LGD sick for a week+

537 Views 17 Replies 6 Participants Last post by toth boer goats, Apr 21, 2022

Lilgoatgal

Discussion Starter · Apr 12, 2022

Training up our first LGD (8mo old) and she has gotten pretty sick & shared it with another dog and possibly me too?? A baby goat had scours at the same time but the dog doesn't have contact and I think he was just overfed after all. Have seen 2 vets with no diagnosis. A week ago Sunday started with explosive diarrhea and vomiting. Put her on chicken/rice diet and have had just D continuing ever since. Some days she won't eat, others picks at the food, drinks less than usual, otherwise seems pretty normal. She got IV fluids and nausea meds late last week after acting more lethargic. Stool testing came back negative for giardia, parasites & worms. No intestinal blockage. Have talked with 2 vets and they just want us to wait it out. That's fine, but in the meantime an inside dog (that doesn't have contact with her but can access the area she potties in) has also gotten sick with the same symptoms, and I have had nausea, fatigue and headache for almost the same amount of time. No other animals or people are sick here but I have autoimmunity and get weird things others might not.

Any ideas about what could be going on here? Zoonotic illnesses? Bacterial infections found on a farm? We only have goats, cats & dogs currently. The first dog seems much better physically, but stools are not back to normal yet.

Before getting sick she was digging in a sizeable mound of 3+ year old cow poop and related materials from an old barn stall clean out. Not sure if that's a concern. The previous owners used poison around that I think is all cleaned up but she could have dug some up? I think the symptoms would be different though.

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happybleats

· #2 · Apr 12, 2022

Strange. We had two of our dogs do this as well a third started and I treated at first sign with essential oils for the gut. My first to get sick was Timothy. Hes a great Dane and you can imagine the mess he made over night.. yup all over the house!! He was sick off and on for a few weeks..after the first week was mostly gas and controlled scours..meaning he new to run out side. Then our rat terrier got the same symptoms. Smaller mess but still not fun!! Got them both through it with a digestive blend of ess. Oils and LOH back on track herbal blend. Then Maggie started with horrible gas...I started her on the oils and she never went past being gassy and didn't really want to eat. All are 100% recovered. Timothy lost a bunch of weight but he's gaining it back. We thought maybe they got into something out here. Hope your pup recovers quickly for you!!

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Lilgoatgal

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 13, 2022

happybleats said:
Strange. We had two of our dogs do this as well a third started and I treated at first sign with essential oils for the gut. My first to get sick was Timothy. Hes a great Dane and you can imagine the mess he made over night.. yup all over the house!! He was sick off and on for a few weeks..after the first week was mostly gas and controlled scours..meaning he new to run out side. Then our rat terrier got the same symptoms. Smaller mess but still not fun!! Got them both through it with a digestive blend of ess. Oils and LOH back on track herbal blend. Then Maggie started with horrible gas...I started her on the oils and she never went past being gassy and didn't really want to eat. All are 100% recovered. Timothy lost a bunch of weight but he's gaining it back. We thought maybe they got into something out here. Hope your pup recovers quickly for you!!

Shoot, well I should have treated much sooner it seems. Glad to hear your dogs all recovered nicely from it though, that makes me feel better. I gave a double dose of an herbal wormer although it didn't seem to help at all. Have been giving a little coconut oil and probiotics too. I'm worried whatever it is they will just get into it again, so have had the LGD in our garage and out of the pasture. What a mess she's making! She's going mad with boredom and driving me a little crazy too so I think she needs to go back out tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!

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happybleats

· #4 · Apr 13, 2022

Yes..it was scary.

Sfgwife

· #5 · Apr 13, 2022

Did they check the pup for cryptosporidiosis? I jave seen several people lately on a lady ag fb forum that have gotten this from scouring babies. Whatever it is you need stay away from the pup as much as you can because of the pregnancy…..

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FizzyGoats

· #6 · Apr 13, 2022

Crytposporidiosis was my first thought too. If it is, the biggest thing is to keep the dogs hydrated. You may want to add electrolytes to their water and do what you can to get their gut health back on track and get them absorbing some nutrients. Hopefully you don’t have it. Sometimes people/animals get it and don’t have any symptoms. Others can have severe symptoms. Any infected person or animal can have symptoms for a few weeks but actively pass the infection (via stool) for a couple months. I’m not sure if that’s what it is, and maybe your vets already checked for that. Whatever is going on, I hope you and all your animals are able to recover from it quickly.

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Lilgoatgal

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 14, 2022

FizzyGoats said:
Crytposporidiosis was my first thought too. If it is, the biggest thing is to keep the dogs hydrated. You may want to add electrolytes to their water and do what you can to get their gut health back on track and get them absorbing some nutrients. Hopefully you don’t have it. Sometimes people/animals get it and don’t have any symptoms. Others can have severe symptoms. Any infected person or animal can have symptoms for a few weeks but actively pass the infection (via stool) for a couple months. I’m not sure if that’s what it is, and maybe your vets already checked for that. Whatever is going on, I hope you and all your animals are able to recover from it quickly.

