# difficulty urinating



## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

My anemic doe is gaining a little weight now. I just noticed that she appears to be having difficulty urinating. She was laying down yesterday and very lethargic. Sometimes she just stands with her head down like she's in a trance. She has a very good appetite and isn't scouring.

Do you have any suggestions? I'm giving her 3 to 4cc of Red Cell for the anemia.

Thank you,
Sabrina


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

How long have you been giving her the Red Cell? Are you giving it daily?
I would get a bottle of fortified B vitamins at the feed store and give her 5 cc IM every other day for 5 days and have her on a probiotic daily for at least a week, either Paste Probios, powdered probios or FastTrack powder over her food.


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## carlidoe (Jul 30, 2010)

A 'stray goat' wandered up to my friend's house a while back. Her daughter threw a fit to keep it so they fixed it a pen and were just giving her a couple of cups full of sweet feed every day, no hay, grazing, browse at all. A couple of months after being fed this way she began to have difficulty urinating. At first it was just a little dribble of urine, then stopped completely. I asked around for answers and found out that the phosphorus ratio was out of whack since she was only getting grain and had most likely developed stones. 

What does this doe's diet consist of? Have you checked her temp?


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I've been giving her RedCell for about 7 days.
She hasn't been getting much hay. She's not being millked right now. Should she have free choice alfalfa hay? 
When she gets knocked over by another goat, she needs help getting back up.
She is still very under weight and her eye lids are still only very slightly pink but more greyish white.
I'll start her on the B and probios today.

Thank you for any help.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Why are you letting her get knocked over by other goats?
She is ill and needs protection. They will bully her to death.
She could have internal damage from that much abuse.
Isolate her and free feed her quality roughage 24/7.
She will never recover no matter the treatment if she is living in fear.

Do you know for a fact that she is parasite free?


Lee


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Like Lee said, if your child was this anemic that they were so weak they fall to the ground if played with by another child, would they be out playing? She is also probably too week to get to and from the water dish also. I just hate this for you, but 3 or 4 cc of Red Cell is simply busy work, 3 or 4 cups of red cell also isn't going to do any good. She needs excellent nutrition right now, B vitamins, a cool place to lay and take her water several times a day, to rebuild her blood. Have a fecal ran on her to make sure she doesn't have parasites. Worms and cocci did this to her and in her weakend condition she is just ripe to catch pnemonia or for the worms that the worming she had, that lived, to come back with a vegance....hopefully you used something to kill the blood sucking worms and liver flukes we have in our area. I would have given her Cydectin, 10 days later Ivermectin Plus and 10 days later Cydectin, or cocktails of Cydectin and Valbazen to get both HC but also the Liver flukes that cause emaciation and anemia like you are seeing.

She is critical, in a human she would be on an IV for fluids and in intensive care...it's why we have such bad outcomes in ill goats, nearly all deaths of goats that could be saved is do to dehydration. Vicki


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Since I don't normally remember postings from one goat to the next, you might not want to start a new thread when talking about the same goat. Reread what Tim wrote you on your other thread!

Next time when you want to recap a problem, go back to your original thread and continue it...I am over 50  I can barely remember my own goats names


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Yes, I would keep as much alfalfa hay out in front of her that she will eat. I would also separate her from the other goats unless it causes her undue stress. If she tries to pace back and forth and hollers and gets very upset because she is seprated from the other goats then you may not be able to separate her. If she is o.k. with being separated then I would do it to keep her from getting knocked around and give her her own water bucket and hay. It is hard when you have one that is so sick but hopefully she will come around for you after she gets dewormed and gets her B vitamins and probios in her. Make sure she is drinking her water. Hang in there.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

I am still figuring out the 'perfect goat facility', but I did figure out it takes a variety of pen and pasture sizes, so you are able to pamper a sick doe a bit, away from the bullying behaviour of your other goats. 

I have a few small pens in the barn and a smaller pasture, that I can use for a variety of animals/ small groups according to my needs, while the 'mainstreamers' are kept in relatively large groups. You really can't even take care of a sick or struggling doe in a large group. Even if you try to pamper her and bring some choice hay over to where she's laying dow, the entire rest of the herd will happily come trampling all over her to get to that tasty stuff, and don't even think about treating her with a variety of shots or oral medicine while you get 'help' from 15 other goats....


