| Author | Message | ||
     bev mcfadden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 65.54.98.108 Rating: N/A |
Im sorry about your little guy Tina but like you I kept hoping against hope that it was not spastic paresis,I have now come to reason with it and Maggie has convinced me that this is what it is.Like you I gave my little guy dexamethasone,it was a short fix,I also am giving him Bute paste,seems to help a bit.I have thought about the surgury which as Maggie says is a temporary fix also so as much as I hate to even think about it euthanasia is probably best for my little guy,but hes had a good 2 1/2 years and fathered 2 beautiful little girls and 2 little boys.I am so proud of him.Good Luck in whatever you decide Tina.We love our kids don't we? | ||
| Tina Gosnell Member Username: squeeze Post Number: 30 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 141.157.137.71  Rating: N/A |
The reason I asked about the Dexamethasone injection is I have a 4 week old buck that has symptoms as you decribe for spastic paresis. It started when he was around 3 days old. He was unable to stand on his own. When we would put him into the standing position, he was unsteady and walked stiff legged in the back. First we thought white muscle disease, then joint ill...treating for both with no results. I took him to my vet and she said nerve injury. He was kept in the house since birth(he was a c-section baby and his mom rejected all the kids - quads), bottle fed, and had no injury that I am aware of. When he was with the other goats/kids, he was observed the entire time because of his fragile state. None of the other quads have any problems. She gave me Dexamethasone injections to give IM for 3 days. He showed improvement almost immediately. He is now able to stand on his own, to walk muck better (even though he still can not use his back legs normally like the other goats), and even plays now. His back legs are still "stiff legged". He doesn't really bend them much, if at all at the joints. He never had any symptoms of being painful. I've been researching his symptoms and spastic paresis sound very much like his symptoms. Unless it was coincidental, he did improve from the dexamethasone. So I quess that would indicate he did have nerve injury rather than spastic paresis? So far he has not began to regress, its been 1 week since he had the injections. I'm worried this may only be a temporary fix. He is very special to me and I will do anything to help him. I make sure he gets plenty of exercise daily, time with the other kids to play so he knows how to act like a goat, he eats well, & pees & poops okay. He is much smaller than his 3 brothers. At birth he was only slightly smaller, but now he is only about 1/2 their size. They are also bottle babies, so they get the same nutrition. Any suggestions? Thanks! Hill Billy  Tina | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 724 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 64.102.64.113  Rating: N/A |
No. It is not nerve inflammation nor an injury, it is a chemical imbalance in the nerve tissue. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| Tina Gosnell Member Username: squeeze Post Number: 29 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 141.157.137.80 Rating: N/A |
Would giving Dexamethasone IM (not directly to the site of nerve injury)do anything to help this condition? Tina | ||
| bev mcfadden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 65.54.98.105 Rating: N/A |
thanks Maggie,,,now I know my vet did not do the test because she didnt give him any kind of shot.I will ask her to do the test on Monday,,,will let you know,,,so sad for my boy. | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 713 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 71.111.216.141 Rating: N/A |
The article from Maxine's site suggests an epidural nerve block done with 0.38% procaine at 0.2 ml/kg will briefly relieve the symptoms. I had this done to the first buck I had with it (all of mine have been bucks) and the results were amazing. He went from looking and walking very straight legged and stiff (called posty) to being completely normal but only for a short time of course. At that time it was not known that the surgery (cutting the most severely affected nerve) was not a permanent fix so I had the surgery done even though I had decided to not use him for a breeding buck again. A few hours after the surgery he was up and walking like a perfectly normal goat, looking every bit the show winner he was bred to be. He even returned to the show ring and did very well. But before a year was up the symptoms returned full force. I kept him for a good bit of time after that but when it got so bad that all he wanted to do was lay in front of the hay feeder eating and would totter over to the water bucket to drink I donated him to the vet school. He had stopped playing or even thinking about blubbering at the girls. They kept him for about a month, pampered him like the sweet boy that he was, studied his condition and showed new students and euthanized him. Spastic paresis is not a painful condition unless it causes arthritis by holding the leg joints too straight and too tight. This can take years. Many goats will trot and run nearly normally it is only the walking gait that is greatly affected especially at first. It is progressive, with some it progresses very rapidly, with some it is very slow. Three of my bucks were comfortable enough to live to be 7 to 8 years old, one was getting so bad I euthanzized him at just 2 years old. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| bev mcfadden (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 65.54.154.46 Rating: N/A |
Maggie,thanks for the email,You told me there is a simple nerve block test for spastic paresis,could you tell me what it involves or how it is done,I will pass the info on to my vet.I know she gave Billy a good going over and there is no stiffening in his joints and he does not seem to have any pain just this strange stiff legged walk.I always thought he was just "struttin' his stuff"for the little girls as he has walked like this from a very early age.He seems to tire himself because he is bearing most of his weight on his front legs so lately prefers to lay when he eats and just kind of loll about.Life of Riley I'd say.I forgot to mention that he is just over 2yrs. |