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Goat died from dewormer?

9K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  Yogiwick 
#1 ·
So I have two of my friends goats, she breeds them...I borrowed two that were too young to breed to fatten them up. I've had them mm maybe 6 weeks now? I messaged her last night because I noticed one had a big lump under her chin and she was a bit lethargic. So she brought Panacur dewormer and this redcell vitamin mixture stuff and gave it to both goats. Then asked if I had any grain or something that we could give the lethargic one. My horses dont get grain but I remembered I had my bran mash mix. I told her the ingredients and she said it sounded fine. So I mixed it up for them, they dove right in!

Then Goat B (not sick before goat) starts acting all goofy, like shes having a siezure. She comes out of it...kind of...it was like she still had vertigo though, her world was just spinning. We moved her to shade, and tried to help her relax, then forced some water in her. We stayed with her about 30 minutes then went to go bathe friends dog (goats owner). Came back out hour later to check on her, she seemed better but still loopy. Goat A, that was initially sick...seemed fine.

So we went riding..got back and Goat A still seemed fine, Goat B was up and about but still loopy.

Friend went home.

Few hours later I came out to check on them and feed horses. Goat A was dead. Goat B is still loopy but not dead.

I can't get a hold of their mom, I moved and covered the body but not sure what to do really. I'm just SHOCKED the goat that DIDN'T have the bad reaction is now dead.

Anyone have goats have bad reactions before? I'm googling it but not seeing much.
 
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#4 ·
Your vet can recommend who to send the body to and what costs would be. I am not sure about giving red cell to goats, but the fact that one was lethargic even before you started would have had red flags up for me. Goats tend to be very stoic and hide illness as long as they possibly can.
 
#5 ·
I have sheep & a sheep vet told me that dewormers & most other meds are given by injection due to them being ruminants. Maybe goats are the same?
Goats can get some disease that causes lumps.
There is a forum called BackYard Herds that you may find helpful.
Sorry about your goats
 
#6 ·
Luckily goats mom was not too upset. She said it just happens sometimes and very fast. I told her last night about something being possibly wrong (really didn't see any symptoms till then) so she brought meds today. May of just been too late.

Now for Goat B, that WASN'T sick before hand but then had the episode after the dewormer? We're still not sure whats going on there. I've been checking on her a lot and each time she looks to be moving around better.

My friend was mean and said she'd bring another one over, this one she believes to have cancer so isn't used for her breeding program...is just a lawn mower goat...she said if I kill it no big deal :( LOL so mean. She just told me to bury/dispose of the body, she wasn't interested in paying for tests.
 
#9 ·
We're pretty sure it was Barber Pole Worms at this point. I just didn't see/know the warning signs fast enough. I've never had goats before :( She said sometimes they just go very fast. She does care but understands sometimes it happens and said next time she'll tell me what to do then rather then wait till the morning when she can come over. I promise shes not a horrible breeder she just doesn't feel the need to look further into it after we've done more research. Its more so I was a terrible goat watcher for not seeing the signs before it was too late.
 
#11 ·
Goats are pretty hard to overdose on copper. I'm sure it's possible, but they aren't like sheep - any supplemental copper is too much copper for sheep and can kill them...goats, not so much.

My guess is that it was barberpole worms as well.
My [then 6 month old] wether almost died from them, and lungworms, right after bringing him home [goats, especially young goats, should be dewormed immediately after experiencing major stress, like moving, and I didn't know].
It was really only luck that he survived!! I noticed that he was getting "bottlejaw" [possibly the swelling you saw?] and that he was a little lethargic. The next day he was down and couldn't/wouldn't get up. LUCKILY my goat-mentor-friend had let me know that, with those symptoms and how I hadn't dewormed when the goats came home, I needed to deworm asap.

I used Valbazen, plus doses of horse-RedCell every 2 hours, and he came around within 24 hours.
He still coughs after exerting himself, due to what the lungworms did to his lungs, but overall he's fine - 4 years later.

