Response to C.A.E.

I guess I'll add my two cents worth of experience with CAE. It is a very controversial thing because there are people who do not want to make the necessary sacrifices to eradicate the disease. I think that if it is spread as we have been told, it could be gotten rid of within ten years if everybody really got to work on it. But even if there were laws there would always be those dishonest folks who just didn't care. So your best defense is to be VERY careful about who you buy from (don't buy unless there are negative results on the entire herd and you see the results with your own eyes),and also what animals yours are exposed to. If you test your does every six months and they test negative for a few years it is a pretty sure thing that they are going to stay that way.If the herd you bought from also were to test and come up negative for several tests in a row you could be even surer.If your does test negative,they are good quality and what you want, then keep them,just keep testing them at least once a year.One thing I noticed that the others left out is the importance of preventing blood transmission of the disease.This means,don't use the same needle for all the goats to give injections,and rinse the tattoo gun in a bleach solution between animals,etc. Anytime there is any kind of blood involved,rinse the instrument in bleach solution between animals. With needles,buy a needle and syringe for each goat.The savings by using the same syringe and needle are not worth it if you have to get rid of them all later because they are all contaminated.I use seperate needles even if they are all negative,just in case.If you can get someone to show you how to draw the blood yourself and send it in to Washington State University,it will be a LOT cheaper than if your vet does it.If a doe comes up positive the best thing to do would be to put her down or sell her to someone you KNOW is going to eat her.

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