Goat can't move its legs!

[BantammChick]

I have a kiko goat that is almost a year old,and he appears to not be able to move his legs. We tried to lift him off the ground, and he kept his legs folded under him. He will move forward in his spot,so I don't think he can use his legs anymore.What could be wrong with him?

 

[cassie]

Two possibilities are polio and white muscle. Get some BoSe and some thiamine from the vet ASAP. Usually with polio they throw their head back and act like they are blind. One thing about the BoSe and the thiamine, they can't hurt and if either is the problem you should see a rapid response. The BoSe is for white muscle which is a selenium deficiency. White muscle causes muscle pain and weakness among other things.

I personally have had at least two cases, and I have heard of others, where the goat could not walk. Onset was sudden and these animals were alert. They just couldn't walk or stand. They did have good appetites. I put them in the barn and kept food and water within reach. I moved and turned them regularly. I kept them as clean and dry as possible with plenty of dry bedding beneath them. This went on for some time, maybe several weeks, and eventually they recovered. It is important to stretch the legs every day so the tendons don't contract. I never knew for sure just what the problem was. Someone who should know said it was PPLO which is mycoplasma. Hope this helps.

 

[BantammChick]

Thank you for your help,I think he could have white muscle. We just tried to lift him up,and his legs were trembling,and then as soon as we let go,he would fold his legs back again.

 

[Ducksandchickens]

Thank you for your help,I think he could have white muscle. We just tried to lift him up,and his legs were trembling,and then as soon as we let go,he would fold his legs back again.

Take the poor thing to the vet!

 

[BantammChick]

I've done some more research, I think he could have coccidiosis.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

It's hardly ever a good outcome when it gets to a point where a goat is down. I can only be brutal honest. Unless you have a veterinarian inspect your animal, you could be wasting valuable time.
Things YOU can do:
Do you have nutridrench?

Pull down his eye lid. It should be pink. If it is white, you should worm the buck/wether.
Cydectin or Ivermectin. I have the doses if you have the treatments.

You should have a stool anyalisis done first but, he is down.
Can you get to a vet?

You can treat for cocci with corid. 30cc per 100 lbs. That is a 5 day treatment.


Pull down his eyelid, check the color. Then see if he has the scours.
get back on here or contact a vet/ or do both.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Join us: BackYardHerds.com
@Latestarter might have an insight.

 

[cassie]

As for the doom and gloom folks, it depends on WHY the goat is down as to what the prognosis is. If it is white muscle, a shot of BoSe will produce a fairly rapid improvement. Since both BoSe and thiamine are prescription drugs the OP will have to at least consult with the vet in order to get them. If cocci is suspected, have a fecal sample run and that requires at least talking to the vet unless you know how to do it yourself. With cocci I would think there would be scours. That said, there is no reason the goat could not have both white muscle and cocci at the same time, so if the cocci test is positive, treat for both. As for my paralyzed PPLO (probably) goats, dragging them bodily to the vet would have done no good because my vet had never seen or heard of anything like it either. With good nursing they recovered nicely. This was so many years ago I don't remember if I gave them antibiotics. If I did, it would have been with something that was effective against mycoplasma.

 

[res]

Not that it will help with the current situation, but it is quite easy to run your own fecals at home if you have the right equipment.

Toys 'R Us is going out of business, and you can actually get a 800x microscope there for under $40 right now to run your own fecal. 800x is the minimum power needed to run fecals, if you can find a stronger magnification cheaper, go for it instead!

 

[Latestarter]

I am NOT a vet, and recommend a (goat knowledgeable) vet get involved here.

What you are describing is NOT cocci. Cocci does not typically immobilize the goat as you describe. Cocci is an intestinal tract issue that normally causes scours, bloody stool (not always), rapid loss of weight and dehydration. Cocci is also typically NOT an issue in adult goats as by the time they are a year old, their systems have become adjusted to cope with cocci unless there's some other traumatic issue that throws their system completely out of whack. Cocci is normally a kid issue between 3 weeks and 6 months.

The fact that he's alert and not throwing his head back and acting blind and like he has a killer headache indicates to me that it's probably not goat polio. I believe it's white muscle disease, though typically that's a young kid issue as well and not common in adult goats. You will need to get a vet script for BoSe. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/musc...meness-in-goats/white-muscle-disease-in-goats
You can get vitaminE and selenium gel at most farm stores and it should help but is not as fast acting as a shot (obviously).

Actually, I believe/am pretty sure 400X magnification is more than adequate for worm fecal analysis. I suggest you do actual EPG counts (Eggs Per Gram) using McMasters slides and keep records for each goat. Some goats can carry a heavy worm load with no apparent ill effects and other animals can go down with anemia with a very light worm load. If you keep records you can treat only those animals that actually need treatment. You should do a fecal before treatment and then again 7-10 days after treatment is complete to check efficacy of the treatment. You're ideally looking for 95%+ kill of the parasites.