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

After we built our little pen/large stall under an overhang on the barn it made me wonder how I ever lived without it! It also made me realize I need one or two more. :lol A dry, safe (separate) area near the herd so they're not lonely/stressed but can be doted on when needed is a must as far as we're concerned.


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I've separated her. She has our main yard with the dogs and cats. She's doing ok and no longer getting knocked over. She is scouring but I think that's from having a ton more alfalfa than she has had lately. I'm giving her oatmeal with red cell, ammonium chloride (for her urinary tract, as per Hoeggars) and a capsule of B-complex. Yesterday she had the had the B-complex IM. The goat's main care is done by my daughter but I'm taking care of the sick one. I don't know how to give shots at this time so my daughter takes care of that and she's not here today.

I haven't had the chance to take her poop to the vet yet. I should be able to get that done this week.

Should I continue the RedCell when she is so anemic? Would Geritol be better? Will the B-complex alone take care of her iron deficiency? 

Thank you everyone,
Sabrina


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Here is a good article on Anemia in goats.
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/anemiaingoats.html

I would not give her Geritol. I would make sure she is dewormed with a good wormer. http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=2e87c400-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5&gas=quest wormer (Goat dosage on the Quest wormer is 1cc/100#) Give her injectable B vitamins. it isn't hard to give a shot. Letting her have hay is a good thing. I wouldn't change her feed by giving her oatmeal. I would let her eat her regular feed. Goats can get diarrhea just by changing their diet sometimes. She also needs a probiotic. http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e07674-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5&gas=probios You can keep giving her some red cell. What would be better than red cell is if you could get some Ferrodex, injectable iron http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e07809-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5&gas=pig iron and give her 1 cc IM, 3 days later give her another 1 cc IM and then give her 1 cc again in about a week. She will do a lot better if you don't change her diet, don't put a lot of things into her rumen that smothers her natural flora. You can probably find all of the items listed above at the feed store and/or tractor supply near you.


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

How long should I give the Quest wormer?
After giving the last does of injectable iron, should I continue giving it to her weekly?

thank you,


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Give her one dose of the Quest wormer and then give her another dose of it in 10 days.
No more injectable iron after the last dose. Lots of hay, her feed, probiotics and hopefully she will gradually start gaining strength and come back around for you. You might want to give her a little dish of baking SODA that she can lick on during the day. I hope she does good and makes a great recovery. 

You probably should go ahead and deworm the rest of the goats also. This one may be the only one showing any signs of great worm burdens right now, but the rest of them probably need to be wormed also.


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## skeeter (Aug 11, 2010)

Also, be aware that the Ammonium Chloride changes the PH of the blood and can cause an acidosis that will reduce her appetite. You might want to limit the amount of time you give it once she is peeing well again. Giving baking soda will deactivate it.


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

She has developed Bottle Jaw for the 2nd time.
She is still on Red Cell because my tractor Supply was out of the injectable iron. I'm going to check again today.

Any other ideas?


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

How long have you had this doe in your herd and for how long has she been underweight and struggling already? There are other possible explanations for her condition, she could also have Para Tuberculosis (Johne's Disease), which often also results in a doe getting the symptoms you describe. Cattle usually gets moderate to severe diarrhea, too, but goats don't always, so it's a bit harder to figure out. Bottle jaw is one of the symptoms that can pop up in goats with Para TB, though, and your description of how weak she is and how she got beat around gives me the picture this may be something that has been going on for quite a while already, very possibly even before you got her.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Here is a good link to read about Bottle Jaw. Good pictures, diagrams and explanations. http://goat-link.com/content/view/15/111/
You might try adding a dose of Valbazen or Ivermectin Plus, which are flukecides.
Did you have a fecal run?
Could she also have coccidiosis? Probably won't really know unless you have a fecal done by a vet. Collect 3 or 4 fresh berries put them in a baggie and take them to the vet to see what they say.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

If this was me I would collect a few berries from a few of the other goats also, mix them together in a baggie and have the vet run a separate fecal on those to see how the whole herd tests out.


