# Dry Cough--anything I should do? Worse=update & meds



## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

Joker (our black and white traditional buckling) has a dry, unproductive cough. He seems to hack a bit when excited and I was watching out the window--he got up from a nap and hacked about 3 times.

The cough is very dry and he is the picture of health otherwise. He is super playful, no discharge, eats like a goat should and drinks alot of water. 

The weather has gotten cold here; he was recently heavily dewormed for the 1st month we had him and he is growing alot. I wonder if any of these things could have something to do with it.

Mojo and Macho who share a pen w/him have no cough. Should I just keep my eye on him? Is there anything I should do?


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## Skyz84 (Jul 25, 2011)

*Re: Dry Cough--anything I should do?*

I'm a newbie but I know one of our goats developed a dry cough. It continued to get worse over several weeks. Then another goat ...then another. I was at a lose as they all appeared to be fine. I gave them a dose of Ivomec in case it was lungworm. The 1st dose cleared the last goat to start coughing very quickly. By the 2nd dose another goat was better and finally about a week or so after the 3rd dose the 1st goat (who had the worst cough) finally completely stopped coughing. I never found out what it was. Could have been coincidence but I *think* the Ivomec was what helped. So my guess was lungworm. No more coughing.

Not sure what else could cause a dry cough... I'm sure more experienced people will have better ideas


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

*Re: Dry Cough--anything I should do?*

Might be lungworm...

Is it dusty and dry where he is at...could also be dust related ...or his hay may have a lot of dust? Mold in the hay?

Is his stall area have Ammonia smell from bedding?


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

*Re: Dry Cough--anything I should do?*

I had the same experience with the dry coughing and am in the midst of giving them a series of ivomec doses orally. All my girls were coughing intermittently for a couple of weeks and the first dose seems to have cleared it up.


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

*Re: Dry Cough--anything I should do?*

well no dust in the hay as far as I can tell (but..since he is new to me he could be an extra sensitive guy and I am just not used to that) I am a fanatic about keeping the buck house clean and aired out so no ammonia smell.

He just completed 2 injections of ivermec-10 days apart then 3 days of safeguard and then finally (and most recently --actually just as he started to have the cough) the last ivermec dose in the 3x10 series--but I dosed him orally this last time.

Could it be the after effects of the de-worming? He really does not do it that often. He didn't cough at all last night during feeding time nor this morning. Maybe I am being oversensitive to it.

Anyone use that vet rx? I heard it was supposed to be great to ward off upper respiratory things? I have looked at my local feed store for it but all they have/know about is a chicken version? Local TSC does not have any. Is it the chicken version everyone uses or do they have a bigger animal type?


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

*Re: Dry Cough--anything I should do?*

So tonight when I went out the cough was worse, no more frequent but sounded a bit "wet" to me and the little guy tooted each time he coughed-so he was coughing pretty hard :laugh:

I started him on LA200; he weighs 78lbs so I gave him 4cc's. My understanding is this is needed 1 time a day for 5 days?

Is it ok to just give it 3 days or should I do 5? TIA!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I'd do the 5 days..... :hug:

It is funny when they toot.... :laugh:


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

:ROFL: yes I have to admit it is...poor little guy and there I was snickering as I drew up his medicine!! Lol..I did give him some oat cheerios because he was so brave, not one skwauk


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

> :ROFL: yes I have to admit it is...poor little guy and there I was snickering as I drew up his medicine!! Lol..I did give him some oat cheerios because he was so brave, not one skwauk


 LOL :laugh: :thumbup:


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I'm so sorry your boy is sick, I hope he gets better soon! Nothing like a sick goat to worry about! I sure hope you can figure the cough out. Might sound silly, but could he have allergies? Maybe something in the air is irritating him?


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## Mandara Farm (Sep 12, 2010)

When I brought home a little Nigerian doeling, she started coughing really badly. We were having lots and lots of rain then, so I was worried about pneumonia. It was not a real productive cough, but it was regular and sounded awful. I did the lungworm treatment of Ivomec 3x, 10 days apart, along with a round of Biomycin as her temp was slightly elevated. It only kinda-sorta helped. The cough became dry and continued on. I gave her natural remedies from Molly's Herbals (Immune stimulant, etc) -- actually I tried that first, but it didn't seem to help so I went with the bigger guns, but actually NOTHING seemed to work for this doe. The alfalfa hay was dry and probably dusty too, though it didn't seem dusty to me. It took about two months for this cough to clear up, and to this day I can only speculate what was really going on. Her appetite was fine, drank plenty of water and ran around playing like nothing was wrong... :shrug: After trying everything I could think of, I finally decided to stop all treatments (while keeping a close eye on her) and see what developed -- and that's when it cleared up! Looking back, she may have had a seasonal allergy, as she came from a drier climate. I guess I'll find out next spring when it gets really wet around here again!

Having said that, I would never recommend telling anyone to stop whatever treatments they are doing, but if nothing is helping maybe it is some kind of allergy?

Anyone know if you can give a goat benadryl? It never occured to me when my goat was coughing, but if it stops a histamine reaction... ???? Or is an epi shot better for that possibility?


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

You can do benedryl to see if it helps if it is allergies.


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## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

Mine started last January with a really dry cough. I treated with Ivomec and then had the vet look at her. He determined that it was environmental. When summer hit it got better but now that winter is back she is coughing again. I keep an eye on her but I don't worry as much about it as last year. I should try some benadryl for her. I do have another one that has allergies but it is to sage and go figure I live in the desert. I agree don't stop treatment and hopefully it ends up being a minor issue for you too.


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