[FarmerInaDress]

Today my 8 month old buck is acting off. He is standing listlessly and his eyes look dull. He seems a little unsteady on his feet. He does not have a fever. I think it might be polio. He has not been eating as much hay as he usually does, due to being in rut, and because he was losing weight I had upped his grain a bit for the last week. He seemed fine this morning, but now I am very concerned.

I have Thiamine at the strength of 500mg/mL and my understanding is that the dosage for this is 1cc/100 lbs administered every 6 hours until symptoms subside. I just gave him .8cc IM (he is 80 lbs)

Some sites say to give him either dexamethasone or ban amine for possible brain swelling. Should I do this? Does this sound like Polio?

 

[goathiker]

I would give him another cc of Thiamin SQ and a cc of Banamine now. Then do 1 1/2cc of Thiamine SQ every 6 hours and Banamine every 24 hours for 3 days.

 

[FarmerInaDress]

Ok, I did the banamine and extra thiamine shot. I also gave him 4.8cc penicillin in case it is listeriosis. I am so nervous. I really don't want to lose him.

 

[goathiker]

Keep him hydrated and keep an eye on his temp. Offer him tempting leaves and such to keep him eating. I have to run to town, I'll be back in about 4 hours. Cathy should be on soon.

 

[FarmerInaDress]

I got him interested in some kelp and now he is eating his hay, so there's that.

My other buck is fine, and he hasn't been interested in eating much of his grain while in rut, so I think the grain probably did it. The weather had also just turned cold and we had our first snow.

If he is interested. Should I give him any grain tonight or let his system rest?

 

[Crossroads Boers]

I'm sorry. We just lost a doe to Polio on Tuesday... Friday she was eating slow and wobbling when she walked. She went down Saturday morning, and passed away Tuesday. We tried everything to save her, and lost the battle.

Give Penicillin and Thiamine every 3 hours... Banamine would be good to give him once a day for 3 days too. We gave 15cc of Pen for our 150lb doe every 3 hours... so I would give him 7. If he goes down, get an IV in him ASAP. I think if we had been able to do that sooner, we could have saved our doe's life. By the time we were able to get a vet to put one in it was probably too late.

I agree, keep him hydrated if he stops drinking. We gave our doe 16oz every 3 hours.

 

[Crossroads Boers]

I got him interested in some kelp and now he is eating his hay, so there's that.

My other buck is fine, and he hasn't been interested in eating much of his grain while in rut, so I think the grain probably did it. The weather had also just turned cold and we had our first snow.

If he is interested. Should I give him any grain tonight or let his system rest?

I would let him eat grain if he is willing...

 

[FarmerInaDress]

We don't have any green leaves this time of year, but I cut him some pine boughs and he is enthusiastically eating them.

 

[smshooter515]

I wouldnt let him eat any grain if he had polio. In my opinion. I had a buck die of polio and the vet told me to cut off all grain and anything with sugar because the goat is thiamine deficient at this time. Healthy rumens need more roughage to counter act the sugar content in grains which depletes thiamine. Ill see if i can find the article.

 

[Crossroads Boers]

I talked to a friend who has had polio 3 times now... and she said it is from NOT getting enough grain.? If you could find that article, I'd really like to see it! I still am not sure what caused it with our doe, and really want to know.

 

[smshooter515]

I wouldnt let him eat any grain if he had polio. In my opinion. I had a buck die of polio and the vet told me to cut off all grain and anything with sugar because the goat is thiamine deficient at this time. Healthy rumens need more roughage to counter act the sugar content in grains which depletes thiamine. Ill see if i can find the article.

Added i hope it works

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/U/UNP-0065/UNP-0065.pdf

 

[smshooter515]

I talked to a friend who has had polio 3 times now... and she said it is from NOT getting enough grain.? If you could find that article, I'd really like to see it! I still am not sure what caused it with our doe, and really want to know.

I posted the article let me know if it works. I understand where some people may think that because they think the goat may need more carbohydrates but actually grain (sugar) can restrict the healthy carbs from getting to the brain because it speeds up the metabolism.

I think

I have changed my feeding program and have been successful at preventing it now. I wonder if maybe your friends could be recurring because she has upped the grain? Just a thought i may just be lucky. I did get one wether who started to show signs but he was on a creep feeder with grain.

 

[FarmerInaDress]

Thank you, the article does work.

I do think it was excess grain in relation to roughage that brought this on(if it is indeed polio, I don't really know) because I recently upped the amount and protein content of the grain I was feeding the bucks. They have not been very interested in hay or grain and were losing condition. Yuri, the one affected, usually ate his whole ration. Bucky, who is fine, never ate more than half of his ration.

Yuri is looking a little better right now. How soon would one expect to see a response to the thiamine if it was polio? I know it is way too soon for the penicillin to have any affect.

I just read the article and it says improvement from thiamine can be seen from a few minutes to a few hours after administration, so hopefully I can maintain the improvement I am seeing in Yuri.

 

[smshooter515]

Thank you, the article does work. I do think it was excess grain in relation to roughage that brought this on(if it is indeed polio, I don't really know) because I recently upped the amount and protein content of the grain I was feeding the bucks. They have not been very interested in hay or grain and were losing condition. Yuri, the one affected, usually ate his whole ration. Bucky, who is fine, never ate more than half of his ration. Yuri is looking a little better right now. How soon would one expect to see a espouse to the thiamine if it was polio? I know it is way too soon for the penicillin to have any affect.

Sometime it can take just hours but if they are really bad which it sounds he is not it can take at least 3 days to a week notice any improvement

 

[Crossroads Boers]

Yes, it works. Thanks Samantha!

 

[nancy d]

Will go back & read in a moment.
My doe was not getting any grain when she displayed signs of either Polio or Listerosis. It was not diagnosed. I slammed her with Thiamine & Penicillin for 5 days. And I mean slammed.
The first couple doses Thiamine were 8cc on a 145lb. It was 2 yrs expired but she is doing fine.

 

[goathiker]

How's he doing? I like that he's eating the pine, that's very good for him right now. Pine contains lots of good vitamins.

 

[FarmerInaDress]

He is doing a lot better. He is much more alert and interested in his surroundings. I did not give him grain but made sure there was a lot of fresh hay. He will get another thiamine shot in 3 hours. He is now munching on straw. :shrug:

Hopefully I caught it quick enough that he will turn around. He was absolutely fine at 7 AM. I noticed he seemed off at noon and started treatment around 1 PM. Thank you everyone for the advice. It means a lot.

 

[goathiker]

Sounds like he's doing well. Great!!

 

[Crossroads Boers]

Sounds like you caught it on time! Good job!