Buckling with Coccidiosis

[Jane Wagman]

I have a buckling born Feb 13th, That went off feed (just for 24 hours) and started having sours on the 21st of March.   I immediately started him on CoRid, and when he hadn't improved by the morning of day 4 I took him to the vet.  Fecal was done, and yes he has Coccidiosis.  

The vet said CoRid was fine, but that the instructions on the bottle were for cows and too low of a dose for goats.  So she upped the dose.  I was starting to see improvement and then on Saturday he started having pure liquid scours.   Called the vet's office but they had just closed for the day.   The tech gave me the vets cell phone number - I left a msg but it was Monday before they called me back.   By late afternoon I had given up on the vet, and went looking for Albon or Sulmet.   After checking with ALL the feed stores within 30 miles I finally found one place that had a single bottle of Sulmet left.  No one had Albon (or DiMethox). 

Started him on Selmut Sunday morning.  Started seeing a slight improvement - at least he wasn't having liquid scours.  On Tuesday morning just after bath to clean him up he gave me a nice sample while I was blow drying him - so I took it in for  recheck.  He still had lots of Cocci.   The vet had some Albon - so he started on that this morning.  By 4pm today he was back to liquid stools.  :( 

The vet is very frustrated that he isn't responding to treatment.  I went and picked up some prescription stuff from her this afternoon to try and dry up the diarrhea since none of the home remedies I had tried was working.   She also had me repeat his morning's dose of Albon this evening.   At least he likes that stuff and sucks it right down.  

Anyone else experienced anything like this?  I've never had a goat with Cocci before and after spending hours reading on the net all I can come up with is that his symptoms don't match the usual description.  He is eating just fine - gained a pound this past week - and definitely isn't lethargic.   He is litterally bouncing off the walls with boredom since he is separated from everyone else.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Glad to hear about the little buckling, but sorry about the little doe. We had a pasture flood once, and the bucks would have drowned, except that my daughters swam across the floodwaters to rescue them. I wasn't home at the time and wasn't exactly happy to hear about what they'd done, because they could have been washed downstream. The adult bucks all recovered, but there was a young buckling who died a few days later. Little ones just can't handle getting chilled like that.

Jane Wagman said:

Just a quick update - Mojave is healthy now and back in with the does. He continued to grow through out his illness so no stunting! At two months old he is already trying to bred the ladies so it won't be much longer until he moves to the buck pen. Right now if he manages to bred any of the ones he is in with we won't mind in the slightest. :)

Unfortunately the little doe that was rejected by her dam died a week ago. She just never managed to fully recover from the trauma of that cold bath. My children have learned a very painful lesson that will hopefully stick with them for a long time.

[Jane Wagman]

Just a quick update - Mojave is healthy now and back in with the does. He continued to grow through out his illness so no stunting! At two months old he is already trying to bred the ladies so it won't be much longer until he moves to the buck pen. Right now if he manages to bred any of the ones he is in with we won't mind in the slightest. :)

Unfortunately the little doe that was rejected by her dam died a week ago. She just never managed to fully recover from the trauma of that cold bath. My children have learned a very painful lesson that will hopefully stick with them for a long time.

[Jane Wagman]

She is doing pretty well with the transition all things considered. She came to me her own this morning, but isn't latching on without encouragement yet. Once the little buckling is healthy, I am going to be moving him, her and an almost yearling doe that is still trying to nurse her dam to another yard over by the bucks. The Jr. doe is still trying to nurse her dam, (who is due in June) so she needs to be separated - again. And it will give the two bottle babies an older goat to learn how to be proper goats from.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Oh, no! It's tough when mama decides that a baby isn't hers. The first time that happened we persisted for days. It got to be so ridiculous, because we would go out there and hold the dam while the baby nursed. The mama would be screaming terribly, and the baby got the point that she didn't even try to nurse if we weren't there to hold the mama, so we realized it was futile. Hopefully she transitions to the bottle quickly.

Jane Wagman said:

Me too, because now I've got another problem.

