| Author | Message | ||
     Maggie Leman New member Username: mleman Post Number: 20 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 64.102.64.113 Rating: N/A |
Check to be sure you are using the Fortified B Complex with 100 mg/ml of thiamin (vitamin B 1). If so give 1 cc per 20 pounds minimum (give 3 ccs) every 4 to 6 hours by SQ injection. Also start him on penicillin at 1 cc per 20 pounds by SQ injection twice a day, just in case you are treating listeria (a bacterial disease with symptoms very similar to polio which is a simple thiamin deficiency). GIve probiotics or yogurt (1 to 2 tablespoons) once or twice a day to repopulate the intestinal tract microbes. Thiamin is quickly used up or eliminated by the kidneys so you have to giv high doses quite freqently. Once you start to see good improvement you can back off to 2 to 3 times a day for about another week. try to find the cause of teh polio, for my goat that has now had it twice this winter (first case of polio on my farm in 15 YEARS) it has been eating old leaves. He absolutely loves leaves and will eat them whether they are moldy or not, giving himself recurring bouts of polio. | ||
| Diane smith (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 24.19.61.253 Rating: N/A |
I too have been through this. It is hard to watch the things you love suffer.I was to new and didn't know what to look for. Thank God for Maggie and the internet. As far as water goes you can try to interest him with warm water with some molasses in it or some gatoraid. This is what I used and my goat loved it. Good luck and be patient I am sure Maggie will be back soon! | ||
| Lisa Peveler New member Username: lisapeveler Post Number: 6 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 70.58.196.99 Rating: N/A |
I gave my goat the probios the following day after starting treatment. If I recall, my goat did not show "true" signs of improvement for 18 hours and she got so bad we almost considered putting her out of her misery. If it is polio, the most important thing is to do the full course of the Fortified vitiamin B shots or Thiamin -if thats what your vet gave you - do not stop even if you see improvements. Maggie has written several responses to goat polio this winter - it seems to be a bad year for it. Go do a search and make sure your giving the right dose depending on what you are giving. She breaks down all the different ml's(?) per mg's(?) of thiamin straight out of the bottle, in fortified and regular vitamin B (something like that)for the right dosing. If you still feel you need help go to the 911 medics page and get contact info. - but I do know you need to get water into him - that's a given for all creatures - and that I don't know what to tell you. Like I said, I'm no expert AT ALL I just felt for you hanging out there and I just went through this. It was very tough and heartbreaking to watch. Good Luck - keep us posted. | ||
| tracyd (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 204.120.18.28 Rating: N/A |
Ahh.. life! Yay!  hmm probios... I've seen that. I'll stop by the farm store tomorrow and pick some up. Do you think I should feed him the probios right away, or after he's finished taking the penicillan shots? Yeah, he doesn't like the shots much, and tonight he actually struggled a little, and let out two loud bleats. He must be getting some strength back. He still hasn't eaten anything though. And will only drink if I force it into his mouth with a dropper. My husband just informed me tonight that the goats were both fine Sunday night when he was playing with them, so apparently I was able to catch it fairly quickly (Monday morning). I just hope it is goat polio... because it sounds as though if it's listeriosis, it's less likely he will survive it. Scary thing is... several accounts mention that they start to get better then turn for the worse again. Great. All I can say is... thank God for the internet. } | ||
| Lisa Peveler New member Username: lisapeveler Post Number: 5 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 70.58.196.99 Rating: N/A |
This is a fantastic sight for information and getting the help you need. Someone will help you get through this. My goat just had a severe case of polio and was able to make a full recovery. I don't know if your goat has this or not, I am by no means an expert. My goat stood but acted very "drunk". She had a very slight elevated temp. I had her at the vet within an hour and she was in full seizures. Give Fortified Vitamin B Complex @ 1cc per 20 lbs every 4-6 hours for the first 24 hours and then 2-3 times a day for an additional 5-7 days. Give SQ. All those shots IM has got to be killing the goat - och If it's not polio, it won't hurt him. He'll just pee it all out. I also gave my goat some probios to help get the rumin going again. Within 4 days, she was 100% normal and bouncing around again. Very scary. Hang in there, someone will get to you! | ||
