Had our first case of goat polio last week. Last Tuesday morning, my wife came in and told me the 10 week old was off his feed and wasn't acting right. I went out to look and found him hunched up and not active. I sat in the chair in his pen and all he would do is bury his head in my coat and lean on me.
We've just finished weaning him and figured maybe he wasn't getting enough water, so I made up a bottle of molasses water for him. No luck. Figuring he might drink formula, I made up a bottle of replacer and took that out. Still no luck.
By noon, he still had not improved, and had begun to stumble when he tried to walk. We called the vet and made an appointment to bring him in at 2 pm as a semi-emergency. They suggested in the meantime that we give him an antacid tablet.
When the vet looked at him she thought he might have a urinary tract infection that was causing him to hunch up. She gave us some antibiotics and pain medication and sent us home.
By six pm, he had begun to act like he was blind, stumbling around and walking into things. It was difficult for him to stand up and he had a hard time recognizing us even by our voices.
I called the vet at home and told her what was going on. She told me to watch him for 3 hours and then call her back. If things didn't improve, she would open the office for us.
Shortly before 9pm, the vet called and said she had to open the office for a dog that had been hit by a car, and would I like to bring the baby down for her to look at. We jumped in the truck and made another trip to the vet's office.
By now, the goat couldn't see or walk. We carried him into the office and got the diagnosis of goat polio. We were given two options. We could hospitalize him there, or she could give us a series of shots and send us home. We chose hospitalization.
After a rough night's sleep, we were both afraid to call the vet's office for a progress report. When we finally did call, they told us we could pick him up anytime. We were given a series of injections for him, (which ended Sunday.) For the next few days, we bottle fed him. The first day, we had to hold his face so he could hang onto the bottle and keep his tongue in his mouth. By Thursday night, he had gotten so he could hold the nipple himself, but still had a hard time finding it.
He has gotten a little bit better everyday since the vet visit. By Saturday, he was able to eat grain and drink from his bowl. (Of course, now that he's had several days of bottle feeding, he still expects it...) Last week he moved like he was 80. Very slow and shaky. I told the vet that this week he moves like he's 45, he's got some zip, but he tires out quick. He mostly has all of his sight back, but seems to have a little problem with things close up.
The treatment is Thiamine injections, intramuscular. This morning, the 4 week old was off his feed. We just took him to the vet's today and bought a bottle of thiamine and some extra needles to keep on hand (just in case).
From different things I've been able to find on the internet, the cause is food based. (Sudden changes, too much grain, bad hay, etc.) However, our vet said it can result from a number of things, including another illness. Either way, it's not very pretty to look at. In less than 10 hours, the little boy went from mearly sick to nearly dead.
Steve
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