# Big belly in goat



## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

I have an Oberhasli doe that really looks distended to me and this has been going on for a few days. She doesn't seem uncomfortable just looks like she has eaten alot. They are turned out to browse in the a.m and we have LOTS of browse here. There gone all day and at night I give her about 2 lbs of Alfalfa pellets and 1/2 pound of whole oats with ADM cattle mineral and diamond v yeast added to it.
I don't milk her everyday but if I do I give her some oats/alfalfa pellets on the stand.
I dewormed her with cydectin a week ago-had taken a fecal in to the vet and he said she had a heavy worm load. She also had grayish looking eyelids. They did pink up a little around Wednesday but are looking gray again now.
I don't know if I'm feeding her incorrectly, or if the big belly is due to worms-I'm sure she still has worms but can't take a fecal in today since it's Sunday.
Any ideas? She was vaccinated for cd&t before I got her in April.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

Does she look distended in the morning before going out to browse? Mine look like they could explode when they come in at night. But in the morning it is much less. I also cut waaay back on alfalfa pellets and boss this time of year. 
The gray eyelids would really concern me though..sounds like the cydectin didn't work. Double check the dosage and make sure you gave her enough...Do you have any other kind of wormer on hand?


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Yes she is distended in the morning and I don't think she has enough food in there to warrent that. Her kids are in there with her and they are eating it too.
The vet says that cydectin is the ONLY thing that works around here and he gave me 5 cc to give her. I do have some QUEST here, should I give her that? She is right at 100 lbs. 
I thought they had to have the alfalfa pellets to produce enough milk?


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I don't use cydectin so I really don't know the correct dosage for a 100 pound goat but that doesn't sound like near enough, especially for a HEAVY worm load. I use Ivermectin at 3 ml for every 25 pounds of goat when I need to & also then I re-worm the same goat 1 week to 10 days later the same way & amount of ivermectin.

It sounds like she still has a heavy worm load.
Can't you buy your own cydectin at the farm stores & dose accordingly to the fecal you have done at the vet?


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

No, Cydectin is $70 here and I don't have nearly enough goats to warrent that. Quest is supposed to be the same thing from what I found out a couple of weeks ago.
I've been told repeatedly by vets and goat owners around here that cydectin is the only thing that works.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

It sounds like the dose wasn't enough & I also would worm her & then do again in a week. Is quest the ivermectin paste form that's used for horses? If so then I guess I would use that & re-do in a week then have another fecal done on her.

Horse paste wromers are used at 3 times the wieght.


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

No, quest is supposed to be the oral horse form of cydectin.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I don't have the dosage for that then. I know ivermectin horse wormer is given at 3 times the weight. Sure hope someone that knows will jump in here soon.
It probly isn't good to keep worming her with the wrong amount of medication or the wrong kind becuase the worms will get to used to it & then it won't be as effective I don't think.

Maybe in the equine forum someone there will have an answer since it is a horse wormer. People over there must have goats too.


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

I've seen the dose on here for goats. I guess my questions are1. should I go ahead a deworm her today w/o another fecAL and 2. would the worms be causing the distended belly or is it something else?


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

Can you post a picture of her? Is she pregnant or nursing kids that are already born? She sounds to me like she just has great body capacity, and if she is carrying a normal amount of flesh, that's what I'd suspect.


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

I've let them out for the day but I'll get a picture tonight if she looks about the same. Her kids are 2 months old. She is underweight and that's why I took the fecal in along with the pale eyelids. This bloated look is new to her. She looks like she did when she was pregnant. She's been on the same pasture, feed routine for at least a month.


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

Is the wormer you used effective against the type of worms she had? Did the vet check for cocci?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Go to this page for dosages. Cydectin comes in several forms, too.

http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/topic,8934.0.html


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## kreddish (Mar 17, 2009)

Myabe she ate something not so good for her? My Bella bygmy doe with a kid got into china berriy brush... and looked like a pumpkin for two days... but thank goodness it went away on its own. I would also recommend worming. Good luck


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I still say it's probly worm load.

You said the vet did a fecal & her worm load was very high, I just think the wormer was not enough, amount wise I mean. Take another fecal sample to the vet & have them check it again. Then dose the cydectin acording to the dosage chart. I just think the vet didn't give enough medication & also should be done a week later.


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Ok, I'll deworm her again. Her belly did look smaller coming in tonight so I'll see what she looks like in the morning. Maybe she did eat something she shouldn't have.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

But if she ate something she shouldn't have would that cause her eye lids to be the gray color your talking about? I've never had a goat eat anything poisonous, etc. so I'm not sure. Only piggy goats that eat to much pasture first thing in the spring if I don't watch them close & they get a little bloated then.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Quest is 1 cc per 100 lbs.


