Help: Possible Anemic/Worm Problem with 5.5 year old Alpine

[IdahoNancy]

Hello, it is uncanny that your story sounds so similar to mine. We euthanized my beautiful Alpine goat Dodge today. He was a strong goat that did great packing during our elk season two months ago. He became disinterested in food two weeks ago but kept eating just not with his normal vigor. Last Thursday He refused to eat, he had vomited in the morning. He would eat food like peanut butter sandwiches and oatmeal when I brought them to him. By Sunday he refused to eat or drink anything at all. I did blood work at the veterinarians on Monday. His eyelids were also quite pale. His blood work showed severe anemia, liver damage and low protein. We saw this similar blood work nine months ago and suspected liver flukes. We treated him with Albendazole. In March he turned around quite quickly and did well all summer. Currently he was 10 1/2 years old but strong and beautifully healthy. He declined quickly during the past couple of weeks. We were syringe feeding him water, apple juice, electrolytes, and nutri-drench. He did not improve despite injecting daily with Bantamine, thiamin, antibiotics, and a single BoSe shot and one Albendazole dose.
We are participants with the Packgoat Urinary Calculi Study being put on by NAPgA. His body is going to WA Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab (WAADL) tomorrow for necropsy and retrieval of the tissues needed for the research project. Additionally, they have a parasitologist that is interested in liver flukes and will do an exam of the liver. It will be a relief to know for certain if the flukes caused his liver damage, anemia and low protein. I feel quite certain the low protein was not a dietary deficiency.
I hope your goat continues to do well. I share this story so you may consider bloodwork and the possibility of liver flukes. Sound like you care for goats with heart and compassion. Good luck.
I am in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

[Nanno]

Nancy, I'm so sorry to hear about Dodge! I hoped he would recover enough to last several more years. I hope the necropsy gives you the answers you're looking for.

[IdahoNancy]

Thanks Nan, Dodge was a lot of fun. I had been and exclusive Ober lover until I met Dodge. He would have changed anyone's mind. He had the heart, leg, and brains that made a great packgoat and companion.

[IdahoNancy]

Necropsy showed Dodge had a large cancer tumor in his liver and bleeding in his kidney. He performed flawlessly in September during our archery elk season. Packgoats are amazing.
Rocky, I hope your Alpine is doing good.

[Rocky723]

Hello, it is uncanny that your story sounds so similar to mine. We euthanized my beautiful Alpine goat Dodge today. He was a strong goat that did great packing during our elk season two months ago. He became disinterested in food two weeks ago but kept eating just not with his normal vigor. Last Thursday He refused to eat, he had vomited in the morning. He would eat food like peanut butter sandwiches and oatmeal when I brought them to him. By Sunday he refused to eat or drink anything at all. I did blood work at the veterinarians on Monday. His eyelids were also quite pale. His blood work showed severe anemia, liver damage and low protein. We saw this similar blood work nine months ago and suspected liver flukes. We treated him with Albendazole. In March he turned around quite quickly and did well all summer. Currently he was 10 1/2 years old but strong and beautifully healthy. He declined quickly during the past couple of weeks. We were syringe feeding him water, apple juice, electrolytes, and nutri-drench. He did not improve despite injecting daily with Bantamine, thiamin, antibiotics, and a single BoSe shot and one Albendazole dose.
We are participants with the Packgoat Urinary Calculi Study being put on by NAPgA. His body is going to WA Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab (WAADL) tomorrow for necropsy and retrieval of the tissues needed for the research project. Additionally, they have a parasitologist that is interested in liver flukes and will do an exam of the liver. It will be a relief to know for certain if the flukes caused his liver damage, anemia and low protein. I feel quite certain the low protein was not a dietary deficiency.
I hope your goat continues to do well. I share this story so you may consider bloodwork and the possibility of liver flukes. Sound like you care for goats with heart and compassion. Good luck.
I am in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

Wow, sorry to hear that you had to euthanize Dodge.  I am sure that was not easy.  Thank you for sharing.  

Edit this morning: I went out to feed him this morning and as I went in the shed he tried to stand up on his front legs on his own. He also moved his back legs under him and rolled from one side to the other to see us better. His eyes lit up when he saw the food. I took the bowl/bucket and held it above his face and he stretched up on his legs to try and get at it. This is the first we have seen him move that much and tried to get on his front legs. It was a great moment and we are hoping it continues.

This was my first post this morning before we fed him:

So far, our boy still seems to be improving, very slowly.  Although, he does not want to stand on his own with 100% of his own weight for any period of time. We put him in the sling again for about 45 minutes a night ago.  He did fine.  He did stand own his own for a few seconds when we were putting him back down.  Then he just laid down again.  When we go into feed/water him (several times a day) he is always very attentive and alert to our presence.  He seems to perk up when he sees us.  He has never vomited.  His gut sounds normal when he is eating.  He has plenty of gas and burps as he eats.  Just like or others.  When we push/move him to simply change his position at times he definitely pushes back and fights us at times.  The past couple of days he has started to push up on his front legs if we are pushing or moving him.  Not completely up but puts them out in front and tries to resist us from moving him.  This was NOT the case the first week or so.  

He truly just seems weak still.  

Thanks again for all the info, concern and help.  We will keep you updated.

[Nanno]

Necropsy showed Dodge had a large cancer tumor in his liver and bleeding in his kidney. He performed flawlessly in September during our archery elk season. Packgoats are amazing.
Rocky, I hope your Alpine is doing good.

Wow, it's amazing he did so well on your pack trip. Reminds me of Herb's goat, Bacchus, who enjoyed a week of packing just before he started suffering from what turned out to be a tumor in his chest that started pressing on his lungs. I'm glad you got one last good trip with Dodge before he passed, and I'm also glad that the necropsy showed a definite cause that was not treatable. It always hard when you are left with big questions marks about what killed them, or left thinking that you could have saved them if you'd had more information. Losing our boys sure isn't easy.

[Nanno]

Rocky, I'm so glad your boy continues to improve!

[IdahoNancy]

Just a thought. If you or one of your goat friends knows how to draw blood, maybe you could coordinate with your vet to bring them a blood sample (and stool) before they see the goat. It may help them figure out what diagnosis to rule in or out when they get to see your goat. Dodge's red blood cell count was 1/2 of what it was 9 months earlier in March and he could stand up and walk a little bit.

[Saph]

Nancy, I'm so sorry to hear about Dodge. You & John are so devoted to your goats & take such great care of them. Thank you for continuing to look for answers that will help the rest of us, even after your goats are no longer in this world--Irene

[Rocky723]

Update Sunday:

Yesterday afternoon he stood up on his back legs by himself when we went in to feed him again and he ate with his butt in the air and on his front elbows. We put him in the sling for about one hour and he was pushing and "walking" all over the area. He was even "fighting" with the other goats. When we took the sling down he stood on all four legs by himself for about a minute. Then he put himself down again.

This morning when I went in to feed him he stood up on his hind legs again and was pushed up on his front elbows. He ate like that again. Then he moved around in the shed a little on his front elbows and hind legs. We will put him up in the sling later today to see how he does again.

It has been very encouraging the past two days.

I will ask around about drawing blood. Thanks again.