Small Ruminants: Goat Medicine and Surgery Flashcards
Why are licensed drugs in goats important and why care is required?
Issue for milk and meat- 45% population
Care: particular brands have license
What is the normal TPR for a goat?
Rectal- 38.7-40.7
HR:
Adults: average 95 (70-120)
Kids upto 1mo: <200
Kids 1-6mo <140
RR:
Adults 15-30
Kids 20-40
Rumen activity: 3-4 contractions in 2 minutes
How is goats blood samples and where are subcut and IM injections given?
What about oral medicine?
Blood: jugular- straight neck
Sub cut: neck, caudal to elbow, escutcheon
Oral: kid- lamb feder tube, adult- foal tube
What clostridial disease are more and less present in goats?
- What are the clinical signs of enterotoxaemia?
- What is the treatment?
- Clinical signs:
Per acute: rapid death/found deat
Sub acute: profuse diarrhoea ± dysentery - Treatment:
Fluid therapy
NSAID ± additional analgesia
Charcoal?
TLC: warmth, stimulation
How is enterotoxaemia in goats controlled?
Trigger factors to shift from commensal to infection:
* Rumen/metabolic acidosis (CH feeding)
* Sudden diet change (housing/turnout)
* Stress (bullying, concurrent illness, trauma)
Vaccination- 4 in 1
Booster q3-6m
- What is CAE?
- What are the problems of CAE?
- Caprine arthritis encephalitis
- Production losses: early culling, loss of kids, reduced milk/exports
No treatment and difficult to control
What are the clinical signs of CAE
How is it diagnosed?
Rare and unspecific
* Arthritis
* Encephalitis (young kids)
* Masitis
* Weightloss
Dx: serology
How is CAE controlled?
Interrupt infection spread
Infected dam- udder infection- milk and colostrum
Test and cull
Avoid pooled milk/colostrum
Colostrum not protective
What are the clinical manifestations of listeriosis?
How is it diagnosed?
Clinical manifestations:
* Encephalitis
* Septicaemia and sudden death
* Abortion
Diagnosis:
* Clinical signs
* Lab: CSF, Serology, PME, haem?
How is listeriosis treated?
- ABs
- NSAIDs
- IVFT- alkaline
- TLC: deep bedding, warmth, quiet and dark, rumen flora
How is listeriosis prevented?
Silage technique
* Blade height
* Good fermentation
* No aerobic spoilage
* Remove left-overs
Avoid bare pastures
What iceberg diseases do goats have in common with other ruminants?
Johnes disease
* D+ not until terminal stage (as in sheep)
* Gudair vaccine available
Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA)
* Disfiguiring (show animals)
* Shearing in fibre goats
* Restraining devices
What are the notifiable diseases of goats?
Big, blue, brutes, can, carefully, catch, fowl, smelling, mice, pests, slowly, riding, risks
What are the differentials for a goat with weightloss/poor BCS?
- Endoparasites
- Nutrition
- Dental problem
- CAE
- Johne’s disease
- Scrapie
- Neoplasia
- Lameness
- Bovine tuberculosis
What are the differentials for a goat with respiratory disease?
- Pasturellosis (manhaemia haemolytica)
- No specific virus (but CAE)
- Mycoplasma (show animals)
- Lung worm (dictocaulus, muellerius)
- Bovine TB
What are the differentials for anaemia in a goat?
- Haemolysis or haemorrhage
- Endoparasites (haemonchus, teladorsagia, fluke, coccidiosis)
- Lice
- Blood parasites
- Chronic inflammatory disease or severe liver disease
- Mycoplasma mycoides
- Afibrinogenaemia
What common diseases can affect foot care and lameness?
- Scald and foot rot
- Treponeme-associated
- White-line disease
- Pedal joint abscess
Digit amputation well tolerated
What are the clinical signs of endoparasites?
Weightloss/poor growth, decreased milk yield, anaemia
Severe disease, dehydration, protein loss, death
What is the suggestion for anthelmintic use in goats?
Need for higher dosage rates
What ectoparasites can affect goats?
- Lice- anaemia
- Blowfly
- Nuisance flies
Mange
* Chorioptes- tailhead
* Psoroptes- skin folds
* Sarcoptes- head, neck- very pruritic- zoonotic
* Demodex- thorax nodules- not prutitic
- What is pygmy goat syndrome?
- How is it diagnosed?
- How is it treated?
- Seborrhoeic dermatitis- prim/secondary keratinisation disorder
hair loss and skin flaking/crusting aorund eyes, lips, ears, chin, ventrally and peritoneum - Rule out other conditions, biopsy
- Topical steroid ± AB antiseptic or seleen shampoo
What commonly affects udder health in goats?
Teat biting
* Adult dairy goats- remove/cull biter
* Udder impetigo- staphylococcal
* Udder enlargment
Maiden milkers/pseudo preg- do not milk
Suspensory ligament failure- rule our COD, repro tract neoplasia, pyo (Tx: masectomy)
How does mastitis affect coats?
Clinically rare: serious ± gangrene
Sub-clinically common
* Apocrine milk secretion- naturally higher SCC
* Varies with breed, season, stage of lactation
Why is neoplasia more common in pet goats?
Reach older age
What epidural is given to sheep for a C-section?
Lumbo-sacral epidural
What is the prognosis and complications of C-sections in goats?
Prognosis- 93-96% dam, 42-65% neonates
Complications:
* Retained foetal membranes
* Endometritis
* Fever
* Seroma/wound breakdown
* Peritonitis
- When does floppy kid disease most commonly occur?
- What are the clinical signs and possible cause?
- How is it treated?
- 3 days to 3 weeks old- biggest and healthiest, one, no disease/dehydration
- Incoordination/ataxia, difficulty feeding, recumbancy
- Bicarbonate, electrolytes, nursing
What species of goat is commonly affected by sticky kid disease?
Golden Guernsey
No treatment
How do does of analgesia differ to other ruminants?
Lower doses of local
Lidocaine <6mg/kg
Bupivicaine <2mg/kg
What are the considerations to anaesthesia of goats?
- Consider GA over local
- Starvation
- Tetanus cover
- ABs
- NSAIDs
- Fly control
- Positioning
- Monitoring
- Pad horn
How can a goat be induced?
Xylazine- IV/IM
or
Detomidine IV
± butorphanol
Plus ketamine
How is hypothermia managed during surgery?
- Cover
- Soak up fluids
- Warm lavage fluids
- Bair hugger/hot hands
- 5% glucose IV
- Monitor
- Feed post op
What are the options for analgesia in goats?
- Fentanyl patch
- Butorphanol
- Buprenorphine
- Meloxicam
- What techniques are legally required for castration?
Ringing before 7 days old
> 2 months old requires vet and anaesthesia
What are the different methods of temporary castration for goats?
- Anti-GnRH vaccine
- Suprelorin
- Belly apron
What nerves need to be blocked for a goats dehorning?
What are the risk factors for urolithiasis?
Pet goats: concentrates
Poor water quality
