We have a 2 year old buck who, as of this morning, has slight paralysis of his back legs. He is walking, or kind of hobbling, and is eating normally. He doesn't seem to be in pain as his behavior is normal. Strangely, he is also missing the tip of his tail hair. The very tip of his tail looks like someone trimmed the hair, exposing the tip of his tail itself. I did some digging immediately and read up on Meningeal worm. We are in Southwest Alabama where there is a lot of rain which certainly fits the description of the areas prevalent with Meningeal worm cases. Knowing this will be benign even if this is not Meningeal worm, I treated him with 10x dose of Safeguard as prescribed by Tennessee Meat Goats. We do have an appointment with our vet tomorrow. Could this be anything else?? Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated!
Here's what @SalteyLove does for m-worms: B-complex 6cc's per 100 lbs around the clock Pennicillan 10 cc's per 100 lbs around the clock Dexamethasone 6 cc's per 100 lbs once a day slowly decreasing dosage daily SAfeguard Liquid 23 cc's per 100 lbs for 5 days
Yes but the B-Complex and Penicillin are in case there is question between Polio/Listeriosis and Meningeal Worm. in this particular case, I don't think you need the Polio/Listeriosis treatment as a precaution unless he appears dizzy or drunk or you see dialated pupils or jittery eyes or drooling or food falling out of the mouth. The tail hair is unusual, typically if there is hair loss it is chewing along the spine but I suppose the worm could head "south" instead of "north" along the spine and cause itchy tail. Definitely do no leave the vet without Dex or at least Banamine. One of these is critical to reduce the brain swelling causing the stumbling
Definitely the safeguard and Dex. If you can't get Dex, use banamine. While recent studies show Ivomec doesn't help, I still do a shot of Ivomec as well.
Thanks, I took a screen shot of this from one of your posts on a different thread a while ago and saved for-worm. Thanks for clarifying