There is a goat in our n'hood that needs a lifestyle upgrade...help!

[Kelly G]

I know! This place has been GREAT!

Morning update:

I'm making a vet appt for her today (they open in 10 minutes).

She will be wormed today.

I have been offering her hay (both straight Timothy, and a straight Alfalfa - she seems to prefer the Alfalfa).

I have also offered her the Purina Equine Senior pellets that I was feeding her through the fence for the last few weeks, but she doesn't seem as interested in them. I found out from several helpful people here that I should offer her baking soda - as as her tummy starts working again, she may be a bit gassy.

I'll post again this evening - thank you all SO MUCH for all your help!

 

[cmjust0]

She's a pretty girl, and obviously very sweet.. Disbudded, too, I noticed. If she wasn't bottlefed -- which I think is a distinct possibility -- this goat was still clearly handled a lot and probably loved at some point in a previous life. I wouldn't doubt that she's registered somewhere...have you checked her ears for tattoos?

The lack of appetite could be a number of things, not the least of which being stress.. She just got moved -- they don't like moving. If that's all it is, she'll likely pick up in a few days..

I'd give C/D-T, worm aggressively, trim hooves, dairy dust for bugs, daily b-complex, probios, good hay, start her on goat grain, provide good free-choice goat or appropriate cattle mineral..... I like the idea of Red Cell, too, and I might even put this gal on a round of pen or tetracycline (..or better..) antibiotic just for the heck of it.

Let us know how the vet visit goes.

 

[Kelly G]

Alright. Here's tonight's update. I found the BEST goat vet!!! She was terrific!!! She spent an hour and a half with me - teaching me, showing me, and taking wonderful care of Gabby. I could not be more pleased.

She was startled by Gabby's poor condition, but said she'd seen goats in much worse condition make a complete recovery.

She wormed her today with Ivermec, and is emailing me instructions to finish the worming process. She also left me with pills to give her (one pill given twice per day) to ease the effects of purging so many worms at one time.

She pulled blood to test for CAE - I'm concerned that this will come up positive. She has swelling in both front knees, and is quite lame due to some issue in her left rear stiffle...and these could be indicators for this disease.

She gave her 3 differnent vaccines - one being rabies, and the other two I can't remember (she is emailing me a detailed report of what was done today, and plan of treatment for the weeks to come.).

Let's see...She aggrees that Gabby is 2-3 years old. She also thinks it's likely that she's pregnant if she was bred two months ago. She does not think her condition was bad enough at the time that it would have kept her from getting pregnant - and may be the reason why she has gone down-hill recently as all her reserves are going to the pregnancy.

This will be bad news if she's pregnant - CAE is very contagious. If she has babies - they will have to be raised by hand/bottle. Oh boy.

She checked her ears - clear. Heart, lungs, eyes - clear. Temp - normal.

She showed me how to trim her feet...but we couldn't do it as neither of us had tools. *sigh* I'm really nervous about this...and it really needs to be done.

She was taken by how friendly she was - even with all the "mean" things we did to her!

I took some more pictures today - I'll post them tomorrow (left the camera at the barn)...Thanks for everybody's help!!!


cmjust0 - I forgot to check her ear for a tattoo...I'll do this tomorrow. Good idea! The vet gave her an injection of B-12 (I think that's what she said!)...and tonight, she really started to eat much better - including the goat supplement I bought her. I think you were right - a lot was the stress of moving was really upsetting...poor girl.

 

[ksalvagno]

That is wonderful that you found such a good goat vet. They are hard to come by. Especially when Gabby needs a good vet badly. Sounds like she is in great hands now!

 

[cmjust0]

She pulled blood to test for CAE - I'm concerned that this will come up positive. She has swelling in both front knees, and is quite lame due to some issue in her left rear stiffle...and these could be indicators for this disease.

Makes sense that a positive CAE might be how such a nice goat wound up with such a bad guy...

If she does come back positive, ask your vet about the possibility of using carprofen. It's an NSAID...Rimadyl, basically, but there are generics now. My vet mentioned it to me casually in reference to chronic UC complications in my little buckling.. He said he had a lady who had "goats with arthritis in their knees" and said they were doing well on it.

You can sorta think of it as long-term, low-dose Banamine.

She gave her 3 differnent vaccines - one being rabies, and the other two I can't remember (she is emailing me a detailed report of what was done today, and plan of treatment for the weeks to come.).

I'm sure one was C/D-T..

I've never actually heard of rabies vaxxing a goat. Mammals are mammals, though, I guess..

Let's see...She aggrees that Gabby is 2-3 years old. She also thinks it's likely that she's pregnant if she was bred two months ago. She does not think her condition was bad enough at the time that it would have kept her from getting pregnant - and may be the reason why she has gone down-hill recently as all her reserves are going to the pregnancy.

