mysterious deaths with neurological symptoms

[AshleyFishy]

I had something similar two years back. Went through several goats, chickens and a cat. Mine turned out to be very aggressive coccidiosis. The goats were the worst about foaming out the nose and mouth, I thought it was rabies as well.

The goats would be fine.. then suddenly weak, some would loose the ability to walk straight off or would walk on their front knees or fall over and not be able to get up without you picking them up, go off feed, they would swing their head toward their backs and some would bawl heartbreakingly then went to convulsions and death. Most never had scours only one in I think 8 or 9 goats did, only one in about 12 chickens did and the cat never did.


If it is that... what worked for me was vaccinating with covexin 8 off label for the goats, after the fact. During the outbreak we used aureomycin crumbles for secondary infections, red cell to keep them a bit stronger and large amounts of liquid sulmet straight out of the bottle orally. So far I have never had it again.

 

[promiseacres]

Isn't there something that can be carried in bird poo that could affect so many species? I guess my guess would be something. In the environment ....

 

[Kotori]

Totally wierd :/ I'm no help, but I wanted to pop in and say freezing slightly damages the body- probably not a big deal for what you are looking for, but I've heard of it affecting snake prognosis and certain tissues. Refridgerating is a friendlier option if it is possible. Of course, then you have to take it quickly.

 

[Rocco]

I certainly have no clue what might have caused the deaths, but I would probably rule out coccidiosis and rabies. Coccidiosis is species specific, so with the different species of animals dieing here it doesn't really fit. And rabies is spread mainly through bites and infected saliva, so that is a lot of saliva swapping going on....just doesn't fit.

 

[mama24]

Cat and rabbits (6 weeks old) were at her house, but the goats were housed at the big barn/pasture half a mile away. And the goats were rotated weekly in a portable electric pen, 3 rolls of fencing, so not a small area either for 2 adult goats and about 10 weaning age kids. I actually suspect it's a coincidence that all of her animals died within a week this time. She's been losing rabbits since their first litters this spring. I think the buck she got off Craigslist is carrying something that's spread since she got her rabbit does from me and I've never lost a kit past the first few days. And the cat was horribly sickly her whole life. They got her from the pound, but she was over a year old and the size of a 12 week old kitten. She wasn't vaccinated against flv, and that was my first thought when she told me she was sick and the symptoms. Can rabbits in super clean cages where absolutely all poop falls through still get coccidia?

As for the goats, we're starting to suspect bluetongue virus. Another goat friend about 20 miles west of us lost 4/5 of her goats within a few days of each other, same symptoms, last week. Her vet was stumped, but didn't run tests. The goat that survived is still alive, but seems to be severely neurologically impaired. Another friend does fawn rescue/rehab and said she lost several last year with identical symptoms and it was confirmed to be bluetongue. I do have a goat in my freezer that I'm driving to Raleigh as soon as I'm able, and I'll probably take one of my friend's frozen kits with me as well. We're in se Guilford county, btw. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[bcnewe2]

Please keep us posted. You seem to have us all stumped! It almost sounds like it is coincidence. I really know of nothing short of Rabies that will cross species like you have stated and that would have had enough incubation time that it would have seemed more spread out.

Hope it's the last of it what ever it might be.

 

[Rocco]

One more thought I have is Listeriosis. I was trying to recall the symptoms that a couple of goats that my cousin owns had a while back that had us stumped. We came up with Goat Polio...but Listeriosis is very similar. Here is a description of the symptoms:

"...depression, decreased appetite, fever, leaning or stumbling or moving in one direction only, head pulled to flank with rigid neck (similar to symptoms of tetanus), facial paralysis on one side, blindness, slack jaw, and drooling. Diarrhea is present only in the strain of Listeriosis which causes abortions and pregnancy toxemia. Listeriosis can be mistaken for rabies. Immediate treatment is critical. There is no time to waste with Listeriosis"

So, then I looked to see if listeriosis could occur in rabbits and found this:

"...a farmer who raised approximately 50 rabbits in an outdoor colony observed that his does had had almost no live litters all
summer, and when neonates were seen, they died shortly afterward."

The cause was Listeriosis.

Could be a possibility?

 

[mama24]

Yes that does sound possible. I'll look into that. Thanks!