We took our little sick goat down there to find out exactly what was wrong with him. The vet checked him over and couldn't find anything so he ran some blood work. Vet2Be got to see how to draw blood from a goat (from the vein in it's neck).
Buddy is a S'nubian, his dad is a Saanen, his mom is a Nubian.He will be 8 weeks old May 13th (tomorrow).
The blood work came back with the white blood cell count twice the normal range, and the red blood cell count less than 1/2 the normal range. The vet said that was an indication of a heavy parasite load and decided to run a fecal exam.
I've run fecals before, but haven't ever been very good at them. Since the microscope is broken right now, I haven't run them at all.
Vet2Be got to see how to run a fecal and he got to look through the microscope. The vet said that the poor little goat was over-run with coccidia. I wouldn't have guessed coccidia at all because Buddy didn't have scours. He could hardly walk and spent most of his time lying down in the sunshine.
We are sure that he had Goat Polio (Polioencepholamacia) a few weeks ago. We also think that is what caused the 'bloom' of coccidia since coccidia love Vitamin B. Buddy had received a number of vitamin B shots since polioencepholamacia is a Thiamine deficiency.
Buddy is still on 2 shots of PenG Max (2cc) twice a day for a total of 7 days. The vet said his white blood count is so high that he is probably still fighting an infection of some sort. He is also being treated for coccidia, as are all the animals on the property.
This is Buddy's mom, Clover.
Glad you got it figured out!! His momma is one pretty lady goat!! I hope he gets better soon!
ReplyDeleteYes, we are very glad, too! He is the one kid (out of 7 born) that is pre-sold. Good thing he is being dam raised, he wouldn't have made it if he was being fed replacer.
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