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Lactational Ketosis

(Summarized from

Causative Agent: Metabolic disorder due to under nutrition or over nutrition, where the animal is in negative nitrogen balance, and the liver is making ketone bodies.  Occurs in the last six weeks of pregnancy and during early lactation after birthing.

Clinical Signs: Last 6 weeks of pregnancy?  See Pregnancy Toxemia.  Newly freshened? See Lactational Ketosis.  Ketone bodies are detectable in milk, serum or urine.  You can test for ketones using diabetic test strips.

Treatment: 50-60 cc. Propylene Glycol or Molasses or Karo Syrup given by mouth two- three times a day for an average-sized doe until she gets back on feed. (Store propylene glycol indoors.  Freezes easily.)

Prevention: Do not under feed or over feed goats  Keep BCS at 3. Follow nutrition guidelines for stage

Contagious To Humans: no  

Contagious to Other Goats: no  

Links:

Ketosis  http://www.saanendoah.com/ketosis.htm

Leptospirosis

(Summarized from

Causative Agent:

Clinical Signs:

Treatment:

Prevention:

Contagious To Humans: 

Contagious to Other Goats: 

Links:

Leptospirosis Fact Sheet

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/leptospirosis.pdf

Leptospirosis http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/health/diseases-cards/cards/lepto.html

( Summarized from Suzanne Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch.  http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/

articles2/stomachwormsLice.html)

Causative Agent: Lice: bloodsucking and non-bloodsucking.

Clinical Signs: Scruffy coat.  If already treated for parasites and still looks bad, may be lice.

Treatment: Treat immediately with Synergized De-Lice. For lactating goats, choose a permethrin that has no withdrawal time. (For kids, use puppy-safe or kitten-safe flea powder on kids under six months of age.    You can also use 5% Sevin Dust or diatomaceous earth on young kids)  Apply along the backbone of the goat from base of neck to base of tail.  (ok to use this on backbone, but do not put dewormers on backbone.). 

Prevention:

Contagious To Humans:

Contagious to Other Goats:

Listeriosis  

(Circling Disease, Listeriasis, Listerellosis)

(Summarized from Merck Veterinary Manual 8^th Ed. )  

Photo from U. of S. Carolina Medical School  

Causative Agent: Literia Mncytogenes bacteria.  Transmitted by fecal contamination.  Like pH of 5.4 or higher.  Don’t do well in acidic conditions. Incubation period 10-18 days.  Often is associated with feeding of silage or other moldy feed.

Clinical Signs: Depressed, disoriented, circling, facial paralysis, continuous saliva, food packed in cheek.  Rapid death in 24-48 hours.  Pregnant doe can abort in last 1/3 of pregnancy.  30% recover after abortion if treated  In young stock visceral or septicemic infections can occur.

Treatment: Drug of choice is Penicillin G 20,000 units/lb. of body weight IM daily for 1-2 weeks.  At time of first dose, vet may give the give the same amount IV.  Give fluids and electrolytes until the goat can eat.  Ceftiofur, erythromycin, trimethoprim / sulfonamide all work in high doses. 

Prevention: Do not feed moldy feed.  Silage and haylage are not a good idea for goats.  Baleage and baled hay can be feed as long as there is no mold.

Contagious To Humans: Yes.  Can cause abortions in pregnant women.  Can also cause problems in people with compromised immune systems.

Contagious to Other Goats: yes

Links:

Listeriosis http://www.sheepandgoat.com/news/june2005.html#listeria

Listeriosis Fact Sheet http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/listeriosis.pdf

 Lockjaw (see Tetanus)

Lumpy Skin Disease

Causative Agent: 

Clinical Signs:

Treatment:

Prevention:

Contagious To Humans:

Contagious to Other Goats: 

Links:

Lumpy skin disease Fact Sheet

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/Lumpy_Skin_Disease.pdf

Lumpy skin disease Power Point Slide Show

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/DiseaseInfo/ppt/LumpySkinDisease.ppt

Lumpy skin disease Speaker's Notes

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/DiseaseInfo/notes/LumpySkinDisease.pdf

Lumpy skin disease vaccine

http://apps.cfsph.iastate.edu/Vaccines/disease_list.php?diseaseID=43

Lumpy skin disease Images

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/DiseaseInfo/ImageDB/imagesLSD.htm

Lumpy Skin Disease http://www.oie.int/eng/maladies/fiches/a_A070.htm

Maedi-Visna 

(Progressive Pneumonia)

(Summarized from: f)  

Causative Agent: 

Clinical Signs:

Treatment:

Prevention:

Contagious To Humans:

Malignant Catarrhal Fever

(Summarized from: f)  

Causative Agent: 

Clinical Signs:

Treatment:

Prevention:

Mange  

Causative Agent: Mites. 

