I Need Goat Help

[myfinefeatheredfriends]

So I have a 4 month old Alpine doeling who was acting very lethargic since I bought her when she was 10 weeks old. Then she started having diarrhea about a month after we brought her home. I tried baking soda for bloat, deworming her and giving her vitamin b and probiotics. Nothing worked. Finally I took a fecal sample to the only vet in our area who deals with goats - mind you though he doesn't specialize in goats, just does the basics (we don't have any other goat vets within an hour of our area) and the fecal came back that she had coccidia. I wanted to talk to others who have actual experience with this. The vet prescribed Albon, which we gave her twice a day for 5 days. By that time she was acting like a goat again and her droppings were solid. However it has been a couple weeks since the treatment and she has slowly been going downhill. Then today the diarrhea started back up. I am not sure what to do. I have never had to deal with coccidiosis in any of my animals before so I am new to this. The vet said it could cause internal damage to my goat if let go long enough but how many times will I need to treat her before it clears up and/or she develops an immunity to it? Do they ever fully recover from it (like can she go on to have kids or will they automatically get it too since their mom had it)? None of my other herd members have it and I did separate her from them. My vet recommended Sulmet but it is $70 at TSC and Corid or Di-Methox isn't available. Is there any all natural alternative to cure it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

There are no all natural coccidia treatments, although some animals can build up an "immunity" to it if you keep the levels in their gut down low enough...
My dogs kept getting coccidia over and over again. There's probably something in the environment causing re-infection. It's own poop can do this, even. If you keep your goat on the medication long enough it should go away forever and your goat would be fine. It's a very common problem in lots of animals and very treatable with modern medication.

 

[Stacykins]

So I have a 4 month old Alpine doeling who was acting very lethargic since I bought her when she was 10 weeks old. Then she started having diarrhea about a month after we brought her home. I tried baking soda for bloat, deworming her and giving her vitamin b and probiotics. Nothing worked. Finally I took a fecal sample to the only vet in our area who deals with goats - mind you though he doesn't specialize in goats, just does the basics (we don't have any other goat vets within an hour of our area) and the fecal came back that she had coccidia. I wanted to talk to others who have actual experience with this. The vet prescribed Albon, which we gave her twice a day for 5 days. By that time she was acting like a goat again and her droppings were solid. However it has been a couple weeks since the treatment and she has slowly been going downhill. Then today the diarrhea started back up. I am not sure what to do. I have never had to deal with coccidiosis in any of my animals before so I am new to this. The vet said it could cause internal damage to my goat if let go long enough but how many times will I need to treat her before it clears up and/or she develops an immunity to it? Do they ever fully recover from it (like can she go on to have kids or will they automatically get it too since their mom had it)? None of my other herd members have it and I did separate her from them. My vet recommended Sulmet but it is $70 at TSC and Corid or Di-Methox isn't available. Is there any all natural alternative to cure it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

if she is lethargic, then she needs treatment conventional treatment now, not something natural (which only works if a goat is in good condition beforehand and only has a small load, and it is given on a regular basis). Coccidia is a killer of kids. It can cause permanent damage to their intestinal lining, reducing nutrient absorption, and possibly stunting the goat.

Corid not at TSC? It absolutely should be. Both in bottled solution and a powder to be reconstituted. Also, TSC should have packets of dimethox in powdered form, too. I've seen both dimethox and corid at several TSCs, strange if your does not. Did you ask for help finding them? Sulmet and albon is the same thing, and similar chemically to dimethox...just in an expensive form. Think about it, that bottle will last you forever, if that is the only thing available. Any other goats can use it, too. Or you can just get more albon from the vet, but that would be just as expensive as buying your own bottle of sulmet (which remember, is the same thing as albon).

If coccidia is the problem, you need to treat her every 21 days until she is much older. Most goats can be taken off the treatment schedule when they are six months or older, but some might be more sensitive to the coccidia. Adult goats can handle a small load, kids cannot. Eventually, their immune systems take care of it, since ALL goats have coccidia in their gut, just normally at levels that doesn't cause disease.

They do get it from adult goats, their mother, for instance. Little kids nibble on everything after they are born, including poop. When they mouth the poop pellets of an adult goat, they get infected. It also gives them the beneficial bacteria that their rumen needs, which is why they do it. But coccidia blooms out of control in kids and causes disease.

 

[CapricornFarm]

For improvement of diarrhea, I use Milk of Mag or Kaopectate. Do not let the goat have pellets. Electrolytes in the water, and as much leaves and grass as possible. But yeah, Cocci can kill. Don't wait to treat it.

 

[Cknldy]

Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats- great read and has a recipe for treating scours. Ts sells medicated feed but hay should also be available free choice.