Hello all! I' m new to goats and have recently bought two 7 week old kids. My dos started having runny eyes and nose with yellow and light green mucus, so we went to the vet. He gave them both a shot and some oral antibiotics, ammoxicilin I think. Well after a few doses my buck started getting diarrhea. I know that diarrhea in goats can get nasty fast but also diarrhea, at least in many animals, is normal with antibiotics. I can't find anything about this anywhere in my books. What should I do? I forgot to say other than the sinus infection they are healthy and are still eating/drinking the same as before the meds. Thanks so much!
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The kid that has the diarrhea came from a lady who had just a couple of goats. All her goats were healthy, but there was one kid that didn't survive past 2 weeks. She said that someone told her it probably had goat polio, that is became paralyzed and she put it down. The dos that came from the petting zoo is doing much.better. she has never had diarrhea and her drainage has cleared up. My buck is eating and drinking well, I've taken away their feed and have left them with hay, forage, and of course water. In the past I've been known to spend thousands to fix my animals, everyone thinks I'm crazy. But to me I've promised these goats to take care of them, so whatever it takes, I will do it. I'm hoping it doesn't come to thousands spent but if it does then I hope I can get a payment plan ;)!
Considering the background, it could be a number of things. I would not assume it's from the antibiotics. Diarrhea is a symptom of a number of diseases and illnesses in goats. Johnes is even a possibility, which is incurable and fatal and would stay in your soil for years. Depending upon how much money you want to spend, he should be thoroughly examined. If you have other goats, he should be quarantined for at least a month. If you were planning to get more goats, I'd suggest waiting until these two are six months old and can be tested for CAE, CL, Johnes, and brucella, which is the standard bioscreening recommended by Washington State.
The goat that originally was sick came from a rescue/petting zoo. There was an adult there that had the same symptoms. But there were also sheep,apace,ducks,turkey,chicken, etc there. They got a shots and oral abx at the vet, the drainage has stopped. Maybe the doe picked something up from another animal, but she didn't show signs of being sick until the morning after coming home. I know that humans and lots of other animals can get diarrhea from abx, but this is the first remnant that I've had. His stools have firmed up somewhat, so hopefully it is passing. But any help is greatly appreciated
I personally have never had a goat get diarrhea from antibiotics, which doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. However, I have also never had a seven-week-old kid with any kind of infection, so I'm questioning the type of environment these kids came from. Sinus infections in goats are not normal -- typically would be a sign of bad air quality, which would mean the kids were kept inside in not-so-clean conditions. Coccidia tend to be especially bad in that type of environment also, so you should have a fecal done to rule it out.
I moved your post for you!! Hoping Deb will see this soon and be more help to you in the area of your Q. In the mean time... there is THIS convo that might give you some help.
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