Watch for ketosis if she's that thin and pregnant.. Good quality feed is a must..

This will be bad news if she's pregnant - CAE is very contagious. If she has babies - they will have to be raised by hand/bottle. Oh boy.

If that's the case, take them immediately.. I know you know that, but I'm not just saying before they nurse.

Don't even let her clean them. Dry them off yourself.

She checked her ears - clear. Heart, lungs, eyes - clear. Temp - normal.

She showed me how to trim her feet...but we couldn't do it as neither of us had tools. *sigh* I'm really nervous about this...and it really needs to be done.

Don't be nervous...it's not that bad, really. Probably better if you just sorta remove the excess hoof wall the first time anyway instead of trying to do any major shaping corrections. Once you kinda get a feel for what's what -- and especially once you figure out that slicing off the outermost layers of the 'frog', or sole, isn't going to make her bleed right away -- you'll be like "Why did this ever make me nervous!??"

She was taken by how friendly she was - even with all the "mean" things we did to her!

I took some more pictures today - I'll post them tomorrow (left the camera at the barn)...Thanks for everybody's help!!!

See...she was handled extensively. I'd bet $100 she was a nice goat in a nice herd, pulled a +CAE, and got a brand new set of wheels the next day.

cmjust0 - I forgot to check her ear for a tattoo...I'll do this tomorrow. Good idea!

A strong flashlight held flat to the hair side will help you see if there are tattoos.....and I'll bet there are. Bet you could even track down this girl's registry and see who ditched her.

The vet gave her an injection of B-12 (I think that's what she said!)...and tonight, she really started to eat much better - including the goat supplement I bought her.

B-12 = appetite.

I think you were right - a lot was the stress of moving was really upsetting...poor girl.

Sounds like she's doing better, though...and in better hands, too.

 

[freemotion]

In some states, rabies vaccines are required. Someone told me that they are not really that effective in goats, but the law required it. Anyone know anything about this?

 

[pets4me]

Here is an idea, go to your local paper and tell them about it and how the animal control or SPCA aren't doing a thing about it. Perhaps the paper will do a human interest story. Funny how when stuff like this goes public the powers at "be" finally do something about it.

Good luck to these poor helpless animals. What are the hooves like on the goat and horses...I would think by the sound of the neglect that they would be bad....wouldn't this be a good clue for the animal control that they aren't getting the care,that and if the animals are under weight.

 

[mossyStone]

Kelly any up dates on the girl?????

Hope all is well....


Mossy Stone Farm

 

[Kelly G]

Well, some very sad news about Gabby. I got the results of the CAE test from the vet today, and she is positive. I had a feeling - her joints are swollen, and she has intermitant pain.

If she is not pregnant, we really don't have a problem. We will give her pain meds when she needs them, and she will live out her life here in comfort and luxury (goat style, anyway) - and she will always have a full tummy. We will even (through our vet) be on the lookout for another CAE positive, de-horned, Nubian nanny (or a neutered, de-horned male) so she will not be so lonely.

If she is pregnant, we will have to pull the babies from her before they have a chance to nurse from her... and I have lined up with a rescue organization who will be willing to take them, bottle feed them, and re-home them. It makes me sad, but we cannot intentionally allow these babies to contract the CAE as well.

My concern is that she will deliver while I'm not there - and we don't know her breeding dates...only that it was "about two months ago". Sadly, we are not able to set up a MareStare ( www.marestare.com ) thing for her...that would be helpful...but costs (not MareStare costs - but cameras, power, etc) are just out of the question right now. *Sigh* So many things to worry about.

On a more positive note, she is really starting to put on weight....little by little...but it's starting to be noticable. She is an absolute joy to have around, and not the least bit of trouble. We already just love her so much. It's going to break my heart to take those babies from her & not be able to explain anything to her.

I'll take some more pictures of her this weekend - I took out her ear tag, so she doesn't look like "livestock" anymore...but here are some from Halloween weekend:

....and the most frequent view:

Anyone want a baby goat?

 

[cmjust0]

This is probably going to sound cruel or mean, but....I'd abort her.

One of these days you might be in a position to want to bottle feed and you can breed her then, but for right now, she's in no shape to be carrying babies. She needs to be able to focus on getting herself well and putting on a little condition for winter..

Seriously...if it were me, I'd just call the vet and say "Gimme a shot of something to abort this doe." Could as simple as a shot of lutalyse or dexamethasone..


Sorry she came back CAE+.. You did a really good thing by rescuing her. Having CAE certainly isn't her fault, and no animal deserves to be cast off like that -- especially one like her that's so obviously accustomed to human contact and was probably treated well before being rejected.

She's a beautiful girl.

Did you ask the vet about a scrip for generic carprofen by any chance? Might be of some help for her arthritis...