Goat Savers

This has been a rough week for us. Our male goat, Wetherby, got very sick. He was blind, had trouble walking and standing, and wouldn't eat or drink. We took him to the vet (the closest vet that treats goats was about 40 minutes away) where they discovered he had a fever and gave him a shot of anti-biotics and steroids. At first he seemed to be doing better but the next morning, additional symptoms began: walking around in circles, stiff legs, muscle spasms, and collapsing on the ground.

I did a bit of research and came up with the idea that he might have goat polio. Goat polio is basically a thiamine deficiency that is usually fatal within 24-72 hours without treatment. This was day two of symptoms so we again took him to the vet where he got vitamin B shots and more steroids. We were given several more doses of vitamin B to administer over the next few days. This was basically his last hope for survival since we didn't know of anything else that could cause such symptoms.

Fortunately, he responded well to treatment and has been doing so much better. He is walking more normally, though I suspect his sight is still a bit fuzzy since he tends to walk very carefully. And he is eating and drinking again!

The ironic thing about this whole situation is that we held a "New Kids on the Block" (or "Meet the Goats") party on the day he took a turn for the worse. He was doing better the night before so we didn't cancel it but found him the next morning and decided we needed to act immediately to save him. So those at the party were only able to meet one of our goats but it sounds like they had fun anyway. I am very grateful for the friends who stayed to watch my girls while I ran the goat to the vet. It saved his life!