Coughing goat

[PotterWatch]

One of my girls is coughing off and on. When we first got them home, Bella was coughing every once in a while, but seems to have gotten over it as I haven't heard her cough in weeks. Fleur, however, is coughing for a couple minutes a few times a day. She is eating, drinking, and is perfectly active, just has a cough. Should I try getting a vet to see her or is there something I can do at home for it? It doesn't seem to be very bad, but she has had this cough for a couple weeks now and while it isn't getting worse, it doesn't seem to be getting better either.

 

[greyfields]

Goats are very susceptible to pneumonia. I've lost more goats over the years to it more than anything else. I strongly recommend you get it checked out with a vet and then be incredibly vigilant about the treatment. Too many times people don't continue the antibiotics long enough and it comes back.

 

[helmstead]

I would suspect either:

dusty hay/environment
cold
pneumonia
lung worm

All treatable

 

[Chatychick]

I would worm them with Valbazen as it treats the lungworms...worked for me on my new goats...pnuemonia unless they are running a temp I would check first before treating for that. I personally would worm first to see if that helps...nothing like a nagging cough...

 

[PotterWatch]

I believe she is pregnant. She was exposed to a buck in October and hasn't shown any signs of being in heat since then, though I can't say for sure that she settled. I didn't worm them when we got them because they had both been bred and because they had been wormed before being bred. Can/should I still worm her even if she is pregnant? I can probably get a vet out to see her, but he only works on Saturdays, so it wouldn't be until next weekend.

 

[helmstead]

I don't use Valbazen on anything pregnant, but some people will use it as long as the doe is past 45 days of gestation.

Ivermec is safe to use for all stages of pregnancy and nursing...so at minimum you should deworm them with Ivermec + a couple of times.