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I haven't done a fecal yet but I just wormed her with the Quest this morning. Should I still go ahead and do the Ivermectin Plus as well?


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I had the fecal done today. The vet said that she saw hookworms and that they are the same as Barberpole. There was no coccidiosis. 
She recommended that we put her on Coastal hay instead of Alfalfa and give her B-12 instead of the B-Complex we have been giving her. The feed stores around here don't have B-12 or injectable iron.


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

What was the reasoning for switching from alfalfa hay to coastal?


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I had the fecal done today. The vet said that she saw hookworms and that they are the same as Barberpole. There was no coccidiosis. 
She recommended that we put her on Coastal hay instead of Alfalfa and give her B-12 instead of the B-Complex we have been giving her. The feed stores around here don't have B-12 or injectable iron.

Does anyone close to me have injectable iron?
I think the vet in Waller has B-12.

Thank you,
Sabrina


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Did you call a Tractor Supply store? 
http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e07809-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5&gas=pig iron


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

Sorry about the duplicate posts. I thought it didn't go through. 
The vet thought that the coastal would be more nutritious. She also said that my goat's stomach lining may be heavily scared from the releasing of large amounts of parisites in the past. Because of this, she may not be able to absorb some nutrients in her food.

At what point would you put a goat down? How do you judge how much they are suffering if at all?


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

So let me get this right- correct me if I am wrong- you wormed her and then took a fecal sample?
And there still was a large enough egg count to require more worming? Even with Quest? 
Did the vet tell you the egg count? Perhaps your dosage was inadequate or you will have to use a 'cocktail' if she has resistant strains of parasites. Did she recommend a wormer? 

There is a possibility that she will fail to recover if the scarring effects enough tissue. Does she fill her rumen well? Or is she straight sided with no roundness.

There is no relationship between Haemonchus contortus and Bunostomum phlebotomum or trigonocephalum altho the eggs do have a rather similar appearance under the scope. 

I do not follow the change in hay- did she give you a reason for that idea? It would actually decrease her nutritional profile unless you add back a-pellets. Coastal does not have near the calcium and phosphorous levels of legume hay and can be quite poor in protein if not grown very professionally. The way people in the south just bale up anything and call it coastal would mean you need to know who produced it and under what conditions. There are even different nutritional benefits in the different varieties of 'Coastal'. 

Most importantly what did she say about straining to unrinate? Dehydration?
Lee


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

I don't get the hay change either. Sorry, vets aren't always right... (neither are we ), but if stomach/intestine lining is damaged, absorbtion is indeed less, so....feed better hay! A good quality alfalfa hay that's high in digestibility would be your best choice. 

And when to put a goat down? I don't think I'd ever put a goat down that was still chewing her cud and had a fighting chance, unless she is in tremendous pain with no hope. It sounds to me like you are doing all you can for this doe. She will never be your show doe or your best milker, but I have does like that, that are part of my herd and that just get by and do their job with some extra pampering. My doe Peggy had a rough start in life and she never did get the 'looks' herself although she does have the genetics, but boy has she given me some nice doelings. One of her doelings won GCjrDoe at Cambridge this year as a dry yearling! Gave Peggy a big hug when we came back home after the show! 

Keep up the good work, and even if things don't work out (and sometimes they don't), just remember that you learned a heap from this situation and will be able to take care that much better of your own herd. You learn just as much from the ones you lose as you do from the ones you save, but i hope you can save this lady.

Marion


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

The vet told me not to give her any more wormer and to just wait until Monday 10/3 to take more berries in to a different office to get a worm count. She couldn't do it at that particular office.
I actually wormed her the morning of the fecal. 
Would worming her again with something else overwhelm her system? 
Sadly, I'm leaving town today and leaving her care to my son (14yo) until Sunday. He probably won't be able to give her any injections.

I'm going to try my hardest to find B-12 and Iron to give her IM before I head out. any other suggestions? I don't know if she is filling her rumen well. How can I tell? 

I didn't ask her about the difficulty urinating. I'll call her today.

