January 2025 Issue

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Subscribe FREE now! Monthly issues with new articles and other educational information on meat goat health, nutrition, and management written by Suzanne W. Gasparotto of Onion Creek Ranch and Pat Cotten of Bending Tree Ranch. In all cases, it is your responsibility to obtain veterinary services and advice before using any of the information provided in these articles. Neither Suzanne Gasparotto nor Pat Cotten are veterinarians. None of the contributors to this website will be held responsible for the use of any information contained herein.

GOAT POLIO: Polioencephalomalacia is a metabolic disease with symptoms that are very similar to those of the brain-stem disease Listeriosis (Listeria monocytogenes). Goat polio is usually seen in goats raised under intensive management conditions and/or usually in kids.

Polioencephalomalacia (also known as Cerebrocortical Necrosis) is thiamin (Vitamin B 1) deficiency. It is life threatening to the goat. Any change in the rumen's environment that suppresses normal bacterial activity can interfere with thiamin production. Too much grain decreases the pH of the rumen, creating an acidic condition and predisposing the goat to Goat Polio. Glucose cannot be metabolized without thiamin. If thiamin is either not present or exists in an altered form (thiaminase), then brain cells die and severe neurological symptoms appear.

Causes of thiamin deficiency include incorrect feeding (especially feeding too much grain and too little grass hay or forage (roughage), eating moldy hay or grain, dosing CoRid without giving thiamin with each CoRid dosing (amprollium is a thiamin inhibitor) to treat coccidiosis, feeding molasses-based grains which are susceptible to mold (horse & mule feeds), ingesting some species of ferns, sudden changes in diet, the dietary stress of weaning, and reactions to de-wormers thiabendazole and levamisole. Each of these conditions can suppress Vitamin B1 production. The usage of antibiotics destroys flora in the rumen, causing thiamin deficiency. It is important to repopulate the gut with probiotics (live bacteria) AFTER using antibiotics or diarrhea (scour) medications.

Symptoms of Polioencephalomalacia can be any combination of or all of the following: excitability, "stargazing" (nystagmus - involuntary eye movement), uncoordinated staggering and/or weaving (ataxia), circling, diarrhea, muscle tremors, and blindness. Initial symptoms can look like Enterotoxemia (overeating disease) because the rumen's flora is compromised. As the disease progresses, convulsions and high fever occur, and if untreated, the goat usually dies within 24-72 hours. Diagnosis is available via laboratory tests, but the goat will be dead before you get test results back.

Thiamin (Vitamin B1) injections are critical and, if the problem is Goat Polio, can result in rapid improvement if begun early. Thiamin, like all B vitamins, is water soluble, so the goat eliminates daily what it doesn't utilize in the rumen, making it difficult to overdose thiamin. A sick goat's rumen is not able to manufacture thiamin.

Since symptoms of Goat Polio can easily look like Listeriosis, I use procaine penicillin (300,000 International Units) in addition to thiamine. Better to cover both possible illnesses with appropriate treatments when symptoms are so similar than risk the goat's dying. See the Listeriosis section of this article for how I dose and treat with procaine penicillin 300 I.U. Important: I continue procaine penicillin and thiamin treatment until 24 hours after the last symptom has disappeared to avoid a relapse. Unless it is a very young (pre-ruminating) kid, I also treat with Dexamethasone at the same rates I use for treating Listeriosis.

Early diagnosis and treatment are critical and complete recovery is possible. Try to avoid this disease by decreasing high grain intake, increasing quality roughage, avoiding moldy hay and grain, and not using feed that is susceptible to mold (molasses-based/textured feeds). Goat Polio is almost always caused by improper feeding.

PREVENTION OF BOTH DISEASES: Feed your goats properly. Feed pelleted feed (3/16th of an inch pellets). No textured (horse & mule) feed. No silage/haylage/baleage/chaffehaye; the possibility of mold is great. No moldy hay. Clean pens. No sudden changes in types of feed (grain, pasture, or hay). Lots of free-choice quality roughage, especially in the latter stages of pregnancy. Don't overfeed on grain. Never put out grain free choice; always take up whatever hasn't been eaten after ten minutes and feed less the next day.

HYDRATION AND NUTRITION: You must keep the sick goat hydrated and fed. With Listeriosis and Goat Polio, the goat is usually off feed and water. This means that you must stomach tube nutrients (electrolytes, protein) into the goat. A 100 pound goat needs one gallon of fluids daily. That is 3,840 cc's. You cannot syringe 3,840 cc's of fluids daily into a goat without stressing both the goat and yourself. Medications won't help a goat if it dies of dehydration or starvation. Use the kid milk replacer & electrolytes formula in the Listeriosis section of this article to feed a goat that isn't eating on its own. Don't offer grain to a sick goat but instead provide easy-to-digest forage plants (weeds & leaves) and grass hay. Build a Sick Pen for goats under treatment.

GOAT SHOW PARTICIPANTS: The manner in which many of you are taught to raise your goats too often results in goats ill with Listeriosis, Goat Polio, Urinary Calculi, Laminitis/Founder, and other metabolic and nutritionally-related diseases. Particularly in 4H and FFA shows, many are beginners and rely upon the information and training provided by ag teachers, county agents, and judges. Forage-based feeding (leaves and weeds) and "horse-quality" soft-stem grass hay are vital to the goat's ability to digest its feed and keep its body warm. Sacked feed is appropriate if not over-fed and only once per day in the mornings (not evenings). Goats are ruminants, and ruminants are pot-bellied animals. A large rumen is an excellent digestive factory. Proper hydration (the rumen must be over 70% water to function correctly) and nutrition are critical to the goat's overall health and growth. Goats layer fat like deer; heavy grain feeding puts layers of fat around their internal organs, which creates health problems.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Texas 1.1.25

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