# did my goat go blind?



## tammyd (Aug 11, 2007)

this realy bothers me. my dear goat was fine at the beginning of this month. i noticed she was not acting herself this week.... then this morning I saw her eyes and they were cloudy and blueish... she seam to be so gingerly in her stepping out of her pen to get milked and don't want to hop up on the stand to milk....I thought that since my husband was building a new and bigger pen that my be some wood dust got in her eye so I tried some visine, to flush her eyes .
I'm asking ,for any help or advice on what to do since a vet isn't aviable till monday..
could this be lacking of some vitamin or mineral. that she need to be outside more . dust???
any help please please this IS my pride and joy and I'm feeling broken hearted to she her in this condition


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## Chaty (Apr 4, 2008)

I would give her some Fortified B Complex...about 3 to 4 cc's it almost sounds like goat polio...with the sudden blindness. If treated soon enough she might get it back. Make sure its the Fortified B Complex the other dont have enough Thiamine in it to really help.


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## oberhaslikid (May 13, 2002)

Did you put down lyme in her stall for keeping smell down? If you use the wrong kind it can cause blindness.



Pinkeye â infection of the eye spread by agents such as flies, dust and long grass
A watery eye with excess tears spilling over on to the skin. May be reddening and cornea becomes cloudy. Animal sensitive to the light. 
Flush eyes with 1 cc of penicillin or Oxytetracycline for several days. Isolate animal from others to keep it from spreading. 
this is from jack mauldens site


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## tammyd (Aug 11, 2007)

no i haven't put down any thing in their pens and then net question if this is polio is this catchy
to my other goats or is she ok to be common penned? if it is catchy is it catchy to humans, I work in the medical field and don't want to be bringing things to alredy sick patients and give them somthing worse.... you said foritfied B clompex.. ok where do I get that and then where can I get that on a sunday morning?


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## tammyd (Aug 11, 2007)

I did get to a site and looked up pink eye in goats..it dose sound like what is happening to my gwen her eyes seem swollen compared to the other goats they look like golf balls on top her head... but where can i get the meds needed to treat her or do i wait till monday to call a vet and get a script? or is this something sold over the counter like at fleet farm , or stupidly enough mybe walmart?


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## TC (Jun 22, 2005)

I would say pink eye. It can be catchy to humans, so wear gloves or wash well. I would say you could wait til monday if you are unable to find meds now. Often pink eye will run it's course and not require medicine. In my own herd when every year or so a goat gets it, I will allow it to run it's course unless infection sets in. You must be diligent in making sure they are not bullied, (isolate them) and can eat and drink. Often that means you have to help them find water etc. 

But in your case, since you have never seen it and you don't want to risk a secondary infection coming up that you might not recognize....maybe a vet visit is in order....although working in the medical field you will probably have no problem seeing that. In any case, it should clear up and she will be good as new soon enough.


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## Chaty (Apr 4, 2008)

Most feed stores carry it and Jeffers online has it. I woould call around as see if a vet is open and if they will sell you a shot of it. Then order some from www.jefferslivestock.com That is where I get most of my meds and always keep the fortified B complex on hand as it wont hurt them if they dont need it.


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## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

In the meantime, until you can get meds for her, try bathing her eyes with cold, strong tea. It's very soothing and it was recommended to me by a vet years ago. It certainly won't do any damage!


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## hoofinitnorth (Oct 18, 2006)

For less acute eye irritations, I've found an herbal tea mix to be very helpful. You use eyebright and chamomile and steep it until it's quite strong. Cool it and then you use it to flush the eyes. It's very mild but quite effective. But again, for much less acute conditions. This would be for an eye that is a little goopy but not swollen or red, IMO.

On polio, it's not contagious, but often will affect more than one in the herd since it's often caused by ingesting moldy hay, which can tie up the thiamine in her rumen. I'm not explaining it completely right as it's 5AM here and I didn't sleep a wink last night, but you can start there and look it up for more info.

If her eyes are really swollen, you could have a case of glaucoma on your hands, the eyeballs would probably look like they are protruding from the socket. I have had a cat with this once and it was not fun for anyone. In the end, we had to amputate his eye.

Hope she gets better.


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## DixyDoodle (Nov 15, 2005)

I also say PINKEYE! If it was polio, they would probably get the stargazing look and also appear woozy on their feet, standing in a corner maybe.

When I first bought a few of my goats, they came down with pink eye and I treated them with some eye spray I got from the feed store (for pink eye in sheep). Cleared them right up within days. Can't remember the name of the stuff though (sorry, lack of sleep last night, had a boys' sleepover! Sleep was NOT the operative word. LOL)

I don't know if I would want to leave pinkeye go, though.....I heard that it can sometimes cause permanent blindness/cataracts. And surely, it can't be very comfortable for your goat. Good luck in getting it treated!


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## nubiansinny (Jul 31, 2007)

You can get nfz puffer at tractor supply, don't know about fleet farm.
Ask them. Some places keep it in the pet section.
If you can give shots you can give la-200 but your going to have to dump the milk for a while.
I'd try the puffer first, i've used it but if the infection has a good head start you may meed more..ie.. shots. The puffer stuff you just squirt it in the eye. Some probios won't hurt ,I give it to everyone under the weather.

You might want to take her temp too.
If it was polio she'd be going down by now.
good luck


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## goatkid (Nov 20, 2005)

This sounds like pinkeye. Polio causes blindness, but the eyes aren't cloudy. It's a neurological thing. For pinkeye, I treat by giving an injection of Biomycin every other day for two or three doses and applying Terramycin ointment to the eyes twice a day until it clears up. Some folks squirt the biomycin in the eyes rather than use the ointment. I've tried that and it will work, but the goats act like it irritates their eyes, so I prefer the ointment. I can buy both at my local feed store.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

Tammy and I thank you for your replies.
We were kinda taken by surprise with this. When we first noticed the problem there didn't seem to be any discharge from the eyes that we would normally associate with pink eye. But yesterday morning it was there. And a couple of other goats are getting it as well. 
I have noticed on other dairy goat forums that people have had success with regular old neosporin so I bought a tube of that on the way home from work yesterday and we have dosed them with that.
I also talked to a buddy that said he has had success with the puffer which he said he got at Fleet so we may switch to that.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

I read on this forum (not too long ago) about giving 5cc of cod liver oil orally for pink eye. I never tried it but saved the info...just thought I would pass it on.


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