Thank you all so much. I have learned so much. I adore that sweet goat and dearly hope she can be saved.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Just ditch the vets advice and do a worming cocktail for her.

Bottle jaw is caused by the anemia, so the anemia is caused by either liver flukes, cocci or barber pole worms...and goats don't have hookworms!

You used the quest just recently, 1cc per 100 pounds and you made sure she swallowed it? Do you have either Ivermectin Plus or Valbazen? Both contain flukeicides that work on liver flukes, and all vet catalogs carry them plus the Corid or Dimethox you need to treat her for cocci, vets don't look for cocci unless asked. And ordering from Jefferslivestock.com is so much cheaper than local products. The anemia will not go away until the adult worms are dead or gone which takes about 12 hours, and she starts buidling her blood back. 

I don't think there is a dosage for oral or injectable iron out there, just like with us I bet it does a number on their rumens, and what she really needs is just good food and time. 

When the Ivermectin Plus comes in give her 1cc for every 33 pounds, give it to her orally and then in 10 day use the Quest on her again. It is super doubtful you have one goat with parasite problems on your place, I would do the whole group, not just Quest and Ivermectin plus, 3 times 10 days apart, but cocci prevention all of them also.

You didn't cause any of this, where you live does. It's been a very stressful year for livestock and if you are not on top of all of this, stress brings on worms and cocci....it just kills me how so few vets continue any kind of education with goats being so popular out here, it's nearly criminal that they don't just tell you they don't know what the heck they are talking about.

Coastal is a good hay, but she is a dairy goat, not a meat goat....you can give her a choice of eating alfalfa hay and coastal...I feed coastal hay and nearly free choice alfalfa pellets...coastal doesn't have the protein or calcium of alfalfa hay, which means then you have to up the protein of her grain to compensate for that....and sadly in Texas most feeds are proteined up with fish and feather meal, which contains little calcium. So smile pretty at your vet, pretend you did everything he said like the little woman should, use him to get the drugs you need, and listen to us 

She is showing you some stress to her liver with the bottle jaw, so you don't want to give her a lot of medication to stress it futhter, but you also have to get rid of the problems she is having or it will kill her. This is the balancing act wwe have with ill goats. V


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I took my doe into another vet today. She was confirmed to be severely anemic and have coccidiosis. She was given a blood transfusion. She looked better after she received the blood and her eyelids pinked up. The vet will keep her for a couple of days with IV fluids, give her Corid, Valbazen, and B vitamins and see how she does. He said that she should be wormed with Valbazen every 2 months until it doesn't work anymore and then to change wormers. 
I'm hopeful that she will recover. She is just 5 years old.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

What did she transfuse her with?

Please don't use the Valbazen, unless you get a diagnosis of liver flukes. It will not treat the HC blood sucking worms we have here, you have to use Cydectin. You need to check the rest of your goats.

Worming every 2 months is going to do nothing but further build resistance in your herd, if you bought goats from Texas you purchased resistance to both the white wormer Valbazen's family comes from benzasoles and also mectins...Valbazen is in the family but does contain a flukecide that does work on liver flukes. Cydectin does come from the family of mectins but is super reformulated and if you copper bolus, get the red out of your minerals and get off the sweet feed, it will control HC at your farm. We have to work on getting your goats immunity up, bo-se, nutrition etc. Why not come and visit, or invite Lynn Thiesfeld who is in your area to come and look over what you are doing.

I hope she does well at the vet, the fluids will help the most. Vicki


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

They took about a pint of blood from a healthy goat and put it into my goat. 
What is HC? 

Sabrina


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

sstavinoha said:


> They took about a pint of blood from a healthy goat and put it into my goat.
> What is HC?
> 
> Sabrina


Haemonchus Contortus (sp?). The worm in goats that most people deal with. For most, Ivermectin doesn't work to get rid of it anymore, thus the move to Cydectin.

Check the worming section here. Do a search here. You'll learn a ton about it.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

And haemonchus contortus is the same thing as barberpole worm, which is what the vet said your goat has. Did you ask if the goat that they took the blood from was tested to be CAE and CL negative? (I can't imagine that they would use blood from an untested goat, but gee, you just never know.)


