Baby goat limping...1 week old..

[lozeaujo]

Help!
My baby goat is only one week old. She is normally running everywhere and playing. But today she is laying down all day and limps on front left leg. She will barely touch it to ground. I looked for any "owies" and dont see anything. I cleaned hoof and put hydrogen peroxide on it. I have no idea what is wrong with her leg? Everything looks normal. Except the fact she wont put it on the ground when walking and is laying around like she dont feel well.
Anything I can do to help? Any help greatly appreciated!
thanks

 

[cassie]

Feel the leg carefully. Does the knee or any other joint feel hot and/or swollen? Take her temperature. If she has a fever start her on antibiotics. She is the right age to be showing signs of navel ill. Navel ill is a systemic infection caused by bacteria entering the body through the navel cord shortly after birth.The usual sign is one or more swollen joints. The knee is the most common. If untreated it can be lethal, but prompt treatment usually clears it up.

 

[lozeaujo]

Thank you she seems to be fine now today. I think I should have antibiotics on hand just in case of future issues. Can you please tell me what kind is the best to have on hand? I was going to order them from valleyvet online pharmacy. I am new to all this and want to make sure I do things right.
I would feel horrible if something bad happened to the little baby. I am so attached to her.
thanks
lorane

 

[cassie]

I used to keep penicillin on hand. Be sure to vaccinate your kid for entero and tetanus. Get a vial of CD/T and that will take care of it. It is a good idea to keep some clostridium perfingens antitoxin and some Gas X in your goat medicine chest. Hopefully you will never need them but they are cheap insurance. GasX is an excellent remedy for bloat and the antitoxin is for entero. Vaccinating for entero greatly reduces the chances your goat will get it, but it doesn't eliminate it. Both entero and bloat are true emergencies and time is of the essence for successful treatment.

If you haven't done so already, go to caprinesupply.com and ask for one of their catalogs. In addition to supplies for goats, the catalog has a lot of good information in it.

 

[lozeaujo]

Thank you so much! I will order the catalog now. I really appreciate all your help and information.
thanks
lorane