Barnyard Stories

It seems like everyday I'm having one type of crisis or another at the barnyard.  Always dealing with a sick animal or some other crisis that needs an intervention.  I've been thinking about including more of the "country" in my posts, thinking that some information that I pass on may help someone.  I know when I've got a sick goat, the first place I turn is the web to start my research.  And you wouldn't believe how often I've found someone who has the advice that I need. 

So today my first story is going to be about deerworms.  I know what you're thinking, ick!  Deerworms are a type of brainworm.  The whitetail deer act as a host and pass it on to your unsuspecting goats!  I recently had a goat that picked up this bug, my sweet Cinnamon.

Cinnamon's first symptoms was she began falling often.  At first we thought she just lost her balance.  Then she began showing weekness in her back legs.  She was very unsteady and would fall over in the blink of an eye.  But one of the keys for me was she never lost her appetite.  I've found when most goats get sick their appetite goes first, so this was my main way of knowing it was deerworms and not another disease.  My plan of action was 7 days of Ivermec Plus then 5 days of Safeguard (types of wormer).  She's completed her medications and each day she's grown stronger.  Some goats are completely paralyzed, but I think we reached Cinnamon soon enough to prevent this.  Her main syptom was dragging her back legs and her gait.  I found a very helpful article here detailing medication doses.  Some places recommend using steroids to take down inflammation in the spinal cord.  My vet recommended to just worm her and not use steroids because if she were to have an infection the steriods would make it worse.  I did give her 2 doses of Penicillin to prevent infection, because pneumonia is often seen in these goats.  So if you have a goat with an unsteady gait or back leg weakness plus live in an area where whitetail deer have access to your pasture - think deerworm. 

Now for a scrappy LO.  Since this post focuses on animals, thought I'd share a LO of some of my favorite animals:

This LO was made using goodies from the Sampler Kit for August.  You can check out September's Sampler Kit by visiting Scrapbooking Supplies R Us. 

Enjoy!!!