After getting through winter with all our situations and everything calm for the last 4 months now I think we have a problem with Meningeal Worms. Don't know anything about them, have never dealt with them just started reading what could be wrong and this seems to point in all the right directions. First doe started dragging leg behind her yesterday. Thought my buck (which is in full rut) may have rode her the wrong way and hurt her leg. But today she is favoring the other leg also. So we have one leg dragging behind and the other not much better. She is up for now, don't know how much longer. I have read that a real wet season may bring on these worms. Well needless to say we live in KY and for the last 2 months we have had monsoon weather. I have read that treating her with 3 days of injectable ivermectin and following up with 5 days of cattle strength safeguard may resolve situation if caught in enough time. I need input from all of those that have ever dealt with this worm. Can the rest of my herd become infested? Have about other means of treatment. Any casualties? Success rate?
We had a goat come down with deerworm (affects the central nervous system) a couple of years ago. Our vet treated it with ivermectin (injection) but you have to check with your vet (or Goat 911) for the dosing. Also with an anti-inflammatory since the inflammation also contributes greatly to the symptoms and destruction (we used the "bute" that we had on hand for horses). The progression stopped, and the goat recovered, but always walked with a slight limp, since we did not recognize what it was immediately. The important thing is that you have to act fast and with sufficient high dosage of ivermectin. Also, you might consider rotating the pastures so that after a couple of months 90% of the worms will die in the unused pasture.
Ours came in on hay, I am fairly certain anyway. Deer are the hosts of part of the worms life, so if your hay pastures before they are cut, or your pastures have access to deer, than this could be it. No deer, no meningeal worm. We also treated it with a heavy dose of Ivermectin Plus, like 6cc for a 180 pound doe. She was also started on Dexamethazone and Banamine for 6 days both 1cc IM for 3 days and then 1/2cc IM for 3 more days. We also gave her SMTZ (sulfamethzine) pills, crushed in water, to combat coccidiosis, (Corid, Albon, etc. - whatever you normally use for coccidiosis) something we have severe here in stressed animals, and also on Naxcel, 5cc for 5 days IM since my doe was down, and with our humidity pneumonia will strike easily. We used the Banamine to take the edge off of some chewing she was doing on herself. My vet was sure this is what it was, I had no clue. The very first thing I did was to hit her hard with Vitamin B, treating her for Poliomyelitis. Probios after each by mouth treatment also. As soon as the vet is around, pick up a bottle of ringers (Lactated Ringers Solution), to give subq if she stops eating, it all depends how far down the spinal cord the protzoa sets up housekeeping to know where the swelling will eventually paralyze her. Though Faydra went on to kid uneventfully for years afterwards, and we have never had this again, she always did have a weird sway to her rear end.
