# Bad Cough.. Need medication suggestions.



## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

I gave my goat 5 shots of antibiotics in the last week to break this cough of his and it didn't fix it.. he still has a nasty cough. 

I bought animal penicillin from my local farm store, should I give this a try? if so how many CC should I give him? how often? where do I inject it? let me know what you all recommend.. he is still eating but this nasty cough wont go away. he has free access to goat mineral as well. let me know thanks everyone. 

nathan

p.s. he is about 7 months old.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Penicillan Shot*

what was the antibiotic you gave him before? penicillin isnt that strong of an antibiotic so rarely is very helpful for respiratory issues.

In your case I recommend 1cc per 10lbs twice a day. You give this IM (in the muscle)


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

*Re: Penicillan Shot*

i cant remember the name of the shot for the life of me.. if you named a few antibiotics i know which one it will be..

I will give him 3cc twice a day.. In the mean time is there anything else you can recommend for this cough?


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

*Re: Penicillan Shot*

i also bought a thing of biomycin if you think that would be better.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Penicillan Shot*

THere is a line of oxytetracycline = LA 200, Biomycin, Duramycin
and there is another RX one that is escaping me right now -- off to bed with me will remember in the morning I am sure


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

*Re: Penicillan Shot*

yeah it was a RX shot the vet gave me .. 5 days worth.. I cant remember the name of it but I have the paper at work. i can see tomorrow.. but it didn't seem to do any good so i need to try something else. so now I am just up for ideas on how to break this cough. i bought the biomycin, pennicilan and a vitamin b . If you think any of these will work let me know, if you have any other ideas please pass it along. he is still healthy and happy and his tail is up.. this cough is just nasty and I want to make him feel better. i am all up for ideas, if i need to go buy la-200 or any other medicine i will.. i just want to know what you all recommend I hit him with first.. how often and how much. thanks


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

please reply in the AM when you can and tell me what you recommend I hit him with.. if I don't have it I will go buy it. or if anyone else has suggestons please pass them along.. I lost one goat last week and I don't want it to happen again. i want to start the medications tomorrow for sure. Is it ok to hit him with two things? or can you only do one at a time? let me know what to do and I will do it. thank you so much

nathan


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

it was probably Naxel.

No do not give pen and biomycin at the same time!


I would give the Biomycin 1cc per 20lbs for 3-5 days. if this doesnt clear up his cough he might have scar tissue that will always make him cough


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

once or twice per day?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

biomycin is once a day


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## cdtrum (Aug 25, 2008)

Yep....as Stacey said, he may always cough a bit after getting over it.....I have a 1yr old that had pneumonia (sp?) when I brought him home at 12 weeks and to this day he still coughs every now and then......vet was out a couple of weeks ago and said as long as no changes in the cough, not to worry...that he might always have a small cough.


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

I personally treay with Bio-Mycin once every 3 days for 9 days at 1cc per 10lbs.... I would also give the paturella pneumonia vaccine after that as well. Make sure you clean out all of the bedding and goat pellets after treating with Bio-mycin that way they don't reinfect themselves as soon as you get them well.


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

i gave him the biomycin shot this morning and i came home tonight and he can barely walk  he wont put any weight on his back leg and he hops around.. I must of hurt him somehow and I feel bad.. I don't think I can give him any more shots after seeing him right now. 


where do I get the paturella pneumonia vaccine? is it a shot or do you give it orally? i think he has pneumonia so hopefully that helps him.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

he has to be well before you give the vaccine

and if he had pasturella then the rest of the goats would have it to - it spreads like wild fire, talking from recent experience. Just sounds like he has some kind of respiratory issue not specifically pasturella 

but like I said before you can have a nasal swab done to determine if it is pasturella or not = your vet can do this


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## Bellafire Farm (Jan 5, 2010)

I believe you have Nigerians?

