Thank you Sue for allowing us to post your articles
Question:
>>I have a 1/2 Boer buck kid, born 8 days ago who has lost control of his
rear legs. I don't believe this is FKS, the kid can still nurse and does so
with gusto. I noticed he was a little shaky last night, but didn't pay much
attention. This early p.m., he is unable to get up. I'm treating this as
White Muscle disease, but is there anything else I should consider; navel or
joint ill, say? His navel was slightly infected yesterday (other kids have
such sharp teeth!), so have started him on a course of Penicillin, washing
it and spraying twice daily with 7% Iodine. Any other ideas or input very
welcome.<<
Sue Reith responds:
This is, I'm sad to relate, a classic symptom of copper deficiency. The
bad news is that once the rear spinal nerves have started to deteriorate as
a result of the deficiency you can only arrest the progression of the
deterioration, which without treatment would continue up the spine until it
hit the brain if the animal didn't die sooner. We have found here on the
West Coast over the past several years a continuously growing trend for kids
to show signs of a combination of Selenium AND Copper deficiency, which the
California State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab has been finding consistently of
late in its necropsies of kids. Unfortunately, the last people to know that
it seems are the vets! They will treat the poor animal (at great $$$ to its
owners) for everything imaginable to no avail. I once got angry at a vet I
knew for doing that to a pet owner's new baby goat, and he charged them a
huge bill and told me I was wrong, as he (a dog and cat vet) was sure this
tiny kid had CAEV! (Thanks for letting me vent on that one!) Another
classic sign that I have observed with the copper deficiency symptom you are
seeing in your kid is that they do remain 'bright-eyed and bushy-tailed'
throughout the whole sad thing. When Selenium is also deficient, a shot of
BoSe will actually raise their spirits for a while, but it will subside in a
week or so.
Joyce Lazzaro's Copper Deficiency page, if you haven't already read it, is:
http://www.saanendoah.com/copper1.html
Sorry to be the bearer of potentially bad news...
(While I urge you to share this information with other individual goat owners, please do not reproduce the article for publication without my specific permission. Thank you. Sue Reith.)
Sue Reith
Carmelita Toggs
Bainbridge Island WA
[email protected]
Question:
>>I have a 1/2 Boer buck kid, born 8 days ago who has lost control of his
rear legs. I don't believe this is FKS, the kid can still nurse and does so
with gusto. I noticed he was a little shaky last night, but didn't pay much
attention. This early p.m., he is unable to get up. I'm treating this as
White Muscle disease, but is there anything else I should consider; navel or
joint ill, say? His navel was slightly infected yesterday (other kids have
such sharp teeth!), so have started him on a course of Penicillin, washing
it and spraying twice daily with 7% Iodine. Any other ideas or input very
welcome.<<
Sue Reith responds:
This is, I'm sad to relate, a classic symptom of copper deficiency. The
bad news is that once the rear spinal nerves have started to deteriorate as
a result of the deficiency you can only arrest the progression of the
deterioration, which without treatment would continue up the spine until it
hit the brain if the animal didn't die sooner. We have found here on the
West Coast over the past several years a continuously growing trend for kids
to show signs of a combination of Selenium AND Copper deficiency, which the
California State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab has been finding consistently of
late in its necropsies of kids. Unfortunately, the last people to know that
it seems are the vets! They will treat the poor animal (at great $$$ to its
owners) for everything imaginable to no avail. I once got angry at a vet I
knew for doing that to a pet owner's new baby goat, and he charged them a
huge bill and told me I was wrong, as he (a dog and cat vet) was sure this
tiny kid had CAEV! (Thanks for letting me vent on that one!) Another
classic sign that I have observed with the copper deficiency symptom you are
seeing in your kid is that they do remain 'bright-eyed and bushy-tailed'
throughout the whole sad thing. When Selenium is also deficient, a shot of
BoSe will actually raise their spirits for a while, but it will subside in a
week or so.
Joyce Lazzaro's Copper Deficiency page, if you haven't already read it, is:
http://www.saanendoah.com/copper1.html
Sorry to be the bearer of potentially bad news...
(While I urge you to share this information with other individual goat owners, please do not reproduce the article for publication without my specific permission. Thank you. Sue Reith.)
Sue Reith
Carmelita Toggs
Bainbridge Island WA
[email protected]