Three types: 1) Psoroptic Mange caused by Psoroptes cuniculi.  Affects young stock as early as 10 days to 3 weeks old. 2) Sarcoptic Mange, caused by Saroptes scabei   3) Demodectic mange, caused by Demodex caprae.

Clinical Signs: 1) Psoroptic type: Head shaking, ear scratching, flaky or scabby lesions on the ears with yellow-white debris.  Can see mites on ear swab. 2) Sarcoptic type: Severe itching, skin becomes red, raised, wrinkled and hairless. Found on head, body, vulva and udder. 3) Demodectic type.  Mild itching, hair loss, crusts and scaling of neck, face, shoulders and sides.

Mastitis

Inflammation of the mammary gland

Summarized from Smith, Goat Medicine, P. 469-483 and Haskell,  Caprine Milk Quality and Mastitis  (Click here to access this PDF document)

For diagnosing mastitis see Smith, Goat Medicine at p. 12, and 469-474

For treatment of mastitis see Smith, Goat Medicine at p. 479-481 and 586

For bacterial mastitis see Smith, Goat Medicine at p. 476-483.

For viral mastitis (hard udder) see Smith, Goat Medicine at p. 474-475.

For mycoplasmic mastitis see Smith, Goat Medicine at p.475-476.

Causative Agent: Bacteria, retrovirus.  Multiple causes. Milk sample culture, Gram stain, will determine cause.

Clinical Signs: Fever, lack of appetite, depression, decreased milk production, swelling, heat and redness in udder, lameness due to the goat trying to avoid touching sore udder with her legs.  Recent mastitis will be swollen.  Long-term condition will be hard.  Somatic cell count of milk may increase substantially from even one case in the herd.

Treatment:  

Supportive therapy: Frequent stripping of the udder is helpful.  5-10 units of Oxytocin and hot compresses can assist milk let down and may help ease the pain.  10mg./kg Phenylbutazone, by mouth, once a day (or) 1 mg/kg Flunixin megalumine once or twice a day by IM injection (or) corticosteroids can be given for inflammation or toxemia.    Severe, or chronic cases may require systemic antibiotics.

Prevention:

 1) Avoid teat irritation.  Make sure vacuum pressure is correct, and that there is no slipping of inflations, or wear inside the inflations.  Ask the manufacturer when you should change inflations.  Usually this is given as a number of uses.  See Building and Planning under "Inflations" to find out how to figure this. 

2) Teat dip all dry goats the first five dry days to avoid mastitis. (Levesque 2004).  Teat sealants are also a good idea. (Haskell)  Milk young, healthy goats first, then older goats, then sick goats and goats with mastitis last to prevent spread of disease  (Haskell)

Contagious To Humans:

Links:

Smith, Goat Medicine, P. 469-483

Haskell,  Caprine Milk Quality and Mastitis  (Click here to access this PDF document)

Mastitis In Dairy Goats   http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/DS120

Mastitis, Black  

(Gangrenous mastitis, Blue bag )  

Penn State Disease Image Gallery

http://www.das.psu.edu/goats/health/gallery/

Causative Agent:

Clinical Signs: The skin just ahead of the udder becomes swollen and puffy.  It is cool to the touch and may fill with fluid.  There may be red, watery secretions from the udder.    Eventually skin may turn black and slough off.

Treatment: Successful treatment may be achieved if the goat is treated while the secretions are just blood tinged.  There is less hope of recovery if coolness, pitting edema, loss of skin sensation and a water red secretion are present. 

A study on 81 goats in the Sudan showed 91% completely  recovered using Oxytetracycline IV 5 mg/kg, and intramammary at 426 mg daily times 5 days.  (Smith advises that Cephapirin may also be used.)  A sterile teat cannula was used to drain the fluid, and 40 mg. of Furosemide was given every day for 5 days. An antiseptic cream was also applied to the udder. 

Amputation of the udder may also be considered.  See Smith, Goat Medicine at P. 480-481 for procedure.

Prevention:

Contagious To Humans:

Links:  

Gangrene Mastitis Smith, Goat Medicine, 57, 480-481  

Gangrene Mastitis (blue bag) http://www.saanendoah.com/gmastitis.html  

Melloidiosis

(pseudomonas pseudonallei)

(Summarized from  ):

Causative Agent:

Clinical Signs:

Treatment:

Prevention:

Contagious To Humans:

Links:

Melloidiosis Fact Sheet

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/Melioidosis.pdf

Melloidiosis Image

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/DiseaseInfo/ImageDB/imagesMLD.htm

Melloidiosis Power Point Slide Show

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/DiseaseInfo/ppt/Melioidosis.ppt

Melloidiosis Speakers Notes

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/DiseaseInfo/notes/Melioidosis.pdf

 Melanoma (See Cutaneous Neoplasias)

 Metabolic acidosis without dehydration (See Floppy Kid Syndrome)