# Symptoms of G6S?



## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

I've been doing a lot of reading about G6S. There is a lot of information out there about transmission and how to test for it, but little about the physical symptoms. I think I have a kid afflicted with it, but I'm wondering if there is a way apart from testing to know. Here's some background: The kid was born in May. He was sired by a G6S normal buck and born into a CAE negative herd.

From the beginning he had problems. He was the first of triplets. He was small and not breathing. It took a lot of effort to get him breathing. He was bottle raised and through the month of June did well, but in July he became very ill on a Friday and I did not expect him to make it. The following Monday I took him to the my vet. It just so happened I took his brother too. His brother was 28 lbs and the sickling was 17! The little buck spent the rest of the week at my vet's office.

When I brought him home I raised him apart from the rest of the kids and gave him lots of special attention including supplemental bottles and hand feeding him. I managed to get his rumen started and he began gaining weight.

Throughout August and September he behaved typically although he is small. By October he was ill again and became very scoured. I dewormed him and treated his scours and began treating him for anemia (for the second time). He is still small and frail. You can feel all his bones and he only weighs 28 lbs at five months. I'm afraid that if he doesn't gain some body mass before it becomes really cold, he's going to have a very tough winter. So my question is Does this little buck exhibit the "failure to thrive" characteristics associated with G6S afflicted animals?


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## KJFarm (Oct 26, 2007)

Very well could be. If I were you, I would send a blood sample in for testing, so you can find out for sure. If he is affected, you can then try to find out where the G6S came from. The test is expensive, but will give you the answer you are looking for.

I know you have put a lot of time, effort and money into saving this buckling, but he may have damage internally that will render him worthless, IF he does live much longer, if it isn't G6S that causing his problems. Either way, I would put him down, but not before I ran the test.


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## punchiepal (Aug 4, 2010)

Sorry about your little guy. 
So you don't know the G6S status of the doe? 
Anything other than testing is a guess. I would test the mom. He status would still be a guess but you are keeping her and if she is + that probably ups his odds of being +. 

Having ND's I don't deal with that, however, I have learned that unfortunately not every baby born is programed to survive or &quot;grow&quot; right. We have a beautiful little doe born this year. Looks great in every way. BUT she is way smaller than her mother is, mom is a smaller ND. At this rate she will not reach breeding weight.


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

I do not know the G6S status of any of my does. I have considered testing them, but I've not done it yet. As far as the little buckling goes, I'm taking him off my "For Sale" list as I've already got more in him in vet expenses than I asking for him. I'm going to treat him for his current problems and if he gets better I'll wether him. I don't want to put him down yet. It's not that I can't make that decision--I can and have done it.


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## Lonestar Sky (Jul 8, 2012)

As I understand it, If he was sired by a G6S normal buck, then the most he could be is a carrier, not affected by the gene. You need 2 copies of the gene to get an affected animal. I have some carriers in my herd that came from elsewhere and they don't exhibit anything like this. They are a slightly smaller but not sickly at all. I hope it turns out for the better.

Don


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Thanks Don! Your response is very helpful and gives me some hope.


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## GoatFarmers (Sep 9, 2014)

White Muscle disease?? Or Selenium deficient?? 
Copper deficient?? 
It could be G6S... But sounds like White Muscle... Had 1 of triplets just like that. White Muscle it was.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

Cocci damage? Do you practice cocci prevention?


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

He could not have G6S unless both parents are carriers. G6S affected animals do not have scour problems because of G6S. The scouring is from a different cause.


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the comments about G6S. I see now that my little buckling is not afflicted with symptoms of G6S. I do practice cocci prevention and I have treated this little buckling for cocci in July when he returned from his week long stay at my vet's office. I have stopped his current scours problem and "Little Joe" is showing some improvement. He has gained a little weight and is browsing with the herd. He is also holding his own at the feeders at feed time. I am happy to see this improvement as we are expecting our first freeze this weekend.


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## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

If you really want to know for sure just draw blood and send it in to be tested http://tvmdl.tamu.edu/tests_service...-(SNP-qPCR)&unit_id=907&unit_effdt=2010-06-02


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Little Joe died last night. On Thursday the 13th when I went out to feed in the morning I found him down in a pen. It had been very cold that night and while he was alive, he could not get up. I helped him but he had trouble standing. I brought him to my house to warm him and noticed he was blind. After talking with my vet we started him on Thiamin and gave him some BOSE. He seemed to improve and I believe his vision returned by Saturday. He ate, drank, and I put him out in the yard to browse. He had one persistent symptom, namely if he fell to the ground he could not get up. By Sunday afternoon he began having seizures and he fell to the floor and went to sleep. His breathing became ever more shallow and his ears became colder. I knew he was not going to recover and let him slowly drift away. He died on his five month birthday.


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## jdavenport (Jul 19, 2012)

I'm so sorry Nicole! Will you get an autopsy done to figure out what happened?


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

I spoke with my vet early this morning to see if she wanted his body for examination. She had kept Little Joe at her office for a week in July so she had history with the buckling. My vet did not think we would learn anything by doing a post mortem and we had already ruled out G6S and CAE, so I will just bury him tomorrow when it's a little warmer out.


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## cvalley (Apr 15, 2009)

So very sorry, Nicole. I have been following your post for a while hoping that your little guy would turn the corner.


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