# Deer Meningeal Worm



## bessmiller (Jan 23, 2012)

I have been doing some research and am pretty sure that my goat Dave who passed recently had deer meningeal worms (deerworm/brainworm). Out of everything I have looked into--CAE, listeriosis, selenium deficiency, copper deficiency, scrapie--meningeal worms just hit the nail on the head as far as symptoms go. Plus, we definitely have white tail deer around where we live.

Do any of you have experience with this? If so, any suggestions on treatment/prevention? One source recommended dosing with Ivomec Plus and an anti-inflammatory. I am really concerned that more of my herd might have been exposed, and would like to get on top of this ASAP. I don't want any of my other goats to die like that!  

Thanks in advance!
Bessie


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

So sorry  It's scary when you have to worry about this stuff. We also have deer in the area, and just recently a young family - doe, twin fawns, and a young buck have been living back in the woods and come onto our wooded area. They are so stunning, and so innocent...but I am now thinking we really need to take precautions just in case...


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

Yes ivomecplus and dex is what was used on my llama in high doses. The dex I only needed if it is suspected they have it because it helps with swelling..I don't know that you would use it without symptons??


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## LetsGoKids (Mar 20, 2012)

My cousin has a doe that had the deerworm last summer. They treated her with ivomec-plus and banamine. She survived but she has a hard time walking. Her back legs don't function properly. They are trying to keep her comfortable but they think that she may need to be put down. She has a hard time moving around to get food and water. She accidentally got bred last fall and they think that stressed her legs more. She did give them twin does. So my cousin will still have her genetics in his herd.


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## Mrndly (Aug 16, 2012)

I didn't know goats could get Meningel. I have to give my alpacas a monthly ivomectin shot to prevent it.
One of my girls got it last year. And we were able to save her although there was some permenant damage and she has trouble to her back legs. We used high doses of wormer it was not ivomectin ( I will have to find the paper ) and banimine we treated 2x day for a week. 
It cleared up completely and then 2 weeks later it came back - the vet told me that was typical. So we blasted her again and finally stopped. Unfortunately the time left her with very stiff back legs. 

I have tons of deer in my area do I need to put the goats on a preventative worming cycle


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## bessmiller (Jan 23, 2012)

> My cousin has a doe that had the deerworm last summer. They treated her with ivomec-plus and banamine. She survived but she has a hard time walking. Her back legs don't function properly. They are trying to keep her comfortable but they think that she may need to be put down. She has a hard time moving around to get food and water. She accidentally got bred last fall and they think that stressed her legs more. She did give them twin does. So my cousin will still have her genetics in his herd.


That is so sad! I was reading that, while you can treat the deer worms if you catch them early enough, any nerve damage that happens in the process will be permanent. Ugh. What a horrible parasite.

Thank you for your thoughts! Ivomec plus it is. I think I am going to go ahead and dose my whole herd, just in case.


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

That's Is true. My llamaa still walks funny but is doing fine with it. Just put him in the smaller buck pasture and its been a few years. He was pretty much down when we figured out something was wrong. It took about 2 weeks before he was out of the woods.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Safeguard (Panacur) is the wormer that should be used when you have Meningeal Worm. It crosses the blood/brain barrier where Ivomec won't. Should be dosed at 1cc per 7 lbs and given 5 days in a row.

http://www.shagbarkridge.com/info/menin.html

Ivomec would be the preventative that you could give your goats. You would want to do it monthly.


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

My aunt has lost several llamas to meningeal worm. They have so many deer, and even though the property is well drained, the nearby creek helps the pathogen survive. The worm needs an intermediate host, slugs and snails, to enter a larger animal. So damp and wet, a water source, helps it live. 

Actually, everything she has told me and I've read, is that Safeguard (fenbendazole) is absolutely critical for treatment of an acute meningeal worm infection. It can cross the blood brain barrier, and kill the actual worms in the central nervous system. Ivermectin is merely a preventive and won't work as well if there is an active infection (can't get to the worm as well as Safeguard can), and ivermectin plus means that any live flukes, also often carried by slugs and snails, are killed. Banamine is given to control inflammation of the meninges.


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## bessmiller (Jan 23, 2012)

Ok, that is really good to know! I'll definitely go the Safegaurd route. Thank you for the dosage info. I really appreciate it.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Always best to have a fecal check done. Deer worm is easy to pick up on a fecal test. You dont want to overuse the wormer unnecessarliy and allow the worms to build resistance thus making it ineffective when truely needed.


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