Mostly, once you start seeing symptoms like bottlejaw, the goat is already nearly dead [bottlejaw is caused by SEVERE anemia].


I'm sorry for your loss! Goats, especially young goats, are very tricky at first. Don't blame yourself, goats are not easy. *hugs*
 
#12 ·
Yeah :( she had bottle jaw. I honestly didn't notice her acting any differently until she all of a sudden had the bottle jaw. They're both younger goats, she brought them over for me to play with s few months then I'm giving them back. It's a learning experience for sure but now I know to look for more signs at least :(

Hmm my mash is pretty simple stuff only one ingredient in it has a little cooper and I don't do a full serving size of the flaxseed since it's a supplement. The goats also only ate maybe 10 bites? So I feel like it couldn't of causes it but I'm sure it's always possible :(
 
#14 ·
Goats have a much higher need for copper than sheep (you can kill sheep with mineral salt made for goats). It was not the copper. Far more likely that the goats were already highly stressed -- barber pole is a good guess -- and the dewormer knocked them over the edge.

What is sad is that the breeder didn't even want to know why the goat died. That IS bad herd management. How will she avoid this in the future if she doesn't care why her goats die?

Do you know how to diagnose barber pole worms? My area doesn't have them so I never learned, but google FAMACHA.
 
#15 ·
I'm not entirely sure honestly. Just with her anemia, being lethargic and the bottle jaw it seems like that was the culprit. Part of me wonders if she KNOWS that has to be what it was but doesn't want to make me feel worse for not catching it sooner to be able to save her by not getting answer from vet? She knows how bad I feel and I think it's trying to not make me feel worse. They're her baby goats, I was just keeping them a few months :( Last night when I found her I couldn't even get ahold of my friend for like two hours (why I started thread because I was freaking out!), but after we talked and did more research it's all kind of making sense.

Goat B is doing very well this morning though. We still need to deworm her two more days :( going to try again tonight but ONLY the dewormer. We don't know what caused her to go in the shock she did so want to introduce things one at a time. Hopefully it's not the dewormer that caused her episode yesterday. Just gave her too many new things at once time to know what caused it.
 
#16 ·
Barber pole worms can be impossible to get rid of and it's not just an "oh I'll just worm them". Learn how to do FAMACHA (your friend too) Eye to eye: diagnosing internal parasites and check them regularly. I check my sheep all the time and only worm as needed a few times a year, first thing I check if one seems off or isn't keeping weight. If I have one that looks iffy after worming I'll get a fecal and follow the vet's instructions.

Parasite resistance is a HUGE problem, way moreso than horses or indoor animals though it's still a problem there. I was talking to a small animal vet and she asked about it being such a problem and I told her my sheep vets instructions were "only do the one's that really need it then do them at 10% higher dose and repeat in 2 weeks" she was shocked.

I haven't had goats in ages, but remember our old doe kidded (first and only time) and became emaciated and anemic, I believe it was just the normal stronglyes, many vets and lots of worming later we were on the verge of putting her down and hand raising the lambs... Someone (old timer/other vet?) suggested chewing tobacco and as a last resort we tried it... totally worked. She lived a long and happy life and never had any issues with worms again. Something to keep in mind!

I would talk to the vet before deworming goat B, it can definitely make things worse.
 
#18 ·
Friend came over tonight and she taught me how to check the eyelids :) Going to do it weekly! I also know how to do fecal exams, I do my own horses FEC's...she said I can do it for the goats too lol! So I'll have to find a chart that shows what the eggs look like that I should be looking for. My husband has a bio and chem degree...and now has to check my horses poop because of it.

I think when she first started becoming a little lethargic I just figured it was because of the heat and humidity...because the other healthy goat was also being lazy. All the animals were staying inside and being lazy, its been miserable out. So I must of missed a few earlier warning signs, but now I know what to look for and will be actively checking.
 
#20 ·
That's great, you're really lucky!

I'll say again though, don't hesitate to get the vet involved, both due to the trouble getting rid of the parasites and also due to the risks with the wormers and resistance. I can't stress enough how big of a problem this can be.
 
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