Please my Goat has a problem I - she has scaly white patches around the eyes and on the bridge of her nose also around her mouth - She is black - my other goat the Senna is not affected - she also has like dandruff in her coat - I gave her a medicated bath and it semms better but the white patches are getting worse, no sores, she eats well and is in good spirits. It looks like psoriasis on people, what do I do? I rescued the to goats from a bad environment and they are two years old now (I have them for about two years - they both were just tiny Kids when I got them) I wormed her with Ivermectin, but I cannot afford a vet to come to the house. Maybe some one can give some advice. Hillary (the goat) realy would appreciate it.

-- Gisela Di Carlo (just4me@pikeonline.net), August 31, 2001

Answers

Try calling a vet and giving them the description over the phone. Our vets are usually glad to help if we can't bring an animal in.

Could it be some kind of mites! If she is eating good that's a good sign but you need to get this corrected! I'll be watching these answers because I hope to get some Angora and pygmy goats soon!

tell Hillary we hope she does well!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), August 31, 2001.

I don't know if this would work on goats or not - I've never had any. But we have several barn cats here on the farm, and it seems like whenever a new kitten shows up, they get ringworm, and have those scaly spots like you're describing. We put some antifungal ointment on them - usually just takes a couple of applications, and they're fine again and regrowing hair within a few days. You might try some antifungal ointment with your goat - I don't think it could hurt!

Good luck to you and your sweet Hilary!

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), August 31, 2001.

this might sound like a silly question but is she getting enough sunlight? A few days out in full sunlight can clear up alot of problems like you described.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), August 31, 2001.

Is the hair around her eye white or just the skin? If the hair is white, she probably has a copper deficiency. This can be remedied by a copper bolus, but it's very important to know whether or not she is defiecient and how much, so the vet needs a blood sample. If it is just the skin, you can try tea tree oil ( this is an essential oil), applied and scrubbed in gently with something like an old toothbrush. If Hillary has not had a bath, you should try that and it should help. A vitamin shot might also help them. Where do you live and what is the climate like there?

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), August 31, 2001.

Be aware that if it is ringworm, it is contagious to people.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), August 31, 2001.

We had aproblem similiar to this years ago. But it was on our goats legs not on her face. The vet thought it was some kind of "mite" but she never did get back to us after taking a sample with her. We just happen to put bleach on it a few days and it cleared up. Maybe it was a fungus or something but we did use it on the same goat for what we thought was "ring worm" at one time too. Seemed like this little doe always was getting something...but she did live to be 14 years old. I CERTAINLY WOULD NOT USE BLEACH ON THE FACE !!!!!!!! Had an old Scottish doctor when I was growing up that use to say "bleach for anything on the outside ...and whiskey for anything ailing you on the inside". Hmmm...still sounds like good advice. Good Luck and give your vet a call !!

-- Helena Di Maio (windyacs@ptdprolog.net), September 01, 2001.