Hello,
I have 3 ND wethers, 2 yrs old. They eat grass hay with free choice Manna Pro goat minerals and some timothy hay pellets for treats. I am having a similar problem as last spring but this year with more significant hair loss. Last spring they were itching like crazy right as the weather got warmer. It seemed to be worse than just itching from shedding, and they had some small lesions I thought could have been mites. In the end our vet didn't think so due to lack of any significant crusty skin lesions, and eventually it went away (after about 2 months though, not a quick thing). Last year I used Eprinex pour on and sulfur lime dip, and NuStock. This year I did the Eprinex as soon as they started itching, and it hasn't gotten any better. Even worse now, one of them has hair loss along his back and the sides of his front legs. A second one also has some hair loss along his back. The more itchy the goat, the more hair loss. One goat is significantly more miserable, one is in the middle, and the other seems unaffected.
Any idea what this could be? I attached 2 pictures of each goat with hair loss on the back. I tried to also post a short video of one of them with his itching as well.
I am not sure if the hair loss is related to them scratching and biting at themselves? It just seems excessive for shedding. They seem much more bothered on the warmer and sunnier days though. Could any mineral deficiency be associated with itching also? I just did the sulfur lime today and they seem no better, and I am putting NuStock on the spots with hair loss but again no change there so far. If it were parasites I'm surprised the Eprinex didn't work. I see nothing crawling and no skin crusts or lesions, just some flaky skin and hair loss and mostly just itchy!
The vet doesn't visit for another month. Thanks for any ideas you might have!
Leslie
Replies
That sounds like a great plan. I wonder if he has some sort of seasonal allergy? Do you change your bedding around that time? Maybe something that grows in your pasture during the spring? So weird!!
Tammy
Aha!!! I think we have located the problem!
Oral dewormers are given at 2x the cattle dose to kill internal parasites (except levamisole which is 1.5X the dose) Pour-on used for external parasites is dosed at 1ml/22# which is the same as the cattle dose. Pour-ons are not recommended to treat worm loads in goats.
I think this may just be a local reaction from so much product.
Tammy
Hi Tammy,
I used 2x the cattle dose of the Eprinex pour-on. I did the same last year and they did get some flaky dry skin but didn't have the hair loss. I'm going to try something different next year and see how that goes. The vet also said some goats have sensitivity to parasites that requires subQ steroid injections but since they seem to eventually get better I won't likely go down that path. If it would warm up faster here I would consider just shaving them when the itching starts. Probably not needed now that they are less itchy. I'll let you know if I learn anything new!
Leslie
Hi Leslie!
Sorry for the tardy response- I have been away on a little vacation =)
It's interesting that this is such a repeat scenario, and that the hair is growing back again. Like the treatment worked to kill the external parasites, but the goat had a reaction to it, and the hair fell out at the follicle.
How much of the product did you apply to them?
We had a post from someone else that had a similar looking goat (the pattern down the back) She had used Pour On Ivermectin. Pour-On products are designed for the tough hide of a cow, so this is definately something to track.
Please keep us posted!
Tammy
Hi Tammy, thank you for the suggestions. I did give them the sunflower oil on some hay pellets for a few days. They seem to have hair growing back and are also less itchy now. Our vet called and seems to think this level of itching would only be caused by lice, also thought Eprinex would have taken care of it but didn't want me to treat with anything else unless I could actually find lice. I never have been able to see anything. He also thought it very unlikely to be fungal since their skin looks fine, and maybe hair loss was due to the Eprinex. Since they are improving and have better hay and now on browse, I'll probably wait it out and hope the last of the itching stops. Next year I might try a course of CyLence or DeLice instead of Eprinex to see if that takes care of it, and possibly sulfur lime in case of mites I can't see. I appreciate your thoughts and help as always!
You may also want to consider switching to SweetLix Meat Maker loose mineral if you can find it. It has much more zinc in it, and maybe consider an analysis of the hay for mineral content. :)
tammy
I wouldn’t put oil directly on the skin due to sun exposure there, but you could try adding a little bit (1-2 teaspoons) to their food for a few days to see if that helps. (Long term oil addition is not recommended)
Also- I would avoid BOSS for boys because of the higher phos content.
There is a supplement for goats that you can get through Amazon called TruCare Z/M if you want to give that a try, but fair warning, it’s not very palatable so you may have to get creative!
It sounds like a fungal infection might be your culprit with the recent weather pattern.
Keep us posted!
tammy
Thanks Tammy! Spring has been so slow to arrive here in MN that they are just on grass hay still. They have great second or third cut all winter and more recently the hay hasn't been so great - more like the first cut with a lot of dry stems they discard. I could try a few tablespoons of BOSS per day and sunflower oil on their skin if that might help for zinc. I'll email the photos to the vet too so they are aware prior to the visit. I guess a fungal infection wouldn't be too surprising either, this has been occurring after awful freezing cold winter and then rainy conditions. Thanks for the advice and I'll let you know if I find out anything definitive.
Leslie
Tammy Gallagher said:
Hi Leslie
I remember you going through this same thing last year. Hmmm… let’s brain storm!
I would think rubbing and biting would give you some areas of broken hair, not just falling out at follicle.
From what I can see in the photos, the areas seem to have margins that are spreading, instead of being all over and random.
I’ve just read through the Diagnosis of Skin Disease section in Goat Medicine and suggestions here for alopecia (hair loss) and scaling along the back specifically talk about zinc deficiency with high calcium intake.
What is their current diet?
My other thought- do you have a spring forage that is high in calcium in their grazing/browsing area?
Zinc levels can be checked with a blood draw when your vet comes, but it needs a special tube (if I remember correctly) so I would check with her ahead of time on that
The other thing to consider would be a fungal issue. This can be diagnosed by her pulling some hairs to be sent in for exam.
Eprinex should have treated mites/lice. Perhaps the itching is from the dry scaly skin from either zinc deficiency or a fungal infection.
tammy