful one year old buck now. The best guesses were heavy coccidia load and possibly issues caused by worms.... but no definitive answers. He never showed neurological signs or anything to give us a better lead. He was always alert, willing to eat and move about, and affectionate, despite clearly feeling off.

Best of luck with your buck!