# Listeriosis recovery?



## IslandBranch (Oct 14, 2013)

Greetings! I am new to the forum and hoping for some guidance on my situation. Question: has anyone had a goat successfully recover from listeriosis, and what can I expect in the recovery period?
Elaboration: I have a one month old nigerian dwarf that I believe has listeriosis. Thursday morning she was listless and had muscle twitches, so I immediately injected with penicillin and thiamine. Thursday through Sunday I have continued injections of both of those every 6 hours. Between Thursday Morning and afternoon she got quite a bit worse, but she has seemed stable since then. Her face seems essentially paralyzed on the right. Her right eye rolls back and her jaw is slack. She can walk but circles to the right. Thankfully she can swallow so I've been syringe feeding her milk. She still bleats, wags her tail, and seems interested in her surroundings so I'm willing to continue treatment since she doesn't seem to be miserable. Is it a bad sign that I haven't seen any definite improvement in four days of treatment? I've read that recovery can take weeks. Can anyone give me hope that all my work won't end up in a permanently circling goat who can't feed herself? I don't mind if she ends up being impaired as long as she can walk around, feed herself, and be with the other goats. Do I have hope??


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

How much Thiamine/pen is she getting? 
I would include Tetanus antitoxin as it can show some of those symptoms


update note: I just re read some info on tetanus..Most goats die with in 36 hours, so I think we can rule that out,...
She doesnt have symptoms for WMD
It does sound like listeriosis but Im puzzed, with her being so young. Kid dont usually get it, not that they cant just that Polio is more common in kids then listeriosis. With Polio, She would have shows improvement after one to two thiamine treatments...So Im looking stuff up..but listeriosis is what it keeps comeing back to... 

Does she have fever, pooping berries? Color of poop, nuring or bottle fed? what milk is she getting if bottle fed...?


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## IslandBranch (Oct 14, 2013)

Thanks for the reply! I'm stumped too but the listeriosis is the only thing I can figure :-/ I gave one dose of tetanus antitoxin at the beginning. I was hoping it was polio, but since it hasn't responded to thiamine I don't think it's that. I also gave a little bit of selenium/vit E gel at the beginning too (I was using the "throw the kitchen sink at it" technique), but was afraid to do much selenium because of toxicity. 
Dosing is hard to estimate because she's only 6lbs. She's been the smallest of the litter since birth. I'm giving 100mg of thiamine (1cc of vit B complex) and 1cc of penicillin (150,000 units of benzathine and procaine each). She was on the dam until she got sick, at which time I separated her for treatment/quarantine. I stuck with just electrolytes for the first day or so in case there was some floppy kid syndrome, then gradually increased the milk intake to 4oz 3-4x daily (doesn't sound like much, but she's only 6lb!). It's fresh goats milk shes getting. She's not pooped much since this started, but had one semisolid poop. She didn't pee for a day or so but is now peeing a lot. No fever that I know of. 
Thanks for helping me think through this!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Sounds like you are treating proper... At 6 pounds she should be drinking only 2.5 oz four times a day...this is based on 10% of her body weight...I think I woud actually cut back on the milk so she can digest it properly between meals..to figure this out I take her pounds and get it in oz's
6 poundsx16=96 oz 
then I multiply that by 10% =9.6 oz of milk per day
then I divide into 4 feedings=2.4 oz

It doesnt seem like much at all but it allows easier digestion..this is a guide and if she still seems sunken in rather than firm sided with out pooching out you can always add 1/2 oz to that ...

She will need Banamine or Dex to help with inflammation...
If your B Complex has 100mg thiamine, you are giving enough..
1 cc of pen is plenty as well...

Keeping her hydrated and fed while she fights this ...I wish I had more information to help...

Here is one more thought..Are your goats tsted CAE negative? Im thinking Encephalitis. But I cant find alot of info on it...here is a small quote from http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/AI/sheep_goats/CAPRINE _ARTHRITIS_AND_ENCEPHALITIS.pdf


> Leukoencephalomyelitis is most often seen in kids 2-4 months of age. It usually
> begins with posterior weakness and progresses to an ascending paralysis followed
> by seizures and death.


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## IslandBranch (Oct 14, 2013)

Thanks! I hadn't seen that milk volume formula, I'll cut back a little. Forgot to mention that I'm also doing a dexamethasone taper. 
I'm going to have to cut back how frequently I can feed and medicate her since I work full time and its no longer the weekend - we'll see how she does on a three times daily schedule. My gut is that she's mostly over the acute infection and now we just have to wait and see if she can overcome the neurological damage.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Hopefully she recovers fully for you  Keep us posted


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## IslandBranch (Oct 14, 2013)

Thanks! I was afraid of what I'd find when I got home from work today since this is the longest I've left her since she's been sick. She seems a little better. Still circling and slack jawed, but the ears are no longer lopsided and the eye isn't rolled back in the head. I'm cautiously optimistic. 
Oh, and as to your CAE question, my herd tested negative in the spring. I bought this doe's mother after that, but got her from a well respected CAE negative farm so I'm fairly confident it's not CAE.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Sounds like her treatment is beginning to work....Glad all are CAE negative...that is always a plus. I would still have mom tested when you can just to have that piece of mind. Keep up the great work!! Best wish and By the way..Welcome to The Goat Spot!!


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Prayers sent!


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## IslandBranch (Oct 14, 2013)

Thank you both so much. Even if I read info on the Internet it helps to have someone with experience validate it and talk me through it. And I gladly accept prayers, thank you ThreeHavens!


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