# Kid with Stuffy Nose, Cough, No fever



## rbrink21 (Apr 25, 2011)

I'm getting to be at my wits end. I have a 6 week old doeling who has been sick for a couple of weeks now but doesn't have a fever. She is lethargic (at least compared to our two bucklings - who are perfectly fine) and is congested with a wet cough. She is eating though and she doesn't have diarrhea. Our vet had her on thiamine shots thinking she had a deficiency because he didn't think her breathing sounded too bad. When that didn't work he put her on antibiotics and we're giving her probios. The antibiotics don't appear to be making a difference. She has 2 days left but she's still just as congested as before - though she's a bit more energetic. She has another appointment to see the vet on Friday if this doesn't clear up. 
I've read conflicting info about giving children's benedryl to help with congestion so I'm not sure if we should try that. Poor thing is tired of being poked and prodded all the time and I just want to give her some relief. 
Anyone have any advice to help us get this little girl all fixed up?


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

what antibiotic does the vet have her on? what is the dosage? What does she weigh?


----------



## rbrink21 (Apr 25, 2011)

She's on Naxel. Of course I'm at work so I can't tell you the exact dosage (they are in premeasured syringes). She gets one shot a day. She weighs 11lbs (pygmy goat).


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Lungworms and allergies come to mind...  

I'd try the children's benedryl ...if we give it to children ...I would think.. it would be safe for goats.... :wink:


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

benedryl will make her sleepy and it will only help if its allergy related.


----------



## rbrink21 (Apr 25, 2011)

I probably should have been a bit more clear. She has nasal congestion. She's coughing (not a constant cough though) and seems to have slight chest congestion (which is what the vet said didn't sound all that bad), but the majority of it is in her nose.


----------



## Squires (Sep 14, 2010)

:whatgoat: If it is a virus, antibiotics won't do much. Only help a secondary bacterial infection (which you often see after a prolonged nasty flu virus or something). If it is an irritant, not an allergen, neither the antihistamine nor the antibiotic can do any good. Sometimes they just need rest, fresh air, and time.
onder: 
Sometimes they just need some fresh air. If she's not running a fever, can you encourage this goat to go outside and play in the fresh air?

The goat specialist I emailed at Cornell said that in addition to bugs going around, infections, etc. that barns were terrible places to keep goats; said that if I can make them a three-sided shelter before next winter, they might breathe easier. Funny, because most people think goats and other livestock should be locked in a warm, tight barn. The barn is really for our comfort, not the goat's.

Most barns are too air-tight, and hold in stale air and odors and even non-odoriferous gases and irritants. Not to mention dust. Outdoors the air is fresh, full of oxygen, and invigorating.

I have dairy sheep that a acclimated to the crazy weather we have (harsh winter, intermittent snow and mud, changing temperatures). They live outdoors 24/7 with windbreaks, unlimited feed and lots of fresh air. I put the dairy does out with them for a day, and they looked so good! Healthy, playful goats! 

My goat with the raspy breath came back into the warm barn and finally coughed up great green ropes of mucous into her feed pan! :shocked: YUCK -- but it meant that the stuff had sat in her lungs for a while and was affecting her breathing -- the fresh air and playing outside helped her clear her lungs. Something about coming back inside set her coughing and cleared out the crud in her lungs. 

Now, I've got bronchitis myself (have for a week) and know just how she feels. I tried to get the goats to go to the sheep pen again -- one of them wanted to, one of them took off looking for forbidden grazing, and I got tired, started coughing and put an end to the "play date" today so I could come back inside and cough out MY lungs.

Just because we or our critters are not feeling well, does not mean that we have to have antibiotics or medicine or that we are going to die from it. 

I'm not quite ready to put my tiny Nigie does outside 24/7 when the nights still get chilly and we are having thunderstorms and flooding, but, in another week or two (when I am well enough to shift fence panels around and maybe put up a little hoop-house shelter for them with a raised bed) I will let them out with the sheep. 

BTW, the Nigies think the dairy sheep are big dogs. The sheep think that the Nigies are little dogs -- but are OK with some dogs, so are curious. The two Nigies got nervous on the first introduction and played together away from the sheep -- butted heads again and again -- putting on a fearsome display of head-butting. The sheep just chewed their cuds and watched. Then, the senior doe walked over to the hay some sheep were eating, looked them in the eye, and made a butting gesture, and the sheep turned tail and ran away! So the goats settled in to eat the hay they had "won." Goats and sheep are so different -- you have to say that goats have a sense of humor where sheep do not! 
:laugh: 

Good luck with the sniffling baby goat-- keep an eye on it, but don't worry too much yet. 
Chris


----------



## rbrink21 (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks Chris! We do keep them in a three sided shelter and they spend most of their time outside basking in the sun (when it's not raining of course). I'll definitely keep an eye on it and keep monitoring her temperature.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

anything in the chest concerns me especially when there is a cough and nasal discharge involved. beings she is also lethargic Im more concerned.

Ive had goats not run a temp but still have infections. Coughing so hard their back legs come off the ground thick nasal discharge but NO temp. 5 days of oxytetracyline and they clear up. 

Just because she doesnt have a temp doesnt mean she isnt a candidate for antibiotics


----------



## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

What about some good ole penacillin?  Couldn't hurt (as long as it does not interfere or re-act with the meds the veterinarian already has her on).


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

penicillin rarely works for respiratory issues


----------



## rbrink21 (Apr 25, 2011)

We got home from work to see that she was really bad - unable to keep her balance and was now head bobbing. So she's in the ICU at UC Davis with pneumonia and what they think is encephalitis. They also are concerned that she has a congenital defect that made it difficult for her to swallow correctly so she ended up aspirating milk or food and that's why she developed pneumonia that isn't clearing up with antibiotics. So now we're just waiting to see if she'll make it through the night.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Praying for her... ray: I am sorry she went down like that....  :hug: 
Keep us updated... :hug:


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Oh poor thing - hope she pulls through and doesn't have any defects


----------



## Squires (Sep 14, 2010)

I ended up going to my own doctor for bronchitis, and guess what? The nurse mentioned that no one is running a fever with this latest bug -- many people have sub-normal temperatures. SO, they are giving antibiotics for deep-chest infections anyway -- decided that the old anecdote of a bacterial infection usually being accompanied by a high fever no longer applied in this particular little epidemic.

I wonder if the goats are having the same virus, flu, bug, whatever that we are having, or if they just are having their own bug running parallel to people getting a similar bug. People and animals seem to be tired and sniffling for many weeks at a time. Your vet was smart to start the antibiotic early -- it may have prevented something even nastier from developing. Normally I don't like antibiotics without a clear reason, but apparently there is a good reason to start antibiotics with this/these bug(s). 

Just thought I'd mention -- I learned something new from this -- you can be really sick without a fever -- and so can your goats.

Chris


----------

