Bottle Baby with a cold

[CatAteBird]

I have a nubian that I got at an auction that seems to have a cold with a cough.. Every morning I have to take a warm wash rag and clean out his nose and around his eyes. I have him on fresh goat's milk and he loves it cold right out of the frig. Any suggestion what to treat him with?

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Hi,

I would take him to the vet or have the vet come out. It sounds like it has moved to his lungs and it could get so much worse! He could also spread it to the rest of your herd (you must have others or are you buying the milk?) I would get him on an RX as soon as possible. Babies can go down hill quickly. I don't know how old your baby is or how long you've had him. I guess, if it was me I'd also warm the milk and make it more like Mamma.

 

[CatAteBird]

He doesn't like warm milk.. He is the only one I have. I can't find a vet in the area that knows anything about goats.. That's why I came here.

 

[Rence]

Since you have no vet that you can rely on, and you know nothing about this goat, and he's sick, I'm going to go ahead and suggest that he has a bad cold, or possibly the beginning of pneumonia. But I would go ahead and treat him for lungworm and stomach worms too. How old is he?

I'd get a hold of some Nuflor. It's an antibiotic. You'll have to give it via injection. And you'll need to weigh him. You can either use a tape measure for diary goats (which you may not have) or you can weigh yourself alone, then with him, then subtract the weights.

Give 3.5ml for every 100lbs. If you need help figuring out the exact does, let us know. You'll give it IM. And you'll give it every other day, for three doses. Be prepared, it burns, and he will squall. He'll be fine.

I would also give him some Banamine, which is an anti-inflammatory and a pain reliever. It will make him feel better. You give it subq 1ml per 100lbs, once a day, for three days. Give it with the nuflor, in a different syringe.

You'll have to get Nuflor and Banamine from a vet and I'd start him on it ASAP. He should start to clear that up soon when treated, but if it gets out of control, it could be bad.

Even though your vet knows nothing about goats, he should be able to do a fecal to check for exactly what worms he has, or if he has coccidia.

If you can't get a fecal done, he should be wormed anyway and you should worm him with something that covers lungworm. I believe cydectin does and the dosing is on the bottle. I'd give that to him once, then again in ten days, and if the membranes aren't nice and pink under his eyes in another ten days, I'd do it a third time.

After all that's cleared up, and he's done with the antibiotics, I'd give him Albon for coccidia if you can't get a fecal done. Coming from the sale barn, he has been exposed to all kinds of things. You need to nip it early so that he can get healthy.

Of course, if you can get the fecal done, you'll know exactly what parasites for which to treat him.

he's beautiful btw Let us know how it goes.

 

[Roll farms]

Take his temp. rectally. Anything over 102, I'd give him the banamine. I don't use it unless they have a high temp as it can cause liver / kidney issues.

Nuflor is a great antibiotic but it hurts them, so I try to start w/ Pen G if possible (caught early enough).

DiMethox (Albon generic) is also an antibiotic so if I suspect Cocci AND a cold, I treat first w/ that....and it's worked a lot of times.

His coat looks a little rough, I'd hit him w/ Safeguard this week and ivermectin the next, if a fecal indicates he needs dewormed.

Buy some Probios to help get the good stuff going in his rumen and counteract all the upset the antibiotics and dewormers will do.

Shipping fever is fairly common at auction barns.

 

[helmstead]

I was going to mention shipping fever, too. Good advice here, good luck with him! He is just a handsome fellow!

 

[Chaty]

Nuflor is Great but start with Biomycin as it wont stunt him like Nuflor will and is more reasonable too for lung problems. I would give him 1/2 cc 2x a day for at least 5 to 7 days and at least 24 hrs after the snots stop. Nuflor is great but its the big guns and I start with something smaller so I have something else if it dont work. Also if your going to treat with antibiotics you need to give him either yogurt or Probios each day as it kills off the good bacteria along with the bad. This will replace the good and stop anything that can start up. Also give him a little paste wormer too.for at least 3 days about 1 inch on your finger.
If his appetite slows down he will need some fortified B complex, 1 cc of it. helps the appetite. Is he runnaing any type of fever? Normal os 102...