Sick 6 month old buck

I have had two goats get snake bite last summer..first time in 15 years. You may need to shave the area to see puncture. If the snake did a dry bite some venom may have still penatrated enough to cause swelling and pain. Hes a little guy so a full on bite would have killed him. I lost my small buck but my adult Doe was fine. You just never know. Just in case, tonight I would give Dex ( 1 cc per 20# IM) and Benedryl (I would give 10-15 cc) and a Penicillin (1 cc per 20# Sub Q). I would do cool not cold compresses on the swelling. Then get him to the vet asap tomorrow if he doesn't show any improvement. Spider bite is another possible cause. same treatment. Im just thinking to get him through tonight.

 

thats a good start tonight..cool compresses as well to help reduce swelling. DId I read you gave banamine already ?

 

great. Hopefully he will feel better soon.

 

Goodness he is TINY for a six month old. Maybe not a snake (not saying it wasnt either cause snakes are sneaky things... i do not see them in my barn but once in a while i surely see skins) but you know there is a mouse and chipmunk in the barn. Either of those could have bitten him as well. He needs a vet.

He also looks wormy to me and needs a good mineral and copper. His coat should not be that rough at all. I would also consider wethering him too when he is feeling better.

 

Right, may not be snake but with swelling all of the sudden and such seems suspicious.. treatment mentioned sure wont hurt. I would give a good check for lice too. They have been troublesome this year.

 

Oh the poor baby, he does not look good. He looks stunted and wormy, mineral deficient.

The swelling looks to me like brisket edema, it's another spot that bottle jaw can show up, as you said he is anemic.

My first thought is just get him dewormed for any strongyles and coccidia, and copper bolus him.

Falling over happens when anemia is advanced, so does crying, the gut damage barberpole and other worms cause it's extremely painful.

You need to stop the internal hemorrhaging, so give him cayenne every hour. Mix 1/2 tsp of cayenne with a little molasses and water every time.

I am sorry but I have to ignore your "negative fecals" because I don't know if you are using the correct method, and the goat looks heavily wormy.

 

What coccidia med did you give?

 

Chloe - I really would buckle down and get the vet involved. This little guy needs some professional advice. We are doing the best as we can online, but something is definitely going on with him.

 

Do you have any ponds, standing water, wet pasture, any snails? Could be flukes. They appear as barberpole symptoms but won’t show up on fecals.

Valbazen will treat adults, you do need three treatments 10 days apart, though.

When you say negative, do you mean 0? It is extremely, extremely rare to have multiple fecals that all say 0. It usually just means they aren’t dropping eggs.

I agree there’s no reason not to get a vet involved

If still anemic I’d ask a vet about a blood transfusion

 

How is the little guy? Did the vet have some answers for you?

 

I'm glad he's feeling better!
Let us know what the vet says tomorrow please.