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

Update on my doe that had the blood transfusion on Monday 9/26/2011:
the following day after the blood transfusion my doe was very weak and could hardly stand on her own. She improved and started eating again. By Friday she was up and about and doing well so we brought her home. She did fine over the weekend. This morning she was down, shivering and couldn't get up. We gave her an energy drench, Fortified B-Complex and put her in our garage with a ton of blankets, and food and water until she stopped shivering. When she warmed up we tried to stand her up. She emptied her bladder and tummy but still couldn't stand after she was done. We laid her in the sun in the grass with feed, hay and water. A couple of hours later, I got her up again but she can only stand for about 30 seconds at the most.

She got Corid while she was at the Vet. Her other worm count was extremely low.
Any ideas on why she is so weak? Before I took her to the vet, at least she could stand on her own.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

What's her temp?


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

She is likely severely anemic. I know back in the day a herd near me would keep wethers to use in blood transfusion, many times the kid recieveing the blood would fail, it's likely something to do with blood type that is not known in goats....maybe it is now known and just wasn't known in the 80's.

Did they run a fecal after the treatment to know if they even used the Corid at a dosage that works on goats? She also needs to be on polio dosages of thiamin until 100% because you know her rumen is simply not making the B vitmains she needs. Vicki


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

Transfusions in animals with blood that is the wrong type, can go 2 ways. The antibodies in the plasma of the recipient can attack the blood of the donor, or the plasma from the blood of the donor can attack the blood cells of the recipient. In the first case, the outcome may not be quite as bad, because basically all that would happen, would be the transfusion didn't do anything. The other way around is worse, because not only is the transfusion not working, the recipient's blood is being attacked. There is a simple but labor intensive test the veterinarian (or technician) can do which is called a "crossmatch". It is not quite as good as a blood type, but it will provide information on whether either of these reactions is likely. If anybody here is going to get a transfusion on any species, it would be wise to ask them to run this test beforehand.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Nancy, can you explain further? Do goats have a blood type?


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

Her temp is 104.3. 
Could the blood transfusion kill my goat? Could she be getting polio? Could that be why she can't put weight on her legs?


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I forgot to mention that she's eating and drinking like crazy. Can't stand well enough to urinate so I think she's holding it. How can I help her to relieve herself?


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

I do not know about goats, but all species I know have blood types-cats, dogs, humans, horses all have their own. Some have a bunch of blood types, some only a few. Dogs have 13, horses 30! Cats only have 3, but they can have some really severe reactions to blood transfusions. Each species is different. I do not know what the types are for goats, but they probably have some.


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## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

I read somewhere that 5 major blood types have been identified in goats. Don't know the details and the risk if you give a bloodtransfusion with a different blood type. I'm surprised the vet decided to do a blood transfusion, it seems to me that an IV with ingredients geared for fighting anemia would have been a much better, faster, and safer choice.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

She is just probably weak beause she is so sick and has been sick for a while with the parasite problem and anemia. Without the blood transfusion she would have probably perished because she is so anemic. 

Did you deworm all your other goats and take a fecal sample to the vet on them?


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

I took a fecal sample of one of the other goats and the worm count was very low.

Other than the fact that the doe won't stand, she looks great. No more scouring. She's eating and drinking like crazy. We're helping her up 3 - 4 times a day but as of the 2nd time yesterday she won't even try to stand. 

Her weight as of 9/26/2011 was 60lbs and she's 5 years old.


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

Trysta said:


> I read somewhere that 5 major blood types have been identified in goats. Don't know the details and the risk if you give a bloodtransfusion with a different blood type. I'm surprised the vet decided to do a blood transfusion, it seems to me that an IV with ingredients geared for fighting anemia would have been a much better, faster, and safer choice.


Transfusions do have risks, but they are the fastest way to get an animal out of anemia, and are sometimes very necessary for severe anemia. On some animal species, the first blood transfusion, even if not a proper match, will still be fine, but the ones after that they may react to. There is no product available that is as good as using real whole blood. There are some that are made to be sort of similar, but nothing is as good as blood.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

sstavinoha said:


> I took a fecal sample of one of the other goats and the worm count was very low.
> 
> Other than the fact that the doe won't stand, she looks great. No more scouring. She's eating and drinking like crazy. We're helping her up 3 - 4 times a day but as of the 2nd time yesterday she won't even try to stand.
> 
> Her weight as of 9/26/2011 was 60lbs and she's 5 years old.


