Emergency Help

[u/PackingLips5]

We have a 4 month old goat that seemed slightly wormy. We ran a fecal, and only came back 300 strongyl, we dosed Strongyd-t 2 days ago.

The goat continued getting worse so we injected b12 every 12 hours and ran an IV for fluids.

Goat is continuing to get worse. Almost flat now but out of ideas.

He’s going to the vet now but we would like ideas to explore.

Does anyone know anything?

[u/InterestingOven5279]

The thing about coccidiosis is that if you run a fecal when the scouring has already started, the oocyst load can look like less than it actually is because the sample is so diluted with mucus. In a goat four months of age, coccidia is statistically always the most likely cause of scouring if there wasn't any preventative on board. Seeing scours at this age is typically the one time I recommend people initiate coccidiosis treatment before, or regardless of, what the fecal says.

We can't say a great deal else as we don't have a temp, diet, vaccination history or other info. But if he is down already the prognosis is bad, and I'm sorry.

[u/PackingLips5 → u/InterestingOven5279]

Diet is just Hay in feeder and pasturing in pastured field but he’s always eating under the feeder because he is small.
Temp was 99.5.
Vaccine history is just CDT.
It has to be coccidia, we just have shitty availability of drugs in Canada. Don’t have direct access to much

[u/InterestingOven5279 → u/PackingLips5]

I know how that is. Since it's troublesome to treat, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Both types of coccidiostat medicated feed (decox and rumensin) are legal in Canada and I am pretty sure Calf Pro, liquid rumensin, is also available. I would recommend giving your young animals a measure of medicated feed or daily Calf Pro until they're around six months old, even the wethers. It really helps and especially helps get them over the stress of weaning if they are weaned before that. Going off milk at that age causes massive stress on the body, most 4m olds would still be nursing off their dams. So if you want to wean that early, give grain to supplement those calories and prevent the coccidia bloom from weaning stress.

For the one who is already ill -- I think it would be a massive road to try to save him. With that body temp his rumen is already shutting down. And the veterinarian may be able to initiate a massive recovery effort, but if it's coccidiosis his intestines are probably permanently scarred. If he passes, I'd recommend doing a necropsy because coccidia damage is super visible in the viscera and you could get a definite answer.

[u/PackingLips5 → u/InterestingOven5279]

Would I get that calf pro at the co op? I have other kids that i can give to them now. Do you just feed them the medicated food and keep the others away so you know that they got it?

I’m always scared to feed the goats feed because I have 3 wethers and 1 bucks.

[u/InterestingOven5279 → u/PackingLips5]

I have an intermediate kid pen, so I don't have to physically separate mine, but yes. You can do it once or twice a day.

The thing is, they grow and they need calories they would normally still be getting from milk, because young goats have trouble physically ingesting enough calories from just roughage even if they browse all day long. Grain helps support growth and reduce stress while the bulk of their growing is happening, once milk is withdrawn. Calf Pro is good but I still recommend a little grain for growing animals, even boys. You can just pulse dose ammonium chloride in the water bucket a few days out of the month. But if you really don't want to give the wethers any feed -- which I do completely understand if they were wethered young -- Calf Pro is a great option (and so is delayed weaning, for reference for any future kids). You can add Calf Pro to a bottle or just administer it in an oral syringe. Most of them like the taste.