| Amy Maxwell New member Username: amyqmaxwell Post Number: 5 Registered: 01-2006 Posted From: 70.57.15.71 Rating: |
You might just look through old messages here to see if you can find anything similiar and read the responses. I'm not very experienced when it comes to health issues like this as our goats have always been healthy until recently. I posted and ad too on 911 and didn't really get any help either. Good Luck! | ||
| tracyd (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 204.120.18.28 Rating: N/A |
k, well I think I'm just talking to myself anyway, but Ernie is doing slightly better today. I've continued injections of super B complex. He's able to walk in circles again, and still bumping into things, but he did poo and pee and I've moved him back to his own area in the barn. He's by no means well, but at least it's a step in the right direction. | ||
| tracyd (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 204.120.18.28 Rating: N/A |
and one more thing... since I'm bad at including everything in one post apparently... Ernie hasn't pooped or peed all day. This could be because he isn't eating or drinking? The vet couldn't find any evidence of any sort of blockage. I'm hoping he will have gone by morning since I forced him to drink some water tonight. Is there some sort of yummy food that goats love and that is good for him that I can encourage him to eat? He is showing no interest in his hay at all. I also just gave him an extra booster shot of "Super B complex" since another post recommended it every 4-6 hours for the first 24 hours. I really hate giving injections. I have a feeling I'm gonna get really good at it after all this. Poor Ernie. | ||
| tracyd (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 204.120.18.28 Rating: N/A |
hmm... not sure that worked.. I'll try once more. Ernie weighs 47 pounds. If that matters. I think he is a pygmy cross. | ||
| tracyd (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 204.120.18.28 Rating: N/A |
I know this will bore you to death, but I'm going to be very thorough, because I'm not sure what is relevant. Sorry! I have an 18 month old wether (purchased him at 12 weeks old already castrated. He was sick when I went out this morning to feed. He is in the pen with his twin, the only two goats I have. I didn't do chores this weekend (my daughters did), so I'm not sure when he came down with this, but he was fine on Friday evening. Here's the scoop: When I came out today at about 930 am, I went to give the goats their hay. Bernie came trotting over to say hello, but Ernie just stood with his legs splayed to the sides as if he were trying to keep his balance. His head was swaying from side to side. I started watching him more closely, he would only take the smallest steps here and there and ended up doing circles. He would fall if I tried to get him to move anywhere. I picked him up and brought him into the house, and he stood on my rug and swayed. No bleating, which is odd since he usually is very vocal. After calling around (his regular vet was not in) I found another vet that treats goats. They called in the doctor and told me to come right in. (30 min away though so didn't get there until about 1). The vet took his temp. 105.4 degrees. She checked him rectally. She noted he was depressed/lethargic and that he seemed to be having neurological problems. He had evidence of slight dehydration, otherwise his blood chemistry was normal. normal red cell count. couldn't get a white cell count because the machine wouldn't read goat blood. Normal heart rate. She worked for an hour trying to get him to extend his penis... something about his urethra process... but couldn't get it all the way out so ended up doing an ultrasound. Said his bladder was normal sized, and he didn't appear to be suffering from any sort of blockage. So then they started in on other things which I brought information on. Listeriosis and goat polio were a couple that I mentioned. They also mentioned CVE or CVA or something... which they hoped it wasn't because there is no cure. Basically, she wanted to try treating him for the goat polio and the listeriosis (sorry if I'm butchering spellings...) so she put him on the following... Nuflor- 1.4 cc IM every 48 hours for 5 doses (plus the one given today) Banamine- 0.5cc IM once daily for 2 days (plus the one given today) Vitamin B - 4cc IM twice daily for 3 days. According to what I read online, it seems like these are totally different dosages than what is recommended by those who raise goats. What do you guys think.. are these adequate amounts? Is he being treated as he should be? He has been in my living room for 6 hours now and hasn't moved other than when I forced him to get out and stand a bit, and I fed him water with an eye dropper which he did seem to take gratefully. He still will not eat. I hope someone can help me out, I feel so horrible. As I said, we only have these two goats, and they are very much a part of our family. I'd sure hate to lose the little guy. |
