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Posted by GoatWorld on June 08, 2002 at 19:45:22:
Hi folks,
I received this email from this lady just awhile ago - wrote her back - received a response. I kind of wanted to post this so the rest of you can throw your two cents in if you want. I'm also posting this to the Goat 911 ---
THE ORIGINAL EMAIL:
This is the first time I've discovered Goat World.com and am grateful to you for any ideas you might have. I have a 3week old buck. He is extrememly dear to me and I have taken him to several vets in my area over the past 4 days and they can't "seem to put their finger on it". I , meanwhile am watching a formerly healthy frisky goat wasting away. He has been eating Purina kid milk replacer since he was six days old. In the beginning he had no difficulties. Symptoms began around 14 days old. He caught what appeared to be a cold, in that he started sneezing and coughing, etc...We took him in, he received a shot of anti-biotic(LA200) and was sent home. He continued to struggle and began spitting up milk, through his mouth and nose, and this condition has continued until now he can keep nothing down. We are trying tiny amounts of electrolyte solution just to keep him from totally dehydrating. He's been back to the vet and received two injections of Nuflor and Banamine but has continued to have a fever and constant discharge. Pneumonia has developed but it seems to be a result of all the fluid in his nose, drainage, etc...X-rays also showed that his liver was quite large and our vet wasn't certain if that was really normal or not. His experience with goats is not terribly extensive although we are in a Kansas farm community. Have you ever heard of this? Any help at all would just be so greatly appreciated. We are scared we will lose this little guy because we can not find anyone who knows what to treat. Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Cecilia
MY INITIAL RESPONSE:
Dear Cecilia,
I'm sorry to hear your buckling is having trouble. It sounds to me as
though he is having an allergic reaction to possibly the Kid Milk
Replacer. This is a shot in the dark of course, but that would be my
first educated guess. There are a number of factors involved here that
would indicate other possibilities as well. I'll try to sum up what I can and see if helps at all.
The first thing I would need to know is your goats temperature. Any of
our Goat 911 team would need this as well. I am presuming that your vet determined that either A), the buck is in pain or B) he has a fever or C), a combination of both. That would be the reason to give the Banamine.
The other thing - from the day 6 to the day 14 time frame you mentioned, was he outside at all? Exposed to the weather such as cold, wind or rain and then warmed up? This very well may bring an onslaught of Pneumonia on. The nasal discharge, is it brightly colored or a clear mucous?
You did not mention the mother of this goat. Did you get this young buck after he was born or was he born to one of your goats that you raise? The reason I ask is because I am wondering if he received adequate colostrum. Obviously you are bottle feeding him for some reason and that very well may be the key to it there. If there is a history on the Nanny, that would be helpful.
From my experience, some newborns do well for the first few days (or
weeks) and then suddenly are hit like a ton of bricks. It is almost
inexplicable but certain factors such as genetics are also involved.
There is a particular genetic defect called G-S-6 that I have heard much about that seems to affect many goats on the "dairy" side of the
industry. The complications from what I have knowledge of are varied but basically put, the goat is stunted, never seems thrifty healthwise, and just is basically a rather sickly goat in comparison to other goats its' own age. When this sets in, know one knows for sure.
At birth the young buck should have received a passive immunity from his mothers colostrum and that should have become his immune system for the next several weeks as his own begins building. If the Nanny had specific health problems (apparent of undetected, there is always the chance that this was passed at birth. Hard call on this area but very possible.
I would look into changing his formula to a self made formula (there is a recipe for a kid milk replacer and supplement in the GoatWorld Articles section). As far as the electrolytes, be sure to use a brand that contains very little sugar as sugar tends to promote diarrhea and you defeat the purpose of trying to rehydrate the buck. As I mentioned in the beginning, this is very possibly an allergic reaction - just as young babies (two legged kids) can often be born lactose intolerant. A goat being a living being is subject to the same types of curves that mother nature deals each and every one of us.
I will discuss your situation with our Goat 911 team and see what they
think. Please keep me up to date on your situation.
Best regards,
Gary Pfalzbot
HER RESPONSE EMAIL:
Gosh! Thanks for your speedy response. We had also discussed an allergic reaction here at home, after spending the afternoon at GoatWorld. Great site!! His temp has fluctuated but has been hanging in the high 104's. Hence, the Banamine. As for the weather. Yes, he was outside on the breeders farm and we had a cold rainy snap over the Memorial Day weekend when we got him. We dried him slowly with a blow dryer and we have the kids living indoors with us until they(there are 3 of them total) are weaned. His mucous today has turned to a yellowish color, but when he regurgitates after eating it appears to be almost pure milk. The vet checked his soft palate for deformities and there appear to be none. But it's like 10 to 15 minutes after he eats that he starts spitting and blowing milk all over. He's funny, but aren't they all? He slings it like Beethoven the dog slings slobber!!!! The mother is at the breeders farm. We raise them for pets so they remove them between 4 and 8 days old. He was 6 days. He nursed her fine to my knowledge. He takes the bottle but much slower than his sisters. He chews and messes around incessantly. We are changing the replacer as we speak. I will keep in touch. Again, thank you , Gary. I truly appreciate your time!!! Take care. Ceci
If anyone has any ideas please let me know.
Best regards,
Gary
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