Be careful of the needle sizes. We switched to 1/2" needles, which do seem to be harder to find, but we needed to on the smaller little guys. We use 1/2" 20 guage for nearly everything, so far it's been working great. And I'm with you on giving shots, I can't stand it!! I always feel SO terrible afterward, but if you focus on what the outcome will be WITH the shots versus WITHOUT the shots, then it's much easier to get through.
Hang in there.

Another thought, although it requires much more effort... you could call the vet's office and explain that you're hesitant to give him his shot and see if you can bring him into their office. They can show you exactly how to give the shot, and might even be willing to give it for you if really necessary. I can't imagine having a tech give a shot or show how to give a shot would be all that expensive at all. It's just an idea to try and help you out....you've been through alot lately.

take care & keep your chin up!


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

did you get the shot IM or SQ?


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

do you think i did something wrong to why he is limping so bad now? I think I am going to lay off on the shots for awhile and see how he does. He hates me right now and runs from me when he sees me.. He thinks im the big bad meanie coming to stick him with needles.. I just feel bad he is limping.. do i need to do anything for him or do you think he will start to walk on his own?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

you might have nicked a nerve -- it happens 

If you gave the shot IM then you have to becareful but sometimes those oxytetracycline antibiotics can be a bit nasty and sting and cause discomfort


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

StaceyRoop said:


> did you get the shot IM or SQ?


I thought I got it right in the muscle.. Maybe I went too far or put it in somewhere I shouldn't? it's hard to give him shots with all his hair. I tried to feel around first for the muscle.. Do I need to worry about him limping? can anything serious come from this? if so i need to get him to the vet asap. I hope i didn't cause permanent damage.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

he should be better tomorrow 

try SQ and pull back on the syringe to check to make sure you arent hitting a blood vessel


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

went out this morning and he still wont walk or put any weight on his back leg.. it makes me sad  I hope he gets better soon..


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

is there any way i could of done permanent damage to his leg or paralyzed it? or do you think he will be ok and start to walk on it again in a few days?


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## citylights (Jul 3, 2009)

Aww, poor guy! You can hit the sciatic nerve back in the rear leg -- and I know he's mad at you, but chances are it will resolve okay. I had that happen to a doe of mine -- from a VET!!! She was really lame for several days, but did recover fully. (And forgave me!)

I do most of my IM's in the neck or shoulder. I have pyglets... errr, pygmies, so they are pretty beefy in the neck. and you don't have to go very deep.


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## nesluopetan (Feb 16, 2010)

i really don't like the back leg.. especially with this fluff ball goat of mine. Is it ok if I give him medicine under the skin? or does it have to go into a muscle? I am just scared of this happening again. I feel horrible  he wont put any weight on it at all he just hops around like it's paralyzed.. 

I try to help and I seem to make him worse. Steve bell gave me some Tri-His powder and told me to feed him 1/2 tsp twice a day.. what is this stuff for? he said i can just pour it in the back of his mouth. is it some kind of a antibiotic for his cough?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

yes you can give it SQ which is under the skin


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I know how you feel Nate, I did the same thing when giving Bootsie antibiotics as a yearling...hit the sciatic nerve. She was fine after a few days and still had a swagger to her walk for quite awhile after, you can give the shot under the skin, just do as Stacey mentioned and pull back on the plunger to make sure you didn't hit a blood vessel, if you did, pulling back allows you to see blood in the syringe or not.

The Tri-His is something my sister had to give an old pony that was blind, he had awful allergies that caused some coughing and runny eyes, the Tr-His alleviated the symptoms.
Please continue with the antibiotics as directed, what he has had won't be enough to help and if not continued you won't know if it will help.


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## ENC (Jan 3, 2010)

Whether you feel bad or not is not a reason for discontinuing use of an antibiotic. I know it sucks to have to give shots to an unwilling patient. However early termination of an antibiotic regimen is what allows the disease to become resistant to that antibiotic. This means if you have the same disease in your herd later on the antibiotic may or may not be effective. This is also why alot of us goat raisers have such a problem finding a wormer that works effectively at a small dose. 

I know it sucks but please finish giving your goat the shots. 

Evan


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