Need help with sick baby goat (pneumonia)

[ameracaunagirl]

I am giving ¼cc. Why is it that I shouldn't give in the muscle? I'm not questioning your knowledge, I just want to better understand it. She has only been on it for 3 days. When should i start seeig improvements or when should i try something different if im not noticing improvements? Thank you.

 

[Stacykins]

I am giving ¼cc. Why is it that I shouldn't give in the muscle? I'm not questioning your knowledge, I just want to better understand it. She has only been on it for 3 days. When should i start seeig improvements or when should i try something different if im not noticing improvements? Thank you.

How much does she weigh?


1/4 of a mL is likely too small a dose unless she literally weighs 5lbs. This is why getting an accurate weight is critical.

You need to stop playing doctor and call a veterinarian. Most of us here DO treat problems on our own, but that is because we have experience. You'd have already started to see improvements.

You do not give penicillin into the muscle because if it is injected into a blood vessel, it will kill the animal. Muscles are very vascular, so it leads to a higher risk than SubQ.

Antibiotics are NOT given orally in goats because it will destroy all their gut flora. Goats need a functioning rumen to survive. Give an adult goat an oral antibiotic, kill off all the good flora that helps them ruminate and digest their food, and they easily die.

 

[ameracaunagirl]

No need to be rude. I was directed by a long time goat owner to use ¼ of a cc. I'm sure you all had a question of this nature at one point in time. You didn't become experienced overnight and I don't expect to either. I am coming to this site for help because I don't have a livestock vet in my area. I'm not trying to play Dr. And I find that remark extremely hurtful. I just want to help this goat. The woman who sold me the goat was very irresponsible and told me it was just a cold and she'd get over it. At least I looked further into it and am trying to help her instead of throwing her in the backyard and letting nature take its course. She weighs 20 lbs. You can try to help me help this goat or you can continue t to waste time by putting me down.

 

[Stacykins]

No need to be rude. I was directed by a long time goat owner to use ¼ of a cc. I'm sure you all had a question of this nature at one point in time. You didn't become experienced overnight and I don't expect to either. I am coming to this site for help because I don't have a livestock vet in my area. I'm not trying to play Dr. And I find that remark extremely hurtful. I just want to help this goat. The woman who sold me the goat was very irresponsible and told me it was just a cold and she'd get over it. At least I looked further into it and am trying to help her instead of throwing her in the backyard and letting nature take its course. She weighs 20 lbs. You can try to help me help this goat or you can continue t to waste time by putting me down.

Long time goat owners need to consult veterinarians, too. So you should take everything with a grain of salt, even what you read here, what all of us say. Unless someone spent years in veterinary school, then you're good.

For 20lbs 1/4 of a mL is far too little to even be effective for Procaine Penicillin G. The ramifications of underdosing an antibiotic is bacterial resistance. There is already a lot of bacterial strains resistant to penicillin. My veterinarian tells me to use 1 mL per 15lbs of goat twice a day. So 20lb kid would need 1.33 mL given twice each day. Obviously you need to do some rounding on the dose, since syringes don't measure in hundreths of a mL except on 1mL insulin syringes.

Nuflor, excede, or draxxin would be much better medications to acquire. They are far more effective in treating bacterial pneumonias, less resistance to them. But to get them, you need a veterinarian. And I would venture to bet there is a livestock veterinarian you can consult. To find a livestock vet, if you cannot find one with a google search or in the phone book, call all the normal cat/dog veterinary offices. They know where the other kinds of veterinarians are locally. I find it hard to believe there is no livestock vet. Perhaps not within a fifteen minute drive, but normally just outside of every city is farmland and with those areas, livestock that need treatment.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I don't have much more to add, but I still think calling a vet would be useful in this situation. Chances are, goat vets will be inexpensive compared to small animal vets, so it's usually not a huge expense to have one visit your farm.

When giving ANY vaccination, you should always pull back on the plunger before injecting to check for blood. If you get blood in the syringe and you are not trying to inject IV, you need to pull the needle out and try another spot.

Oral antibiotics ending in "illin" or "mycin" for any sort of animal that ferments their food is bad news (rabbits, etc.) As someone else mentioned, they kill off all the good gram positive bacteria in the gut which can cause some really serious life threatening issues.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Just wanted to add some clarification about sub Q versus IM, since there was some discussion earlier about the topic. We had a lecture today about urolithiasis in goats and one of my favorite farm vets gave the lecture. She mentioned that pencillin is fine to be given sub q in goats, and is a good option because it is often easier to teach clients how to do.

 

[cassie]

Just wanted to add some clarification about sub Q versus IM, since there was some discussion earlier about the topic. We had a lecture today about urolithiasis in goats and one of my favorite farm vets gave the lecture. She mentioned that pencillin is fine to be given sub q in goats, and is a good option because it is often easier to teach clients how to do.

I attended a seminar on small rumenants(sp) a few years ago. The vets from UC Davis told us to give all shots (except IV) to goats SubQ rather tham IM for the follwoing reasons.

1. You are less likely to hit a vein which can have lethal consequences

2. You are less likely to cause injury

3. You are less likely to hit a nerve

In other words, as your vet said, SubQ is easier and a lot safer.