Yesterday while I was in the midst of a severe migraine my children went out and gave the 10 day old doeling (who is a runt) a bath in the water trough in 45 degree weather. She nearly died of cold, and when she finally revived and I returned her to her dam a couple of hours later her dam rejected her, although her two brothers have no problem letting her snuggle between them like always. I've had to hold the dam to let her nurse, because if she approaches the dam knocks her over. Shoot even if she isn't trying to nurse and just gets close, the dam knocks her over.

So the plan of attack on this one is to separate mom at night and then let the boys out with her during the day and make the little doeling a bottle baby. Argh - I really hate to do that, but I also am concerned for her safety since its been 24 hours and the dam is still wanting nothing to do with her.

[Jane Wagman]

Me too, because now I've got another problem.

Yesterday while I was in the midst of a severe migraine my children went out and gave the 10 day old doeling (who is a runt) a bath in the water trough in 45 degree weather. She nearly died of cold, and when she finally revived and I returned her to her dam a couple of hours later her dam rejected her, although her two brothers have no problem letting her snuggle between them like always. I've had to hold the dam to let her nurse, because if she approaches the dam knocks her over. Shoot even if she isn't trying to nurse and just gets close, the dam knocks her over.

So the plan of attack on this one is to separate mom at night and then let the boys out with her during the day and make the little doeling a bottle baby. Argh - I really hate to do that, but I also am concerned for her safety since its been 24 hours and the dam is still wanting nothing to do with her.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

At six weeks, he is old enough to be drinking water from a bucket. If you're still worried about him getting dehydrated, you can always add some water to his milk. I know bottle babies always act like they're starving. :) Glad to hear things are looking up!

[Jane Wagman]

Had another fecal done this am - finally a reduction in the number of Cocci! And I cut back on the amount of milk he is getting - so I have one really ticked off buckling right now. :)

[Jane Wagman]

He is getting 10-12 ounces three times a day at 6 weeks old. Of course he didn't start out at that, its been a gradual progression, and he was at that amount before he got sick. I supposed I could cut back, but then I run the risk of him getting dehydrated.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

When I started raising goats, I asked several long-time breeders how much to give a Nigerian kid, and they varied from 18 to 24 ounces a day. I can testify to the fact that too much milk will give them diarrhea, because I overfed a kid once. Sorry I don't remember any more how much I'd given her, but I've never had a kid get diarrhea when they were getting 24 ounces or less per day.

Jane Wagman said:

Talked to the vet - she said it is definitely Cocci. And he didn't start the medicated feed until a few days ago. Prior to that he was on alfalfa pellets which he barely touched and grass hay. I'll take him off the medicated feed and just give him hay - thats about all he is eating in the way of solid foods anyway.
Vet has a call in the Oregon State Vet College (I think that is where she graduated from) and is going to let me know if anyone there has any other ideas than what we have tried. She said she was up late researching his case last night because he has her so puzzled. OSU is nationally know for their large animal practice and they are goat friendly enough to take the whole class to a large Nigerian Dwarf breeder for clinical training.
BTW - just weighed him and he is at 15lbs - up from the 13.5 that he was last Wednesday. He is staying hydrated thanks to the milk - but I'm wondering if maybe giving him as much as he wants is contributing to the scours.

[Jane Wagman]

Talked to the vet - she said it is definitely Cocci. And he didn't start the medicated feed until a few days ago. Prior to that he was on alfalfa pellets which he barely touched and grass hay. I'll take him off the medicated feed and just give him hay - thats about all he is eating in the way of solid foods anyway.

Vet has a call in the Oregon State Vet College (I think that is where she graduated from) and is going to let me know if anyone there has any other ideas than what we have tried. She said she was up late researching his case last night because he has her so puzzled. OSU is nationally know for their large animal practice and they are goat friendly enough to take the whole class to a large Nigerian Dwarf breeder for clinical training.

BTW - just weighed him and he is at 15lbs - up from the 13.5 that he was last Wednesday. He is staying hydrated thanks to the milk - but I'm wondering if maybe giving him as much as he wants is contributing to the scours.