# Kid with wet cough and runny nose



## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I have a 9 week old kid with a wet cough and a sometimes runny nose. The runny nose fluid is clear. Her temp was 104 this morning but it was already hot and she was hanging out in the sun. I won't be able to get an accurate temp until tomorrow morning early. 

She is eating and drinking and up and about and does not have diarrhea. 

I have a friend who recommended giving her LA-200, but the Fias Co web page says it can damage teeth and bone development in kids under 6 months, and besides I am a little reluctant to jump right to antibiotics. 

She also recommended vitamin C. If I was going to do that, what would the dose be? I have sodium ascorbate powder and need to know milligrams in order to figure out how much to give her. 

Thanks,
Jan


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## cdtrum (Aug 25, 2008)

I am sure someone more knowledgable will be on here to advise you soon......but last spring I brought home a 12 week old that had shipping fever and ended up with pnuemonia(sp?) so I ended up having to put him on antibiotics per my vet, but I also gave him like 2 regular human chewable vit c's tabs every day and I also gave him 2cc's of childrens benaydrel (sp?) every evening and it really helped with the runny nose and cough......my little guy had a horrible cough..... I gave him probiotics once he was on the antibiotics.......it seemed like it took my little guy forever to get over it, but he was pretty sick...he had a cough for a very long time......he is now over a year old and is as healthy as can be!


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

:thumb: I agree with the benadryl up to 5cc. We brought one home with a clear runny nose and cough, and the benadryl really helped with both. I think ours is from lungworm, was your little guy wormed before he came home? The mucus running down the back of their throat can cause the coughing from irritation, too. We've also had lots of sneezes here lately with everything blooming. Everyone on here told me not to worry unless it's yellow/green discharge and/or a fever. Hope your guy feels better soon!


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## cmjust0 (Oct 8, 2009)

With a wet cough, nasal discharge, and a mild fever, it sounds like pneumonia to me. An upper respiratory infection, at least.. And even if it's not full blown pneumonia yet, the crap that's draining down his neck right now could very well lead to that.. 

I'd treat right now if it were me.

The most common treatment for pneumonia in kids that I've seen is PenG dosed at 1ml/15lbs, 2x/day for 7-10 days through an 18ga needle... A 20ga needle will work if you wuss out on the 18ga, but don't go lower than that. 

That's a lot of needle sticks, I know, but make sure you follow through for AT LEAST a week to keep him from relapsing.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Thank you. I haven't heard her cough at all since yesterday morning, and this morning her temp is 102.6, we got it before the temperature started going up outside. So today, no cough, no runny nose and a more or less normal temp. She felt quite good enough to give us a wild time catching her. She weighs 23 pounds.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Sounds like... she may have a cold or allergies........ did you end up giving her anything? If her temp is normal... she is ...eating ....drinking..... acting normal .....then she should be OK .....just keep an eye on her...... :hug:


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Yup, that's my plan. 

Jan


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Keep us updated... :thumb:


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Her temp was normal this morning. She ended up with a runny nose again yesterday and 103 still, yesterday I gave her some vitamin c but still didn't have anything else other than antibiotics, which I didn't want to start. But I got childrens benedryl and this morning gave her a bit of that and a bit of vitamin C and 1/4 aspirin. I expect her temp to be normal again tomorrow and if it is I won't give her anything else. She has never seemed to feel bad, except that she is the last of the kids from this year and sort of at the bottom of the heap. And she is the most shy. Figures it would be that one that had to be grabbed every day and have strange things done.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

just watch that temp and cough -- it can quickly turn bad and if so I wouldnt mess with penG it isnt effective against respiratory infections. you need an oxytetracycline. ITs my go to antibiotic after all I went through last year! 

just giving a bit of Vit C isnt going ot be effective. She will need several tablets for it to be effective against anything she is coming down with.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Yes, I wrote that wrong yesterday, her temp has been normal for three days. Including today. Her nose is still snotty though. I sure will keep watch on her. I'm glad to hear that about oxytetracyline, I would much rather give her that if I have to give her something, just because of the smaller needle and fewer doses. Fias Co Molly says that in kids under six months it can hurt their skeletal and dental development, so I have been reluctant to do it unless I absolutely have to. She is about 10 weeks old now. Do you have a recommendation for how much vitamin C in milligrams or aspirin for a 23 pound kid?


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## cmjust0 (Oct 8, 2009)

The age issue is specifically why I'd recommend PenG over tetracycline in this case, though I personally feel like the bone/growth risks are probably overblown. I don't know that for sure, though, so don't take my word for it.. Probably best to ask a qualified vet.

I actually asked a vet about using it on a pregnant doe once and he indicated that MAYBE the kids would be born with yellow teeth.

I used it.

The babies' teeth came out white, but all three have slight underbites and the doeling was born with a crooked front leg. I sincerely doubt any of that was related to the tetracycline, though. :laugh:

You should also be aware that some folks believe tetracycline to be a "last resort" drug for pneumonia...like, if that's all you have in the cabinet, go ahead and use it, but don't expect it to work very well..

I can tell you that I used it once for a wet, heavy cough and a little nasal discharge in a scrubby commercial doe I have.. I have literally no use for this doe, and she ultimately had a date with the butcher...plus, she gave my old herdsire soremouth, which kinda p/o'd me ( :laugh: ), so.....well, suffice it to say that I wasn't out there taking temps and fretting over whether or not she'd pull through. She sounded rough, looked rough, acted rough...so I opened my cabinet, pushed the $1/ml Excenel off to the side and reached straight for the $0.13/ml Bio-Mycin.

Actually, since I'm tattling on myself right now anyway, you should probably know that I actually slid the _new_ bottle of Bio-Mycin out of the way and grabbed the partial bottle that was already dark and oxidized..

She got about 4.5ml/day of that for 5 days and made a full recovery. She was actually about 95% better after the 2nd treatment, as evidenced by me having to chase her stupid hind end down to give her the last three shots.

Obviously, my experience with it doesn't exactly jive with some of the stuff you might read about tetracycline and pneumonia, though.. And a buddy of mine has lost a bunch to what he suspected was Pasteurella pneumonia, despite treating them with tetracycline... I dunno. Ultimately, it seems like maybe it works for some folks and not for others, and that could have everything to do with the type of bug you're up against.. Or dosages.. Or whatever, who knows?

If I were in your shoes, though...with this being a kid...I'd personally start with PenG and see it it helps. If it doesn't improve in a day or two, I'd personally move to Excenel -- but only because I *have* Excenel on hand. If I didn't, I'd probably try tetracycline.. If tetracycline didn't work, I'd probably consult a vet...but if I couldn't consult a vet and needed something quickly, I might actually switch to Tylan and pray for forgiveness for setting a baby goat on FIRE with an injection.. 

Tylan supposedly works REALLY WELL though. :laugh: 

Another antibiotic I'm looking into these days is Gallimycin 100. It's injectable erythromycin, 100mg/ml. Supposed to be GREAT for upper respiratory infections and -- of all things -- mastitis (I know, right?), but I have no first-hand experience with it.. It's old-school...first used in the '50s, I think. Kinda went away for a long time, but it's apparently being revisited now. Could be that a lot of resistant bugs have reverted to susceptibility, but I dunno..

Something I've read that I don't like about Gallimycin is that it's known for causing injection lumps and is generally 'irritating' to the animal...but, again, I have no first hand experience with it AT THIS POINT.

Something tells me I will soon enough, though, as I'm going to order some next time I have to buy stuff from Jeffers.  It's cheap -- like $15 for a 100ml vial.

Ok...rambling now. I'll stop.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Thank you, that is all great information!

Jan


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