Are my goats going to be sick?

PattiXmas

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We had our 4H club meeting last Thursday at our house. One of the families had just picked up their wethers. They are showing open class this year since they missed the deadline date for showing via the 4H. Well, they arrived an hour early for the meeting and we were holding our chicken meeting so they got their goats out of their vehicle. I was told that the person they bought their goats from is a very reputable breeder and I shouldn't worry if their goats were placed in our animal area.

I just found out yesterday that these goats have worms, mange and the toxoplasmosis. I am now concerned that our goats might have been exposed. We had just wormed our goats again on Thursday just for safety's sake after the meeting. Is there anything I should watch for? Is there any safe pro-active treatment I can give them to prevent these problems?

We have since written up a set of rules, no children in our "animal area" without supervision, no sick or diseased animals to be brought to our house. I just wish that people used common sense and didn't take them animals places until they were certain they were healthy!!! GRRRRR.....
 

helmstead

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Don't blame them, I'm sure they never expected to be buying sick goats from a reputable breeder.

The one that worries me the most is the toxoplasmosis. This is spread through droppings, and is also zoonotic. Worst case scenario is early abortion. You would need to contact a vet regarding this one, as testing is necessary and I'm not familiar with treatment as I've never - not even in a cat - seen toxoplasmosis in person.

If you are deworming with an ivermec product, then you are already preventing the mange. Deworm them 3 times 10 days apart to be safe. You can also spray the pen the foreign goats were in with a premise spray effective against mites.
 

PattiXmas

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Thank you so much! I worry most about the toxoplasmosis as our dog leader (and my friend) is pregnant with her first baby. She is also the one that we got 2 of our goats from and she comes over sometimes to check things out for us. We just bathed and shaved all of our goats 2 days ago for our upcoming show on Saturday and the kids didn't see any buggies on them.
 

Griffin's Ark

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It appears that all of the afore mentioned problems could be spread to your animals.

Toxoplasmosis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii.[1] The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid (cat) family. Animals are infected by eating infected meat, by ingestion of feces of a cat that has itself recently been infected, or by transmission from mother to fetus. Cats have been shown as a major reservoir of this infection.[2]

Up to one third of the world's population is estimated to carry a Toxoplasma infection.[3] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that overall seroprevalence in the United States as determined with specimens collected by the National Health and Nutritional Assessment Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2004 was found to be 10.8%, with seroprevalence among women of childbearing age (15 to 44 years) of 11%.[4]

During the first few weeks, the infection typically causes a mild flu-like illness or no illness. After the first few weeks of infection have passed, the parasite rarely causes any symptoms in otherwise healthy adults. However, people with a weakened immune system, such as those infected with advanced HIV disease or pregnant, may become seriously ill, and it can occasionally be fatal. The parasite can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and neurologic diseases and can affect the heart, liver, and eyes (chorioretinitis).

I am assuming that a Vet made the diagnosis. Mange and worms are obviously always treatable. The Toxoplasmosis seems to only be a short lived problem, but seems that everyone is at risk. I would be using a water and bleach wash around every animal on the premises and put out tubs of water and bleach mix to step in when going from pasture to pasture or stable or barnyard. Course all I said is the obvious, I hope you get all of it resolved quickly!

Chris
 

PattiXmas

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Griffin's Ark said:
It appears that all of the afore mentioned problems could be spread to your animals.

Toxoplasmosis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii.[1] The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid (cat) family. Animals are infected by eating infected meat, by ingestion of feces of a cat that has itself recently been infected, or by transmission from mother to fetus. Cats have been shown as a major reservoir of this infection.[2]

Up to one third of the world's population is estimated to carry a Toxoplasma infection.[3] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that overall seroprevalence in the United States as determined with specimens collected by the National Health and Nutritional Assessment Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2004 was found to be 10.8%, with seroprevalence among women of childbearing age (15 to 44 years) of 11%.[4]

During the first few weeks, the infection typically causes a mild flu-like illness or no illness. After the first few weeks of infection have passed, the parasite rarely causes any symptoms in otherwise healthy adults. However, people with a weakened immune system, such as those infected with advanced HIV disease or pregnant, may become seriously ill, and it can occasionally be fatal. The parasite can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and neurologic diseases and can affect the heart, liver, and eyes (chorioretinitis).

I am assuming that a Vet made the diagnosis. Mange and worms are obviously always treatable. The Toxoplasmosis seems to only be a short lived problem, but seems that everyone is at risk. I would be using a water and bleach wash around every animal on the premises and put out tubs of water and bleach mix to step in when going from pasture to pasture or stable or barnyard. Course all I said is the obvious, I hope you get all of it resolved quickly!

Chris
Thanks for the suggestions! Sounds like we have a full day worth of work today!
 
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