# sores and blisters in kids anal area



## sandoval

Hi,
Today I noticed that 5 of the 13 new kids have open sores in the area around their anus and tail. It looks something like herpes. There are no lesions anywhere else in the body. No fever. The kids seem to be acting normal except for wagging the tail more. Of the 5 kids infected, 3 are from one doe and 2 from another. They do not have direct contact with each other but people could have touched kids from one pen and then touched the kids in the other pen. I can't find any information in reputable sources such as the Merck vet book about blisters around the anus. All the nasty viral skin diseases seem to be on the mouth.
I would like to know what this is, what to do about it, the long term consequences to the herd, and the risks of infection on humans. I will try taking some pictures tomorrow. In the mean time, has anyone seen this and discovered what it is? I saw a few reports of similar conditions in the forum but no diagnosis.
Thanks,
Cris


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## Sunny Daze

I think it could be soremouth. I believe they can get that on other areas (such as udder or under tail). Were the dams new to you?


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## freedomstarfarm

Sore mouth is generally on any hairless parts of the body bums included. 
If that is what this is it is contagious to both other goats AND to humans.


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## sandoval

I have these dams for a while. I keep a close herd and they come from a close herd. I wonder if they could have received it from wildlife.
One of my dams is refusing the nurse her 3 kids that have it.


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## sandoval

A friend of mine suggested that the dams that lick their kid's rear end a lot may cause a rash. Maybe bring in bacteria or irritating sap from plants. It is a possibility. The kids that have it are in that category.


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## sandoval

*Update: sores and blisters in kids anal area*

Here is an update. The blisters in the bottom of the tail have spread to more kids. The original 5 kids still have it but the sores are drying out. So, day 1 and 2 have blisters and open sores. Day 3: sores are drying out. 
I now suspect this is a form of herpes because it is clearly contagious and runs a short cycle, typical of viruses. I don't think it is the classic sore mouth because it is only at the the tail. I saw the dams liking their infected area and yet they have shown no signs of the disease in the tail or mouth. 
I keep a close herd so my hypothesis is that this virus has been in the herd in a latent form and for some reason it had an outbreak. Virus from the Herpes group can be in a latent form and express the disease when there are specific conditions. I had dehorned the kids 5 days before, this could have been a stress. Also, this is the first year I dam raise the kids. Perhaps them liking their bums irritated the area. 
This could be a herpes virus that have not been studied yet. Perhaps because we accidentally lump it with sore mouth. To find out if idea merits further studies, it would crucial to know if other places that had the blisters on kids tails also had the classic sore mouth on the lips at the same time.
Cris


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## freedomstarfarm

It is also possible that the does have built the immunity to the virus so show no outward signs but spread it to the kids. :shrug:


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## sandoval

Update 3/15/2012
The vet is coming to take samples to analyze. He thinks it may be mange, not sore mouth. This would explain why the dam didn't get it. they had ivermectin the day after kidding. I will let you know the lab results and post some pictures so we can sort this one out.


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## boeredinoh

yes, please post pictures....this is very strange. I'd like to know what the vet says.


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## shibby7

I would be looking into venereal diseases such as Syphilis.
Rabbits can get it. It goes away, but they will be a carrier for the disease.

Found these:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23340

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22943


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## sandoval

Hi everyone,
thank you for the link to the previous 2 posts in this subject. They look like the same problem I have. The vet came yesterday and made the diagnose of Staph dermatitis. I started treating with Betadone twice daily and it is drying out. He said he sees this in cows too. I have some photos and a description of the timing of infection in a powerpoint slide which I will out the below. I don't know how to attach photos yet. 
It starts as a few pimples which then ulcerate into a pink raw skin. The skin than starts to ooze white cream. 
The kids do not seem to loose appetite. The wag the tail a bit more than normal. 
He assured me that this is not sore mouth, which was a relief. Thank you all for your support.


