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Goat won't stand after bout with barberpole

9084 Views 272 Replies 20 Participants Last post by  toth boer goats
Ok ya'll, I've got 99 problems and they are all about goats.

I have a 4 year old Nubian that had liquid diarrhea and dropped weight very quickly. The vet was unable to come out immediately for a fecal but since we'd had a goat with barberpole a while back she said it would be ok to treat as such. The very next thing I did was order a microscope, float solution and mcmaster slide so I can run my own fecals. I dewormed my doe with cydectin/valbazen at 10 days, and 20 days. She had normal poop within a couple of days and has a hearty appetite and has been drinking plenty of water. She had seemed to be improving, then the diarrhea came back and we believe she was headbutted by another doe and she began limping.
My microscope got here so the other day I did a couple of fecal egg counts on her. The only eggs I saw were identified with the help of members here as barberpole and the count was 1750 eggs per gram.

The day after she started limping she would still stand and walk a little but spent a lot of time laying down but still eating the grass around her. The following day she had normal poop again but is not able to stand. My husband was able to lift her so I could feel her feet and legs. I didn't feel any injuries or see anything alarming. I gave her a shot of b-complex because I don't know what else to do.

Her feed is a mix of alfalfa, goat pellets, soaked beet pulp, and a bit of calf manna and we offer free-choice coastal hay. Temp has remained normal. FAMACHA is still not good. I did a few days of red cell at the beginning and now give it to her once per week. I have also been giving probiotics every couple of days.

Is her inability to stand just weakness? Polio? I don't know what I'm missing.

Sorry if this is hard to follow....it's been hectic.
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I was going to say take her temp and give her B complex, but you have already done that. Hopefully, someone gives you good advice soon!! Is she eating and drinking?
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Im betting weakness especially if shes still anemic. If she is very pale I would do another week of daily red cell or get injectable iron. I don't like doing the shot but honestly in severe cases may be the best thing. I had to use here. Keep epinephrine or a large dose of Benadryl on hand in case she reacts to injectable if you use it. I have had only one goat react and she recovered quickly because I was ready with epinephrine. So have it in the syringe ready just in case.
Continue b complex daily and I would include 30 cc of 50/50 acv/water mix once a day.
I would do Tumny Tamer at least 2 times a day..4 maybe better. I'll post the mix below.
Get her up every few hours..use a old towel or blanket to support her like a sling. Open up wide from front legs to back legs and lift all four corners and get her walking. Muscle loss happens fast. Other things to do is massage her legs, with palm on hoof bottom..push legs up and in a circle like motion..like she's walking. That pressure on her hoof offers some resistance to build muscle.
Feed high protien feed , browse and alfalfa to help strengthen her and rebuild red blood cells.
Pull another fecal and check her parasite numbers.
Tummy Tamer
1 teaspoon each
Cayenne pepper
Ginger
Cinnamon
Slippery elm
Acv
Molasses
20-30cc water
Blend smooth with 1-2 garlic cloves. Drench it all.
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Thanks y'all! She is eating very well and drinking a LOT. We tried again this afternoon to get her up and standing. My husband held her while I tried to position her legs but she wouldn't even stiffen her leg enough to stand and kept collapsing her ankle.
I will try to find slippery elm for the tummy tamer. I have everything else on hand. I did give her some power punch via drench. I put ACV in one of their water buckets every day also.

I'll start in on the physical therapy now. Praying it helps!
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You can get her started without Slippery elm for now. But most pharmacy carry capsules for human use.
Do the leg work outs while she's too weak to stand..really work those legs. And move her often from side to side. Daily probiotics to help keep her rumen happy while she's down.
Another thought is colostrum. If you have any frozen.. feed her 1 iz a few times a day for 3-5 days to help repair damage from the parasites.
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You can get her started without Slippery elm for now. But most pharmacy carry capsules for human use.
Do the leg work outs while she's too weak to stand..really work those legs. And move her often from side to side. Daily probiotics to help keep her rumen happy while she's down.
Another thought is colostrum. If you have any frozen.. feed her 1 iz a few times a day for 3-5 days to help repair damage from the parasites.
I had some colostrum like two weeks ago I'd frozen for emergencies....then my fridge died overnight and I had to toss it. Of course it would help now that I don't have it!! 😩 Would powdered colostrum supplement be the same or not worth the effort?
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Oh bummer!! No powder will not be the same. A friend had a goat down like yours..I had her give colostrum along with other treatment, tummy tamer and her girl is up and going now. Takes time!
Maybe some one near has some?
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If you have a vet school near you call and see if they have any colostrum you could buy. I used to supply to the local vets and vet school for this exact reason until I stopped breeding for a few years. If they don't have any most times they know where you can get some.
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I'll ask around in the morning and see if anyone in town has some frozen. I don't think there is a vet school near me but I'll check!
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I haven't had any luck finding colostrum. I've got her regimen of supplements, tummy tamer, and feed going and she is eating VERY well! During lunch break today my husband and I were able to put together a sort of sling. We hung a hammock from the loft of the barn with a long chain and got her in it. At first she wasn't even trying to move her legs so I was gently moving them and stretching them and also kind of feeling around for swelling or to see if she'd flinch (she didn't). While doing that I accidentally touched her udder and she kicked! After about 15 minutes she started toeing at the ground a bit then eventually gently stepping and pushing to move around in a circle. Her ankles are very weak and keep collapsing if she tried to put weight on her feet. We will do the whole process again after my husband gets off work. I don't think there's any way I could do it on my own.
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Good job!! Make sure to give her a break when she shows signs of fatigue and let her rest between work out. Between her sling time..work her legs good. Always have some one with her when up in the sling 😉
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She started out slow in the sling, but after improving and moving a bit I could tell she was getting tired so we let her rest. My husband checked on her a couple hours after that and he said when he walked in it looked like she was trying to get up more than before! We definitely wouldn't leave her in the sling unsupervised though, that sounds like a recipe for disaster. I'm slightly encouraged after seeing even just a tiny bit of effort from her!
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Your doing great! Keep it up. They loose so much muscle and strength when they are down, even for a short period of time. It’s going to take some time to get it back so just keep going with her ;)
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Your doing great! Keep it up. They loose so much muscle and strength when they are down, even for a short period of time. It’s going to take some time to get it back so just keep going with her ;)
Thank you so much for the encouragement! I'm gonna keep helping her fight and pray for a good outcome!
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You are doing a great job. :)
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Thank you! Yesterday evening PT didn't go quite as well, but I think it was because she was tired from before. She did fight a bit, so I guess that's good. Hopefully we have better progress today!
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Unfortunately today was even worse. She hardly even attempted to get her feet under her. She wouldn't put weight on or straighten out her back legs at all and when she finally did get her footing on her front legs she just pulled forward to get out of the sling.
Is it just the standing that is worse or her over all health? Is she Lethargic or off food? Howa her temp?
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Just the standing, everything else is the same. Hearty appetite, drinking well, temp normal, poop appears normal and she's urinating. She can't stand to pee, so every so often we just scoot her and give her a fresh spot so she doesn't lay in her mess.
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