Toxoplasmosis and future pregnancies
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Are you sure it was toxoplasmosis and not chlamydia?
Yes, the vet in the past strongly suspected chlamydia, but when I had seen him a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that it's quite possible that we're dealing with toxo. We had administered the tetracycline before breeding her to address chlamydia. I have put her with the buck three times during peak heat times since Sept and she is still not pregnant. I'm just wondering if it IS toxo, can a doe not get pregnant again, especially if she got toxo toward the end of the pregnancy and birthed three weeks early?
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As far as I know, yes they can go on to have viable pregnancies after treatment. However, you need to talk at length with your vet.
If toxoplasmosis is the cause of abortion in a herd, a veterinarian should be consulted. Feeding decoquinate (2 mg/kg bw/day) or monensin (15-30 mg/head/day) throughout pregnancy may reduce the abortion rate in a herd with a history of toxoplasmosis. Sulfonamides are used to treat toxoplasmosis in goats. Clindamycin (12.5 mg/kg, IM, BID for 3 weeks) is also recommended. There is no vaccine available in the U.S. for toxoplasmosis.
If toxoplasmosis is the cause of abortion in a herd, a veterinarian should be consulted. Feeding decoquinate (2 mg/kg bw/day) or monensin (15-30 mg/head/day) throughout pregnancy may reduce the abortion rate in a herd with a history of toxoplasmosis. Sulfonamides are used to treat toxoplasmosis in goats. Clindamycin (12.5 mg/kg, IM, BID for 3 weeks) is also recommended. There is no vaccine available in the U.S. for toxoplasmosis.
Oh wow, I had no idea that toxoplasmosis had a treatment plan. Well, I'm giving this doe until next week. She was bred with our buck about 18 days ago, and the vet saw on the ultrasound that she was cycling that day. I had put her with the buck the day before and as soon as I got home from the vet, I had placed her back with him. That was 18 days ago. I really hope she doesn't go into heat again in about 3 days or so. If not, and we're suspecting she's finally pregnant, can I get her tested for toxo?
Well, this Nubian doe was suppose to be in heat about now, it's been 23 days today, and no real signs of heat. Over the last 2-3 days we have been trying to put her with the Nubian buck and Nigerian Dwarf buck. We just leave her with them individually for a few minutes to see what she will do. She runs away from the Nubian and head butts the ND.
So, it may be quite possible that she's pregnant, which would be crazy. I'm curious, but if she has had toxoplasmosis and never received treatment, could that be a potential problem if she's pregnant? Can does go on to have healthy babies without any treatment for toxoplasmosis?
So, it may be quite possible that she's pregnant, which would be crazy. I'm curious, but if she has had toxoplasmosis and never received treatment, could that be a potential problem if she's pregnant? Can does go on to have healthy babies without any treatment for toxoplasmosis?
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Ugh, sorry you had to go through that. I dealt with too in my herd last/this year and so many pregnancies were lost. That said, all my does appear to be bred now. No issues on any of them at all. I have been feeding DQ, but not sure if that is actually helping anything. I can't tell you what will be the end result as I have about 70-80 days left until kids, but so far so good!
I was actually reading this early this morning! https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/toxoplasmosis#:~:text=Toxoplasma oocysts have a tough,the brain, heart and muscle. I was going to post pictures of all the aborted, stillborn, and weak kids that were born to a livestock group. I was going to share that article among several others for people to be aware of barn/stray unfixed cats and the damage they can cause to a herd.
"Goats typically become infected by eating grass, hay and grain contaminated by cat feces. Sometimes abortion is repeated in the next gestation, but previously-infected goats are usually resistant to abortion or other clinical signs when challenged by the toxoplasmosis organism."
I was actually reading this early this morning! https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/toxoplasmosis#:~:text=Toxoplasma oocysts have a tough,the brain, heart and muscle. I was going to post pictures of all the aborted, stillborn, and weak kids that were born to a livestock group. I was going to share that article among several others for people to be aware of barn/stray unfixed cats and the damage they can cause to a herd.
"Goats typically become infected by eating grass, hay and grain contaminated by cat feces. Sometimes abortion is repeated in the next gestation, but previously-infected goats are usually resistant to abortion or other clinical signs when challenged by the toxoplasmosis organism."
I love the article, thank you! I also appreciate your input about what had happened in your herd.
If you don't mind, I would like to give you a quick little bit of background of our Nubian goat and would appreciate any thoughts...we had purchased her from another farm, and they had bred her to their Nubian buck. We picked her up right after she was with their buck, and so she was with us for almost her entire pregnancy. She had given birth about three weeks early and she birthed two female kids. This was back in the spring of 2018. One survived a few hours, and the other one was about a day. We tried so hard to save them. We were COMPLETELY new to goats. I mean, we knew very little about them. We had purchased this doe with another one from this same place. We put the two does with our chickens. They had access to hay, but no real consistency to minerals. Side note: the second doe we had was removed from our property. We found out she had CAE.
Then, in the fall of 2018, she was bred to our Nubian buck, but aborted a few weeks later. She bled very early on in the pregnancy. In the early part of 2020, around February, I had decided to take over the goats. Up until this time, my husband mostly was taking care of them. My husband was burnt out and not interested in the goats. I had to reprioritize some things, so they then became a super high priority for me. We have redesigned our pasture, invested in chaffhaye and other parts to their feed, herbs, a variety of minerals, essential oils, and lots of attention. Given all of this, I felt pretty confident that this doe would get pregnant and likely have a healthy birth. Well, we have put her with the buck twice and the ultrasound showed no pregnancy at all. Doesn't look like she aborted or anything. She fell back into heat after 21-22 days. I couldn't believe it. When I had brought her to the vet about 3 weeks ago, he told me there are no babies, but she had follicles ready to drop. We had put her with the buck just the day before and after getting home from the vet's, I threw her in with him immediately. We are giving her one more chance. I am hopeful, but not really confident this can happen.
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Good luck.
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