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## packhillboers

I had this same thing start on my little baby boers last year. I at first tho't it was from the yellow poop getting stuck on their bottom and then creating a scab but then.. it spred to all the babies. None of the mammas got it on their tails except for one and it was extremely mild(hard to notice at all as it was tiny blistering) One baby had it the worse. I put some sulfur cream on it .. nothing came of this. It all disappeared and no one seemed ill. I suspect that this is now on our ranch but not sure how it came to us. No goats that I know of had issues when they arrived and came from good clean herds. It seems to be a very mild case of 'sore mouth' and has made all of the goats immune to particular strain of sore mouth. Yeah! That's the good news. 
I do wonder if one of the goats we bought came vaccinated with this and it spred as she did have a mild scabs on her udder when she got here. Nevertheless.. I just where gloves when I hold them and wait for it to clear before any of them leave the property to be sold.


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## packhillboers

Oh.. and yes.. it is here this year too.. same thing.. the little babies at 2 weeks - 3 weeks are starting to show up with these tiny little blisters on their tail ends/bottoms.. very mild. .. just tiny blisters with some tiny scabs.. very very mild. Enough to say.. 'no.. that's not sore mouth'.. but .. I think it is... an extreme mild case of it. At least they will be more immune to this. Is goat pox something different?


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## packhillboers

It could all be just a pooping rash and nothing to worry about at all. None of the babies have diareah signs at all and none of this is on the faces or mouths.. hard to say but no one is sick at all and none of the does have signs of problems either. Could be a poopoo rash?


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## sandoval

Hi Merry,
My vet said it is not consistent with sore mouth since no one had a sore in the mouth. None of the moms or babies. He said it is Staph, which is a bacteria. 
I had the same pattern as you did, all babies but no moms were infected. How long did it take for you kids to be normal last year.
Cris


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## packhillboers

Well they got over it on their own after about 3 weeks. It seemed to last such a long time but they did get over it completely.


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## sandoval

Oh dear, that is a long time. I have volunteers and kids coming here everyday to play and clean and they keep asking when they will be able to come back. I don't don't if this is contagious so I told them to wait until the sores are cured.


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## packhillboers

Oh.. ya.. I aways worry about other people/kids getting things from animals. I was raised on a farm.. lots of dirt.. I've been scratched by cats and exposed to quite a few things in my life.. BUT something to think about;.. City people who have never been in this type of environment can get things that some of us will not have trouble with.


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## sandoval

Here is an update,
The sores are mostly dried out by now but the new bucklings are still getting it at 2 weeks. I tried antibiotic injection, antibiotic cream, dewormer (in case it was mange), and Naylor's blue Kote. The only remedy that had immediate result was Dr.Naylor's Blue Kote. This is supposed to be a general antiseptic, killing bacteria and fungus. So, I still don't know what it is. 
Cris


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## packhillboers

Well, nothing ever came of ours this year. One little buckling had a few tiny blisters on his nose. He is always sticking his nose in the mud areas tho'. They never popped or scabbed but just kinda went away. So I do believe it was a bit bacteria problem in mine and not the sore mouth virus. No scabs at all this year for us. When the weather drys up more, I bet you won't have any trouble with it and it will clear on its own.


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## lovechild

My 2 goat kids have it too- any word on what the vet said?
thanks,
sarah


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## lovechild

I have 2 babies with it- what did you treat for staph?


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## kclairebear1

What did the vet say it was?


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## BCG

This is an older post, but thought I would ask about what I just found on my week old kids. 

Under their tails, all around the anus and up the underside of the tail, I noticed what looked like white pimples. Upon further inspection the white bumps where kind of waxy, round bumps attached to the skin. I wiped them off with a baby wipe. Some of the spots left sores when wiped off. I applied SWAT to aid in healing and keep the flies off.

Any idea what this might be? Have any of you seen this before?


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## ksalvagno

Could be sore mouth or staph. You can clean the area with chlorhexidine.


