I didn't want to admit it in my previous goat post, but Artemesia is starting to trend worse again rather than better. The downturn began a few days after we cut out the penicillin...which leads to the unpleasant conclusion that she may be suffering from the more serious listeriosis (a bacterial infection) rather than goat polio (a thiamine deficiency).

Luckily, the vet is back in town and he was willing to talk to me on the phone rather than making us put our poor goat in the car and drive to his office. He suggested switching her over to a different antibiotic --- tetracycline --- and adding in an anti-inflammatory (banamine). Meanwhile, he told me that it probably didn't hurt her, but the dosages I'd drawn off the internet (7.3 mL of penicillin (300,000 units per mL) and 2 mL of thiamine (500 mg/mL) three times a day) were too high for a 73 pound goat. Instead, he says all she needs is 3 mL of antibiotic and 1 mL of thiamine once a day.

As the family's newly skilled needle jabber, Mark will be glad to learn we're down to two shots per day. I hope that Artemesia is similarly relieved by the change in drugs and starts back onto the path to recovery.

Want more in-depth information? Browse through our books.

Or explore more posts by date or by subject.

About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.

Powered by Branchable Wiki Hosting.