I have been raising goats for many years but this has me stumped. My grand-daughters 4-H goat has something wrong with it. About a month ago. It started limping badly. I can not find anything wrong, no wound,no swelling, nothing. She is still holding up the right front leg, and was favoring the left hind leg. She eats, drinks, etc but is not very perky. she seems to be loosing weight now. We got her from people who were going out of the goat business, last year, her twin died the next day and she refused to eat until I got her a companion. {thats were the horned grade doe in my herd came from]. She has been with my younger Nubians cause she could not go in with the other Nubians cause my Big Buck can climb over the cattle panels when he falls in 'love'. Now I fear she has some wasting disease and will give it to my Nubian doelings. Oh yes she has beened wormed and bo-se'd and vaccinated etc. HELP!! karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), April 04, 2000

Answers

Hi,

answering this from work.. do not have a lot of time... this might be foot rot from the description... limping and holding up her leg. Check out her hoof, spread them and look up in the crevice... if its bad you can see the fungus. try a fressh bleach solution.. about 50/50 is what I used and then keep applying a few times each day. or you can use coppertox... I like coppertox as it dries the area and promotes healing. Hope this helps. Will get back to you later. Good luck.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 04, 2000.

Has she been tested for Johnnes and CAE? That is the first thing I would do,both diseases are contaigious. If she is negative to both those tests, are the other goats allowing her to eat? She might perk up with some probios,you can get that at a feed store or Caprine Supply,or Hoegger's. Is she on hay or pasture? If she is on pasture and limping, that could make her lose weight. I had a buck that was always kneeling when he grazed, he ooked odd with his hind end sticking up in the air! After many months of that, I was trimming hooves and found a hawthorn thorn about 1/2" long embedded in one of his front feet. All that time I had supposed that his grazing while kneeling was just a quirk of his. Now the first thing I do when I see a limping goat is to check the feet,often part of the hoof wall has torn off, or it needs to be trimmed. But you've probably already checked the feet. Can you pinpoint just which part of the leg or foot seems the most painful? You could try feeling down the leg,gently pressing and squeezing and seeing if she winces until you find where it is the most painful. I would definitely get those tests done, because they are a lot cheaper than losing the entire herd to a contaigious disease.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), April 04, 2000.

I went out this am and looked at her feet and hooves again. UNfortunately, she does not have foot rot[i could fix that] no thorn or redness anywhere. No I have not had her tested for CAE or Johnnes, I guess that comes next, She has only been with my replacement doelings and a wether. Now I want to cuss, cause I really wanted to keep the doelings and had a fantasy of the wether pulling a cart. What about liver flukes? It has been really wet in SEKansas this year. I'll call the vet and see when I can get the blood tests done but it don't look good. thanks karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), April 05, 2000.

You could worm her aggresively with Valbazen 8cc per 100 pounds to try for liver flukes, though why would she be limping. Sounds nearly like a neruological problem to me. We had a doe that got Protozal Myilitis, she had to have had an immune diffency to allow a protozal to cross the blood brain barrier and settled into her spinal cord. She was gimpy in the rear end for about 3 weeks, and then she couldn't stand without splaying out here rear legs. No diarrhea, no fever. How my vet caught this was a total fluke! We treated her 190 pounds of 6 year old Nubain, with 6cc of injected of Ivomect Plus. We had her on dexamenthazone (dex is a steriod) and Banamine for pain, plus to calm her down, she had started to self mutilate herself! When I went into the vet and asked her about this she had this look on her face, when I said I don't have a clue what is wrong with her. She is used to me coming in and saying this is wrong and I want to try this and that. Later that evening she showed up with her books open in her truck and was certain of her diagnosis, based soley on my discription. We guessed right, Faydra kidded with 3 lovely kids, we retained a doe kid out of her and we expect to finish her Championship this year. Good luck with your doe, I know how frustrating this can be!! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 05, 2000.