Is she a mini? Or is this a typo? 60 lbs at 5 years old is just too small. Really small. 160, ok. Or 5 months, not years.

I would get a fecal run on HER so you can see what your are dealing with specific to this doe.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

That would be on the small side even for a mini.


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

She is a 5 year old Nubian that has just been treated for a severe case of coccidiosis (sp?). She is still not able to stand for more than a minute at a time.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I am so sorry somebody sold you an animal like that. Even if you have had her for a year, a big 5 year old should way in the 170's at least and for her to loose weight and become 50 pounds she would be dead already, their bones and internal organs wiegh more than 50 pounds. She had problems way before you purchased her, perhaps even Johnnes. I wouldn't put anymore money into this doe and be happy with your healthy Alpine. Vicki


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

I totally agree with Vicki. I am one that gets very attached to my animals, but one must also realize that this animal will never be able to produce the kids or milk that you want her to and will more than likely have continued health problems the rest of her life even if she does survive this episode. 

So sorry you're having to deal with this.


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## smithurmonds (Jan 20, 2011)

I was hoping that was a typo... I have NDs that weigh 60 lbs. It is a shame.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

One thing I am so curious about is if the vet did a cae test on a goat he is using for a donor.
And etc.....do they screen for a particular disease panel when considering a donor or just grab the nearest goat?


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

buckrun said:


> One thing I am so curious about is if the vet did a cae test on a goat he is using for a donor.
> And etc.....do they screen for a particular disease panel when considering a donor or just grab the nearest goat?


That's a good point, Lee. Not that it affects this case, but it's certainly a question for someone to ask if their vet opts for a blood transfusion.

Putting her down might be the kindest thing you can do for her. Sorry you have to deal with this, Sabrina & Lizzy.


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## carlidoe (Jul 30, 2010)

Oh goodness. The weight issue is a problem. Sounds like she has had years of parasites and is stunted. Like they said above, the scarring to her gut from parasites will never allow her to get better  So sorry you are faced with this.


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## sstavinoha (Oct 12, 2009)

So you would put this goat down even if she's eating well? 

She appeared to have pneumonia yesterday so the vet gave her a one dose antibiotic and in a couple of hours, she was clearly better. She still isn't standing but we are getting her up 3 - 4 times a day and switching sides that she is laying on.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

> in a couple of hours, she was clearly better.


Antibiotics really don't work that quickly. They don't actually kill bacteria, they just prevent them from reproducing. I'm not saying that she wasn't doing better, just that it wasn't the shot of antibiotics that did it.

As to putting her down, that's a decision that only you can make. But even if she survives this crisis, she will most likely continue to be prone to illness, and will almost certainly never grow to the point where she could be safely bred. So she will not be productive for your farm in terms of giving you milk or kids, and you will probably have to continue an extraordinary level of care just for her to survive.


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## carlidoe (Jul 30, 2010)

"So you would put this goat down even if she's eating well?"

The fact that she's eating well is great. But will she be able to absorb enough nutrition to lead a productive life? Probably not. If she gets better and has a good quality of life and you want to put forth the effort to keep her as a pet then I don't see why not. I would only keep her going though if she was actually thriving. If she stays down for very long she will most likely die from pneumonia.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

If it were me, I wouldn't put her down unless she got to the point of being very ill and not eating, etc. I would keep tending to her and see if she gets better, then sell her as a pet or something and buy me a productive doe, but as far as spending any more money on her with a vet and meds, etc., no I wouldn't. Several years ago I had a very expensive Alpine doe (Renada) here. Her dam was the only 4 time national champion, Rishona. She was injured and could not stand. For about a month I treated and tended her, but it was obvious that she was not going to get better. That was a very hard decision I had to make to put her down. She was such a sweet love and I was very very attached to her. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I hope it doesn't come to that for your sake, but again that is all part of having livestock. Just know when to say enough.


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