Diarrhea

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I am desperately trying to find help (or maybe now answers) for my 3 YO Alpine doe. She has severe ongoing diarrhea, is extremely thin, weak, very anemic. Has no temp; eats but goes right through her. I do not know the dosages, but my vet has rewormed her with Valbazen, Ivomec; she's been given Albon, SMZ-TMP (?), I believe Batril; she's had Probios, diarrhea medicine with vitamins. Stools have been checked twice with minimal infestation. He seems to be at a loss; he mentions Johnes and an intestinal lymphoma. We talked about trying CoRid. Does anyone think this is worth a try and if so, how do I dose her? I read a reference on this site to fecal ordor, her's is strong; does this mean something. I have had her since she was a few months old. Her only outside exposure was a very healthy appearing buck brought here. My other concern is for her doeling and a 3 YO wether. The vet is having me reworm them with Ivercide(?). If this sounds like Johnes, how and where do I have an animal checked (Midwest). Would appreciate any suggestions/help--I'm new to this so please be specific. Thanks.

-- Merritt (bkmerritt@machlink.com), September 24, 2002

Answers

I do not have an answer but I am going through a similar dilemma. One of my does is on antibiotics for week number three. She is thin with a voracious appitite. We have wormed her twice already. Now her diarrhea is not running down her legs but more like dog piles. Her doeling had diarrhea too but seems to be doing a little better, she seems to be putting on a little weight. I hope someone can help you, I will be checking to see if a possible answer could help me out as well. Lets get these babies healthy!

-- SeattleGirl (roongoddess@yahoo.com), September 26, 2002.

We don't usually give out advice but you sound desperate and I've been there, so here are my thoughts. First, you need to (try) to get the diarrhea/scours stopped. In our experience, the best thing for that seems to be Spectramycin (sorry about my spelling(s)). It has a commercial name that's something like Pig Scour Halt. It is a red liquid that comes in a plastic bottle with a pump. Give 2cc's twice a day, we usually give for up to 5 days to be sure the scours are stopped. Second, you need to treat the problem causing the scours. Hard to tell what that is, but Cocci is awfully common in goats. We like to treat for Cocci with the 20% Sulfaquinoxiline, the dose is 2cc per 50 pounds, once a day. Give it "straight" (not mixed with water or anything). Just in case you haven't done this before, to get 2cc's of a liquid into the syringe, take off the needle and pull in the correct dose--and to help get it into the back of the mouth/throat for swallowing purposes, there is a little 1-inch white plastic tip to attach to the syringe (you can get them from the vet). Both of the above meds should be available from your vet or feed/supply store; or on-line at someplace like pipevet.com. I'm not sure why your vet is doing all the worming if fecals are showing minimal infestation. If it's not Cocci, it could be an E-coli infection, and the "Scour Halt" treats that. As always, take the goat's temperature ("normal" is about 101.5 to 103.5), and if there's a fever you can give an anti-inflammatory fever reducer like Banamine (1cc/100 pounds 1x/day); but if you don't have that, you can give Aspirin -- 1 Aspirin per 10 pounds -- I grind it finely with a rolling pin, then mix it into a medicine cup with a little warm white Karo Syrup, and get it down with a syringe. By the way, if you don't initially have the Scour Halt on hand, you can try some Pepto-Bismol just to get the scours stopped--look at the Pepto label and give about the same dose as you would for a human. Keep lots of fresh water on hand, sounds like your goats must be getting awfully dehydrated. I hope some of this helps, and best of luck to you. Melissa

-- Melissa O'Rourke Dry Creek Acres Rock Valley, Iowa (morourke@mtcnet.net), September 26, 2002.

Melissa is right on the money! We use Biosol and Kopectate. (spelled wrong )

-- bergy (bbergbower@hotmail.com), September 28, 2002.

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