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

quest is the same as cydectin . 
cydectin does not kill all worms for example does not kill some strongyles or liver flukes, why a fecal check need to be done to find out what kind of parasites she has.


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## ChiniMiniRex (Aug 11, 2008)

Cydectin is 1cc/1ml per 22lbs - 5cc is enough for a 125lb goat. Quest is the same as Cydectin but there is an additional ingredient in the mix, and it is 1cc per 100lbs. Here in the north east, I had better results using Ivomec than Cydectin. I use the injectable orally, and give 4cc's per 100lbs. I also repeat all doses again in 10 days to catch anything that was missed the first time around.

Kelly


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Thanks for the further info. I was at the vet's today getting meds for my sick bottle calf. I was talking about cydectin with the gal there and she said that she has a printout from Langston University that says there is a 56 day withdrawal time on milk in dairy goats. I'm trying to find that online but haven't yet. Does anyone know about this?


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

yes 56 days is correct. 
did you ask if they had identified the parasite?


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

No, this was a different vet's office. I'm tied up with this sick bottle calf right now and trying to make sure I get him treated and don't end up losing him. The vet at the other office(the one that did the fecal) told me that there wasn't a milk with holding time for cydectin. I found on the Langston site where it says that but in the reference materials cited for that the most current listed was 2002. So, I emailed one of the vets there. Hopefully they will email me back.
I know the other vet said it was a "screening" test that they do and that no one around does actual counts where they centerfuge the sample down? He said it was worms not cocci. I wish I had a microscope maybe I could get this stuff figured out. I have 3 local vets I go to and get told something different from each one!


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

The more I read about liver flukes the more I wonder if that's what she has except her poop looks normal. I will ask the gal at the vet I went to today if she can tell the difference bwt the liver fluke and barber pole worm eggs.


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

how is the area the goat have access to? 
liverflukes need snails as intermedeate host, need swampy damp area or ponds. liferfluke eggs are not to be seen in normal fecal flotation but need a sediment diagnostic.
liver fluke eggs are opening up as son as they fall in water and sink to the ground. if in some very rare occasion some are lucky to see a liver fluke egg on the slide, they are almost double in size compared to barber ploe egg. they are not as elongated either.
i would definitely ask your vet if there are problems with this parasite in your area.

how are her eye membrane look like? very pale with hint of yellow??????


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

poop can look normal with liver fluke infestation.
acute symptoms are anemia and weight loss. 
if the belly gets distorted like you describe, is is from liver failure, fluid will flow in the abdominal cavity.

just in case you really are dealing with liver flukes, and you are loosing this doe, 
if you do field necropsy, you can see very clearly the destroyed liver and adult flukes. 
you then will understand that it will take a lot of TLC to take care of such an animal as liver cells do not regenerate themselves like other organ cells.


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

No, no yellow eye membrane. They have access to 200 brushy acres and they travel all over. Lots of bermuda grass, weeds, browse. That's why I can't figure this out, goats were never here before us, they don't eat off the ground in the barn. It's just the one goat that looks bad but she's the only one in milk too. 
Thanks for the info about the fecal flotation. Could I send a sample off somewhere through the mail? But since he said she was "heavily infested" and it wasn't cocci then it was the barber pole or something similar that cydectin "should" kill?


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Her belly is not distended like it was-I do think she got into something she shouldn't have.


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

if she got into something she should not have, this doesn't account her poor body score.

moxidectin does not get some of the strongyles.
have you checked her for lice or mites? 

sometimes we can look and never find why one particular animal is doing not as good as the herd mates.

do you have enough copper in the mineral mix for your animals?


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Sorry for not getting back sooner. I have been busy with my bottle calf who unfortunately didn't survive and died last night from pnuemonia.
On my goat..
If the vet tells me that cydectin is the ONLY thing that works around here what would get those resistant strongyles?
I looked for lice and had my daughter look since my eyes are getting old! I can see very fine dandruff which my other goats don't have....could that be it?
For minerals-she gets a Cattle mineral by ADM-I've read on the boards that it can be used for dairy goats. I threw away the bag but I know it was comprable to the bluebonnet techmaster that I use when I can find it and it's high in copper. She also gets Diamond V yeast daily.

I really appreciate the help! I'll get a picture of her up here today.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Poor little goat, I wish I knew what to tell you next. I don't know if lice would make her belly distended & her eye lids gray but if she has lice I would treat her for them. There is some stuff called Cylence that works great for lice also at TSC I get a cattle pour on that's called"Lice no more" that works good for the black flies, etc. too.

I wish I new what to tell you to worm her with but I really don't know what would work in that area other than what your using. Seems weird that it's only 1 of your goats acting this way though.


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