I wormed my Lamancha doe 2/17 with Ivermectin paste orally. She had her twin does preterm 2/25/02 (stillborn). Today she just shaking ( a little bit) and doesn't want to be milked. Not crying for her babies today, but not wanting to be milked. This is a 7 year old WONDERFUL doe. Never had this problem. Closed herd. Was exposed to a white tail deer and we cut our own hay (and white tail abundant) Worried. Scratch that. SCARED to death! We use our milk raw. ADVICE/ADVISE please!

-- Susan (baamaid@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002

Answers

Susan, you fail to tell us if it is unusually cold where you are (like unseasonable). My does frequently "shiver" when there is a sudden cold spell. What do you mean when you say "doesn't want to be milked"??? Is she really protesting and doesn't want her udder touched?? Is she seriously engorged?? Where are you?? Just not enough information provided here to give you and advise.

If you are in upper Michigan and have your goats exposed to white tail deer, you are begging for trouble drinking raw milk.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

Have you taken her temp? Is she eating hay/grain? Does she have a normal amount of milk? How early was she? Could just be the weather you are having, but if she just kidded it could also be ketosis/milk fever. Milk fever will cause them to lose appetite, have a low temp, shiver,etc. I would take her temp and if not normal would give some Nutri Drench or Propylene Glycol. If the temp is low and she is not eating I would also give some Calcium. Vit. B and Probois can always be given and not hurt them.

-- Leslie in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 27, 2002.

You might check out a thiamine deficiency. I had that a couple times with one doe , one time after kidding. My doe became weak and had convulsions, but was fine after trating with thiamine injections.

-- jan white (springcreekfarm52@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

I may sound like a total ignoramus, but why are whitetail deer such a hazard? Is it due to mad cow type stuff? If so I don't think that pasturizing or cooking will kill the prions anyway.

-- ellie (elnorams@aol.com), February 27, 2002.

Susan always use the shotgun aproach, B1/Thiamin, use B complex but get your dosage off of saanendoah.com and then treat for milk fever, while you let things fall into place! If it were menengial worm she would be dragging a rear foot, not shaking. If it were later in the spring it could be grass tentany. The Ivermectin worming had nothing to do with the preterm babies, but her in ketosis which was not diagnosed could have been, and now milk fever which usually follows. http://hometown.aol.com/goatlist/hypocal.htm start with this article, this will have some milk fever info on it. Good luck with the doe. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 27, 2002.

I'd be thinking of Calcium def. too. Vit AD as well as calcium. ellie the problem with white tailed deer is TB. There was a "TSE" scare in Elk in Manitoba or Sask I think but the herd was eradicated. Not all TSE's (mad cow type disease, the exact name escapes my tired brain) are a threat to human health. Scrapie is a TSE and not considered hazzardous to people. It's still reportable and eradicating it can only be a good thing; who knows for sure!

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), February 27, 2002.

I live in SC. Has been 70 degrees for awhile and now in the 30- 40's. She has been eating. I mis-stated when I said she doesn't want to be milked. Doesn't want to get on the milk stand. I can milk her if I let her stay on the ground. (she never has to be tied to be milked) She is a docile old doe. I do have some Probios here I could give her.

-- Susan (baamaid@yahoo.com), February 28, 2002.

Here in the south, white tail deer are the intermediate host for menengial worm. A protozoa that if goats ingest, or horses, will migrate the blood brain barrier and lodge in the spinal column, resulting in rear leg paralysis and death if not treated. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 28, 2002.

sorry, but probably the wormer affected the deaths, in my opinion. my goat was knocked off her feet by the wormer I gave her and I almost lost her. the vet kept saying it couldn't be the wormer, and that was impossible. hmmm. well, all was fine until then. so, to me it appears to be linked. that would be my asumption. amoxycillin is supposed to be safe, but has totally messed some folks up in their health. of course appearances can be deceiving. still, sometimes a bee sting is just a bee sting.

-- marcee (thathope@mwt.net), March 01, 2002.

Hi Susan, I would get that temp. taken ASAP. It seems to me that we had an older doe get ketosis unexpectedly [no bad breath, dietary changes, or haevy milk production]. I might suspect clymidia or some other uterine infection. Were there any other complications, and how far along was she? I can safely say that the wormer was not your culprit. I accidentally gave a 100lb. tog.yearling 2/3 of a tube of Safe-Gaurd without even a bellyache to show for it. Good luck,

-- Kacy (kcjp@earthlink.net), March 04, 2002.

Susan, so how did your doe come out??

Ellie, in Michigan the deer are carrying TB (at least some of them) and transmitting it to goats and cattle. Pasturizing the milk kills the TB. Actually TB was one of the big reasons milk was pasturized in the first place.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 04, 2002.