A Coughing Goat...what to do?

[barefoot okie]

Got home with a goat i bought.. after he had been home for a bit i noticed he would cough.. what do i do? what could it be? i have him away from my other goats?

 

[lilhill]

It could be just about anything ... lung worms, dusty hay, mold. I'd get a temperature on it first, and if no elevated temp, then have it checked for lung worms. If those two possible causes are eliminated, then look for dusty or moldy hay. I had a doe once that coughed for 3 months. We started eliminating possible causes and never found out why she was doing it. Then one day she just stopped.

 

[Chirpy]

Is it a dry hacking cough or a wet, raspy cough? Does he cough more or only after exercise or running around?

 

[GrassFarmerGalloway]

More details, please! What are you feeding her? How's her poop? Any change in her normal behavior? Give us all the info you can. We can't do a thing without it.

 

[barefoot okie]

hes eating..i bought him at an auction where there was about 500 goats there.. i do have hay there for him. maybe its just dust.. i can only hope.. for lung worms what do you do to find out if thats it? sounds dry

 

[Rence]

Ok, this is only me. I'm sure everyone will have their opinions and might even give better advice. This is what I would do simply because it could be *anything*

Since you're dealing with a sale barn goat and he could have anything, I'd bring a stool sample to the vet before doing anything else.

He could probably use worming and coccidia treatment. But the stool sample will tell you more.

If don't want to do that I'd start by giving nuflor subQ, for three days, every other day. I would also worm with a wormer that covers lungworm. IIRC, I believe Cydectin does.

How does his poop look? are their grains of rice in it? If so, I'd do Safeguard as well, for three days in a row.

I wouldn't treat for coccidia just yet. At least until I was done worming.

But that's just me.....I'd start with the basics (which, those are for me) and work from there.

also check his eyes. His membranes should be bright pink. If they're pale, I'd do something sooner rather than later.

 

[barefoot okie]

thank you Rence... i will get a sample in the morning... i did give him a shot of C D and T... when i got him home. I'm learning as i go here..

 

[Rence]

Let us know what the results of the fecal are, okay?

Also, I would give another CD&T in three weeks because you don't know his vaccination history. Not sure if you know about vacccines, but CD&T is given initially in two doses 3-4 weeks apart, and then annually after that.

How about a picture of your new lil lover??

 

[bheila]

Ok, this is only me. I'm sure everyone will have their opinions and might even give better advice. This is what I would do simply because it could be *anything*

Since you're dealing with a sale barn goat and he could have anything, I'd bring a stool sample to the vet before doing anything else.

He could probably use worming and coccidia treatment. But the stool sample will tell you more.

If don't want to do that I'd start by giving nuflor subQ, for three days, every other day. I would also worm with a wormer that covers lungworm. IIRC, I believe Cydectin does.

How does his poop look? are their grains of rice in it? If so, I'd do Safeguard as well, for three days in a row.

I wouldn't treat for coccidia just yet. At least until I was done worming.

But that's just me.....I'd start with the basics (which, those are for me) and work from there.

also check his eyes. His membranes should be bright pink. If they're pale, I'd do something sooner rather than later.

Yup, that's exactly what I'd do. Ivermectin will take care of lungworms also.

 

[cariboujaguar]

I agree completely with above posters... and I would like to note that no matter how tempting you should never buy from a sale barn again... too much can go wrong and once some of those diseases are on your land they're there for good good luck with him!