We have a 12 year old Toggenburg that over the past few months has lost most of her body fat and muscle - even though she has a superb appetite. Her legs have grown progressively stiff with her knees now unable to bend. Since yesterday (6th July 01), she has been unable to stand - although she is still eating and drinking OK. Anyone know the type of disease she has? Is it curable or is it just old age?

-- Carole Smith (carole.smith0@talk21.com), July 07, 2001

Answers

The only goats that I have ever seen with Johnnes started presenting the disease at 6. So I doubt that she has any true wasting type disease. 12 is very old for a doe, especially if she wasn't born at your home. She probably is also very resistant to worms, so unless her gums are grey/anemic I wouldn't go there either. I was the second owner of 2 does who went on to live to 13 and 14, kidding each year, though not being asked to milk. My oldest homegrown doe right now is 11, and though she kidded in December with 2 very nice kids, a superior buckling who lives with a Countryside guy on here, and a doeling who I am keeping for myself to show, she was not asked to milk. She is thin, but she gets up and down really well and still goes out to the woods each day. I am going to breed her once again. Because she is thin and her skin is very thin, I do not body shave her anymore, and I also buy sweatshirts, cut off the arms (which I save for baby's) and keep them on her as soon as we get cool weather. She also gets to come into the barn for treats. She has long ago lost most of her molars, had her teeth floated (sharp dental points filed off) when she was 8 and 10, just had another 8 year olds done also, who had a very decayed stinky molar we pulled. I have a great vet who is also a horse lover, so she easily does this for me. I do let her eat chopped alfalfa, since it is easy to chew, and feed her beet pulp soaked in warm water. You may want to check your does teeth. I think everyone needs a plan for their animals. Mine is.... as long as you can kid, milk, and make me money you stay. I will keep an elderly doe as long as she can kid each year. But once they start going down hill and they can no longer go out with the herd, than their quality of life for a goat is gone. Keeping them alive after that is for my benefit and not theirs. So if this doe were mine, and it wasn't just her teeth, I wouldn't look further, and would put her down. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 07, 2001.

Hi Carole,

I am still in mourning over having to put my beloved Jackie down before we moved. She was 8 yrs old and had arthritis really bad. The vet suggested this as the best option as we had tried several approaches to helping her. I was devestated, but in my heart i KNEW this was the best option. I cried a lot, still cry a lot for her. But I know she isn't in pain any more and is still with me. I went on to name my line of goat milk fudge after her as a way to commerate her memory; Jackie's Fudge.

Vicki is right, putting her down if she is in pain is the best option. I wish I had more to offer, but experience tells me there isn't. Take care and HUGS.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), July 07, 2001.

You don't say what area of the country you live in. Is Lymes disease a possibility? Here in Minnesota, especially in east central Minnesota, we do see Lymes disease in animals and, yes, I have seen it in cattle and in goats, though it is more common in horses and dogs. Does she have a low grade fever? Lymes tends to cause wasting of the leg and or shoulder muscles over time.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband.net), July 08, 2001.