We have a 3yo, boer/nibian cross buck, who up until 3 days ago was fine. in the last 3 days, he has been acting like he has no strength in his hind legs. has anyone out there seen this before? what is it and how do i fix it? thanks in advance.

-- bill van in e. tn (van37725@yahoo.com), January 28, 2002

Answers

Need more information does he eat and drink ok ? Is he urinating normal?Could it be urinary calculli?this is a blockage in the urinary tract.Kids get weak hind legs from Selenium deficentcy.you cant get to a vet you could use the goatworld.com 911 take his temperature first they will ask this.Pam

-- pam stewart (pams65@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

Pam is correct in watching to make sure he is peeing normally. No little squirts or dribbling, but a good steady stream. Selenium defficency could be a problem, but doubt it would present like this.

Something to think about is menegial worm, a horse vet would call it protozoal militis. Simply put this could be a problem this time of the year if your pastures or the pastures your hay is cut are frequented by white tail deer. The goat ingests the protozoa, which is able to break through the blood brain barrier, goes down the spine and sets up housekeeping in the spinal column. Wherever the protozoa is, will swell, this pressure on the spinal column is what slowly paralyses the buck. We had a doe have this, by the time we would have gotten the CF test back on the fluid, she would have been dead. We gave her a good sub q injection of Ivermectin Plus, Faydra was about 185 and we gave 6cc. She then went on Dexamethazone injections for 6 days, 1st 1cc per day for 3 days IM then 1/2 cc IM for 3 more days, same with Banamine for the pain, she wasn't really in pain but had started to self mutilate herself. 1cc per 100 pounds IM is the dosage on that. We also gave her fluid therapy and cocci treatments and Naxcel profilactically for pnemonia, if your buck goes down with this he won't die from the protozoa but from being down and getting fluid in his lungs. Faydra fully recovered, she does have a small hitch in her getalong.

Another thought is Johnnes, but by the time you see the classic pose of him carrying his rear legs forward towards his belly, they are usually quite thin by then. 3 years old is pretty classic though for Johnnes, a fecal sample could tell you if this is your problem.

And then though all of these are "zebra answers", for some "horse" answers has he been fighting with other bucks, or has a dog gotten to him? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

he's eating and drinking fine, urinating fine. he's just acting weird. he'll throw his head around as if to help move his back legs. if you need any more info please ask , i'll be monitering this all night, and tomorrow, thanks

-- bill van in e. tn (van37725@yahoo.com), January 28, 2002.

and his stool is normal

-- bill van in e. tn (van37725@yahoo.com), January 28, 2002.

hi vicki. nothing got to him, no other animals etc, he's the biggest buck here, around 200lb. we have one wither(by him, two years old, but he knows who is boss), two other bucks,one year and 7 months, and4 does, one experiencing contractions NOW. ask more questions

-- bill van in e. tn (van37725@yahoo.com), January 28, 2002.

Hi Bill, Sounds a lot like what we used to call "Spastic Paresis"...a neurological or radial nerve paralysis causing disfunction of the limbs, usually affecting the rear limbs and/or entire hindquarters. Can be cause by plant poisoning, CAE, listeriosis, ticks or other cereo-spinal parasites as Vicki described, moldy/toxic feed, brain abcess, malignant melanoma of sciatic nerve, among others. Doesn't help you much, does it? I wish I could pin it down more for you...but seems to me that in these cases, it's always some kind of neurological damage...I'd consult a good vet if I were you. If nothing else, you could try B Vit Complex injections, or Rx thiamine injections - can't hurt at this point. I'm sorry...can't remember if you said he'd had a recent fecal done to check for parasites?? A heavy burdon of those can really debilitate a goat in a hurry too. Good luck with him.. Patty Prairie Oak Miniatures http://www.minifarm.com/prairie_oak visit our message board! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Littlegoats moderator

-- Patty Putnam (WI) (littlegoats@wi.rr.com), January 28, 2002.

Is there a way you can physically assess the strength of his hind legs, without unduly stressing him?

This will only give you a current reference/starting point, which you can use to determine if he gets weaker.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), January 28, 2002.

You've checked his feet? Does he press his head against anything? Drooling? Doing anything else "weird"? Has he got a fever? Can you describe his walk? He's not spinning on a rear leg, circling? (Listeria) What's his diet? Salt mineral? Any changes in his diet? No herd history on your farm or neighboring farms? Any new stock come on to your farm? Getting a vet's opinion is pretty much your only real option, but it'd be nice to have some ideas to talk to him/her about.

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), January 28, 2002.

Great point from Patty. Go to saanendoah.com and use the info on B vitamins to dose your B complex from the feed store for B1 only, and treat him for polio/thiamin defficency, something we simply don't see here. Also go through his hay and grain, and feeders, if he is the boss he may also be the one eating enough of something bad to be causing listerosis. The head throwing could be from his brain swelling and be his frist neurological symptom, though it also paralysis the facial nerve also and makes them drool. Also with polio it isn't a generilized weakness of the rear but of rear toes flipping under and dragging little lines in the dirt with the toes. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

Not to completely discount the idea but no it doesn't sound like Polio. The B won't hurt!! I've only seen two cases of Polio. One was typical, broke out and ate some oats she hadn't been on (it's the rapid change not the grain)Not much but I had her seperated to watch and found her flat out. One shot of thiamin and she was up again, proved the problem. The other was in a new born lamb! Weird but thiamin was the only real treatment it got(after B complex and a call to the vet)

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), January 29, 2002.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS TYPE OF SYMPTOMS HAS BEEN DUE TO SELENIUM DEFICIENCY. A COUPLE OF CC'S OF BO-SE AND THE SYMPTOMS HAVE RESOLVED UNLESS YOU'VE RECENTLY GIVEN SELENIUM I DON'T THINK IT WOULD HARM AT ANY RATE...GOOD LUCK...RON

-- ron (ronmister@hotmail.com), January 29, 2002.

Here is some more information, was taken from another site with another buck with the same symptoms. Vicki

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He may have a condition called spastic paresis. Does he walk kind of stiff legged but seem to run with a normal gait? This is a classic symptom They also tend to stand and walk mostly on their front legs with the back legs stiff and straight. Its not suppose to be painful but I have my doubts...It is inherited, I wouldn't use this buck for breeding. The non descended testicle is also inherited, and unacceptable in registered animals. There is a surgery for the spastic paresis if that is it but it only works for about six months. I believe Maxine Kinne has an article on her site about spastic paresis http://hometown.aol.com/goatlist/home.html I've had a couple of goats with this, when they started to "not enjoy life" and got too stiff to get around at a walking gait, I sent them over the Rainbow Bridge. Cutting the grain out is probably a pretty good idea, keep his weight under comtrol. The diet won't really affect the spastic paresis but a no grain diet is better for buck's urinary health.

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 29, 2002.