Early Abortion

This kidding season is the worst I've experienced so far. The latest blow is one of my favorite does having an early abortion. She was only about two months along. I noticed last night she has blood matted in her tail. I checked for injury but couldn't find one. So I think the only explanation is she lost the pregnancy. She seems completely fine otherwise. So, what could cause this? I supplement copper and selenium. I don't feel like it could be anything contagious because I've had three other does kid healthy kids and one other doe who has carried to month four...I am holding my breath until she kids at the end of next month. This doe is also not usually bullied. I haven't given her any medications or dewormers. She is in good condition. There are only two things that have been different: 1. The girls recently started grazing a new area a couple of weeks ago and 2. The past three days it has rained a lot so they have been barn-bound until yesterday. Are there any abortive plants? Could stress from being stuck in the barn be a factor? Is there anything I should do for her other than keep an eye on her? I am waving the white flag at this kidding season. I'll be so glad when my last doe kids and I'm done for the year. (Also I'm sorry, I know we've recently discussed this, but as I recall the reason for Glenna's loss was most likely trauma from bullying...that doesn't seem likely for my doe...she's the largest in the herd. Also my doe's pregnancy wasn't as far along.)

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  • Thanks Rachel!

    I got another email from Dr. Evermann and he said he had "addressed" the matter with the other members at WADDL. For someone who is such a strong advocate of pasteurizing all milk, I was impressed that he seemed so upset about this misinformation being passed around. 

  • (Sorry for the late reply!)

    After my initial panic, I've thought about this a lot and was really questioning the info about the milk as well. It didn't make sense that in the email she said cats were the only carriers (other than eating undercooked meat), and goats didn't pass toxo in feces or bodily fluids...but then said there is "increasing evidence" of it being passed in raw milk. Everything I've found elsewhere only lists cats as transmitters of the oocysts as well. 

    As for the signature, it was signed by Tessa LeCuyer, DVM. (I'm glad I saved the email!)


    Emily said:

    So here is something interesting. I tested my goats for Toxo and one of them came back positive for antibodies. I spoke with a Dr. Everman at WADDL on the phone today and he said that there is no evidence that says Toxoplasmosis is ever spread through the milk. He still advocates for pasteurizing all milk before drinking for other reasons, but that toxoplasmosis is not something humans need to worry about contracting from drinking milk raw. According to him, cats are the only known species that have the ability to pass toxoplasmosa to other animals in any way. 

    He asked that I forward him the response you got from WADDL because he wants to know who is giving out false information. Apparently he's gotten a lot of calls about this lately and it's upsetting him. 

  • Rachel, did anyone specific sign the response you received? 

  • So here is something interesting. I tested my goats for Toxo and one of them came back positive for antibodies. I spoke with a Dr. Everman at WADDL on the phone today and he said that there is no evidence that says Toxoplasmosis is ever spread through the milk. He still advocates for pasteurizing all milk before drinking for other reasons, but that toxoplasmosis is not something humans need to worry about contracting from drinking milk raw. According to him, cats are the only known species that have the ability to pass toxoplasmosa to other animals in any way. 

    He asked that I forward him the response you got from WADDL because he wants to know who is giving out false information. Apparently he's gotten a lot of calls about this lately and it's upsetting him. 

  • Thank you! That is all I had ever heard about it too! Now I really want to do more research on it. I don't have any cats so It's not a huge risk for me, but I know a lot of people with barn cats and dairy goats. It's scary that you can't drink the milk once the goat has it!! Especially as a woman who is currently pregnant. 

  • Feel free! The only thing I knew about toxoplasmosis before all this was that pregnant women shouldn't clean litter boxes, and I imagine that a lot of people are the same way.
  • Rachel, do you mind if I share the response they sent you on a facebook group I'm in? This is very interesting and I think it's important for people to know. 

  • Okay, I emailed WADDL so I could get the response in writing and share it. Below is the information they gave me. I'm thankful that cross contamination is not a concern within the herd now, but I'm so disappointed that drinking the milk raw isn't possible. :( 

    I think I have figured out how she got exposed, as the cats don't actually go into their living area, to my knowledge. As I feed hay, a little drops each time on the ground and floor of the barn. I clean this hay waste up periodically and use it in the garden. When moving them back and forth from pasture, they sometimes grab some loose hay off the ground. (The infected doe is really bad about doing it, too, and generally getting into anything she shouldn't. She's also my dog food eater when she gets the chance.) I'm thinking that is how she got it.

    I'm going to do toxo tests for all the does when I do their routine testing, and I'm really hoping that no one else picked it up. I'll also be testing the two wethers who I'd planned to butcher when they're old enough... I don't know what I should do with them if they've gotten it somehow. They shouldn't have, since they are still nursing, but knowing my luck...

    I also want to get rid of my cats. I hate to do it, and maybe I'm over reacting, but I just don't want to risk this happenening again. I don't have a way to keep them out of the hay. In fact, they love to sleep on the haystack. She could have been infected from that, too. If anyone wants some very sweet cats...

    I'm glad that, considering everything she could have had, this isn't a death sentence....but man, it's so so frustrating. :(

    "Thank you for your questions about toxoplasmosis. You are correct that generally reproductive loss only occurs when the animal is exposed to toxoplasma for the first time during pregnancy. After that initial exposure, animals are believed to no longer have reproductive losses due to toxoplasma, but the animals do not actually clear the infection. Therefore, most animals will test positive for years after the initial infection, but it is possible for immunity to wane over long periods of time; an infected animal may someday test negative, although many will never go to negative (but their titers will likely decrease over time). Toxoplasma has a relatively complicated lifecycle, but the only animal that passes infective oocysts in the feces is the cat. Therefore, goats do not pass infective organisms in their feces, or bodily fluids for that matter. However, they can serve as a source of infection for humans and other animals via undercooked meat and there is increasing evidence that there is a risk of infection due to consumption of unpasteurized milk from infected animals. Infective toxoplasma cysts remain in the goat’s muscle and other tissues for life. Therefore, infected animals can serve as a source of infection if other animals eat them. Goat-to-goat transmission of toxoplasmosis is not very common (and when it occurs, it is typically from dam to kid). The best way to control toxoplasmosis is to control exposure to cats. Infective oocysts in cat feces can persist for a very long time in the environment and can contaminate feed and water sources (including hay). The CDC website is helpful in demonstrating the Toxoplasma lifecycle: http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/toxoplasmosis/biology.html"

  • Rachel,
    I'm very interested in your story. This is new to me (I'm pretty new to goats)
    I would love to hear an update if and when you get one. I know of a person who raises goats and has a high mortality rate in babies before and after birth. They have tons of cats that they refuse to fix, so they just keep having kittens. I wonder if this may be their problem? They also drink the raw milk...
  • http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127955946

    Not that it will help understanding how this happened but depending upon what the WADDL people say- maybe no to the milk.
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