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## BCG

I don't believe it's sore mouth. The puss like bumps are on the surface of the skin as if something attached them there. Not a blister or infection in the skin that has surfaced. Weird....if they come back I will get a picture. The buckling was the worst and had some yellow crusties...looked like the strum that oozes from abrasions. ?? Wonder if it's from a bug of some sort. I dusted them and their pen just in case. I'm sure it's not mites or lice since it's on the bare skin.


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## ksalvagno

If you clean them with chlorhexidine or betadine, it should help clear it up.


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## lovemydoats

Don't know if this will help at all but I had this stuff on a bunch of my kids this year. Freaked us out. I gave then penicillin orally. 1cc then again two days later. Cleared it right up. Good luck.


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## BCG

Here's a pic of what's going on. They are in fact little puss spots.....like a zit almost. Is something like this possible if I'm feeding too much milk? They are currently being fed every 4 hours & eating about 8 oz each per feeding. 2/3 goat milk, 1/3 replacer.


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## BCG

No bumps today. Very strange stuff.


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## mjs500doo

Strange!! This will help someone in the future if we can find a solution. I wonder if it's like a bacterial infection (yeast?) that needs to be aired and dry??


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## BCG

After the second cleaning and applying ointment, I also reduced milk intake a little, the issue was taken care of. No more weird rash. Still don't know what this was. ????


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## Texan

This is exactly what is happening on two of my kids! Only I though it was ant bites at first so I wasn't worried.
When I first saw it, I carefully popped the "bites", cleaned them off, sprayed their tails with iodine, and applied some salve with essential oils of rosemary and mint in it. We use this salve on humans around here when we get ant bites and it always helps a lot. We have fire ants around here and the bites look just like that.

But today (2 days later) I noticed that their tails were crusty and that there were more blisters.  I sprayed some more iodine, but that's all.

Should I let it clear away on its own? The treatments here vary so much, I wasn't sure what to do...
I've never had this problem in my herd before, and now it's just two kids, sisters 9 days old.
Thanks


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## Texan

Sorry, I just realized that this is a pretty old thread. I got caught up reading and didn't check the date.


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## ksalvagno

It could be staph or sore mouth.


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## Texan

Do you think I should do anything else for it besides spraying iodine?


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## Texan

Oh oh, almost forgot.. one of the doelings does have slight scouring as well, but I have no idea if it's related. The other doeling does not.
Oh, and also both of them have a lot more blisters than the kid in the pictures here.


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## ksalvagno

If it is staph, you would treat with chlorhexidine. 

Sore mouth has to run its course but Tomorrow mastitis treatment helps the sores. You could clean with chlorhexidine and put tomorrow on it to cover both bases.


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## Texan

Sorry I didn't get back sooner.
I thought mastitis was only an udder problem, so I'm a little confused why you would use mastitis treatment for something like this? Is it related in some way?


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## ksalvagno

It is an antibiotic that happens to work on that. Not related to mastitis.


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## Texan

Thank you. 
They've all but cleared up now. I just sprayed with iodine for few days and it went away. It's been unusually wet here for a few weeks- I suspect that had something to do with it.


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## becky123

My baby buck has same things. Any1 find out what it is?


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## becky123

Looked everywhere online and nothing matches what he has exsept wat u folks have described on ur own kids. Weird never seen anything like it. None of the other kids have it wish knew the cause. Was thinkin maybe a diet issue reaction?


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## ksalvagno

Clean it with chlorhexidine. Twice a day. See if that helps.


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## becky123

Thanx so much!! A guy tried tellin me it was cae or somethin awful like that n told me 2 get rid of him but i read up on it n its nothin like it. Im new 2 the goat raising we now have 4 kids. An our 2 adults 1 milking. So was worried. But hes perfect other than those weird pimples on his behind. 1 of them is big n keeps filling up


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## ksalvagno

It could be sore mouth or a staph infection. Sore mouth has to run its course and staph is treated with chlorhexidine.


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## Julieb

Hi everyone I just noticed this on my three week old girls anal area. Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?


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## Goats Rock

Looks like a Staph infection. Treat with chlorhexidine. A drug store sells the soap "Hibiclens".


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