I looked it up and that sure sounds right, symptomatically. Will call the vet in the morning & see if that was on the test. Do you happen to know if that's an illness we can keep passing around or if it's one & done? I can't find that info online. Am assuming it would have come from the pile (hill) of cow manure the dog was digging in, and wonder if it would be worth it to try to remove it from the property? It would be multiple truckloads... but more opportunity for exposure though, and maybe blow it all over the place??
Ugh. I don't want any more animals or people to get it.

Sfgwife

· #8 · Apr 14, 2022

Lilgoatgal said:
I looked it up and that sure sounds right, symptomatically. Will call the vet in the morning & see if that was on the test. Do you happen to know if that's an illness we can keep passing around or if it's one & done? I can't find that info online. Am assuming it would have come from the pile (hill) of cow manure the dog was digging in, and wonder if it would be worth it to try to remove it from the property? It would be multiple truckloads... but more opportunity for exposure though, and maybe blow it all over the place??
Ugh. I don't want any more animals or people to get it.

the dog could have even licked your clothes or hand after you had touched the sickie and gotten it. Not necessarily from the pile.

. the vet can hopefully help you more. But def talk to your ob doc too please. After you get more info if crypto is what it is. It can make you super super sick and dehydrate quickly. Many people end up in the hosp from dehydration with it.

Lilgoatgal

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 14, 2022

Sfgwife said:
the dog could have even licked your clothes or hand after you had touched the sickie and gotten it. Not necessarily from the pile. . the vet can hopefully help you more. But def talk to your ob doc too please. After you get more info if crypto is what it is. It can make you super super sick and dehydrate quickly. Many people end up in the hosp from dehydration with it.

Okay, thanks. I'm not pregnant though, thankfully

but I will speak with my autoimmune specialist to get her opinion. Both dogs are doing much better this evening. I'm still having nausea & fatigue.

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lada823

· #10 · Apr 14, 2022

If the manure pile had been there for a while most likely the heat from the composting would have killed any yuckies. I'd say it's more likely from the goats or some other source.

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Sfgwife

· #11 · Apr 14, 2022

Lilgoatgal said:
Okay, thanks. I'm not pregnant though, thankfully but I will speak with my autoimmune specialist to get her opinion. Both dogs are doing much better this evening. I'm still having nausea & fatigue.

i thought i read that you were preg. Oops.

Lilgoatgal

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 14, 2022

lada823 said:
If the manure pile had been there for a while most likely the heat from the composting would have killed any yuckies. I'd say it's more likely from the goats or some other source.

Thanks, I was wondering about that too. It has been there a while and I'm not sure how long the parasites can survive buried. I did find out that they can go from the topsoil down into the water supply and that they're very hard to eliminate once on your farm. Not great news.

Lilgoatgal

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 14, 2022

Sfgwife said:
i thought i read that you were preg. Oops.

I wouldn't mind if I was, but am pushing the limits of biological ability at this point

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FizzyGoats

· #14 · Apr 15, 2022

How are the dogs doing? Did you end up recovering ok? I’ve heard water is a really common way to get it once it’s on the farm, especially puddles and ponds and such. I’m not sure if it’s a one and done thing or if they will/can be reinfected. Did your vet say if they tested for that or not? They might know about the risk of reinfection.

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toth boer goats

· #15 · Apr 16, 2022

How are things?

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Lilgoatgal

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 20, 2022

FizzyGoats said:
How are the dogs doing? Did you end up recovering ok? I’ve heard water is a really common way to get it once it’s on the farm, especially puddles and ponds and such. I’m not sure if it’s a one and done thing or if they will/can be reinfected. Did your vet say if they tested for that or not? They might know about the risk of reinfection.

Well, they ran a general fecal and all came back normal. We all got better (after 2 weeks and some herbal wormer treatments) and then the LGD got sick again

So I agreed to do a round of chemical wormer for her and see how that goes. It turns out Crypto is very common in the northeast but not common here in Wyoming because we're so dry. So it's unlikely but still on the radar, and since the test was going to be $240 we decided to try the treatment first. More likely in the vet's eyes is giardia so the wormer will cover that and some other common parasites.
You're right about the water and we're on a well so I'm also having that tested just to be careful. Indoors we have a filter.
Hoping this takes care of it. Hard to have an LGD in quarantine from her buddies. I'm sure that stress isn't helping.

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FizzyGoats

· #17 · Apr 20, 2022

Poor dog. It is so hard for them to be away from their pack and herd. It sounds like you’ve got a good vet working to help get her better. I hope the chemicals kick it and she can be back happily working soon.

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toth boer goats

· #18 · Apr 21, 2022

Prayers 🙏 🤗

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