# weak front legs on adult doe



## melbah1 (Jun 28, 2013)

I have never seen this before, so I'm hoping you all can help.

Oberhasli 5 year old doe does not want to walk on her front legs. She is walking on her front knees much of the time. 

My first thought was Selenium or hoof rot. I gave her the annual shot of 2cc Bo-Se Sq about a month ago. I gave her an additional shot 6 days ago in case.

I have checked her feet several times...it's been a very wet spring. I've cleaned them and poured a foot rot medication on them just in case. But her feet look good.

She's not limping like one foot is hurting. It looks more like she is weak and she looks like she has lost muscle tone in her shoulders. She can walk on her legs, she just looks weak when she does and goes down on her knees much of the time. She is slowly getting worse.

She is still in milk from last years kidding, milking a little over a quart once a day. No sudden changes in production. She was not breed this year. I have started to milk less out of her and didn't milk her today because I didn't want to ask her to get on the milk stand. She is not producing much anyway.


Medication:

Wormed with Valbazen 4 weeks ago at 15cc, two doses 10 days apart, decided to try worming again with Ivermectin Plus. Gave 3.5 cc SQ three days ago. She looks like about a 3 on the Famacha chart.


In the last two weeks I gave Molly's herbals, Red Cell, probiotics, B12 and Bo-Se.


Diet:
free choice Payback loose minerals, orchard grass hay and 6 acre field.
Daily, 1 cup alfalfa pellets, 3 cups locally milled grain.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Was she tested for CAE?


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## melbah1 (Jun 28, 2013)

I haven't had my herd tested for a few years. I always use the same breeder and have considered my herd basically a closed herd.

We did bring on a rescue horse recently. That's the only changes in a few years.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Founder? I had a doe that foundered and that was how she acted.


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## melbah1 (Jun 28, 2013)

That could be, they are out in the 6 acre field and it's spring. I haven't had one founder before. I didn't know goats could founder.

What would I need to do for that?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Is there Horsetail/ Scouring Rush fern in their pasture?


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## melbah1 (Jun 28, 2013)

there's horse tail on the other side of the fence by the creek. I haven't seen it close enough for them to get at through the fence, but it is possible she could have gotten a little.

I don't know what that fern is.

just in case it's founder, I separated her so she couldn't go out into the field. I hosed her legs down for a few minutes. She was standing when I left her so I wonder if the cold water helped her a little or just the stess of being separated motivated her to stand.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

They are probably eating it to the ground as soon as it pops up inside their area. It contains nicotine so is highly addictive. 
Eating it causes staggers /atypical polio. Treatment is vitamin B1 injected in large amounts and Meloxicam or Banamine to reduce brain swelling.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

how does her hooves look? I had a doe founder and her hooves were tall and miss shaped...took a lot to get her on her feet and even now we have to watch her close..


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Before doing too much, I would test for CAE.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good advice by everyone.


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## melbah1 (Jun 28, 2013)

Current, the goat that this thread is about, tested negative for CAE. The blood was sent to Washington State University. I don't know what test was used.

She hasn't gotten any better or worse. She will walk on her front legs to move from one place to another but then go back on her knees as soon as she stops. 

I kept her out of the field for a few days to see if there was any improvement in case it was founder. Her hooves look fine and only her knees feel slightly warm. Took her off all grain and dried her up (milk).

Took her to the vet and he prescribed Meloxicam to help with inflammation. Fecal showed 900 stongiles. That was about 7 days after the first dose of Ivermectin Plus (3.5cc SQ) I did the second dose at 10 days so that should be taken care of. Still not enough of a worm load to cause too much weakness anyway.

Maybe I didn't keep her off the field long enough to decrease the foundering? Not sure what else to do.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Once founder has set in, the hoofs will be rock hard and you may see rings (just like a foundered horse). They grow differently than a normal goats foot.

You said her knees felt warm? She may have non-CAE arthritis. The Meloxicam should help with that if it is.


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