Things To Look For When Rescuing Goats

Many people see a skinny goat with abscesses and assume it is the product of terrible neglect and abuse. After all if the animal was fed well she’d be in good condition right? When it comes to goats…not necessarily!

Here’s Comet. You can find him (as of this writing) waiting for a forever home on petfinder.com. He was found wandering a busy street after his owner had abandoned him.

For goats, abscesses, especially on the shoulder, jaw or neck are often signs of “CL” – caseous lymphadenitis, a disease of the lymphatic system. Where there are external abscesses there are usually internal ones as well. This is a contagious disease and one that goat owners try to keep out of their herds. If an abscess ruptures it can contaminate the environment – so often these goats are sold at first sign of abscess, then pass from home to home as they get sicker. This can be a recurring disease that seems to go away but then more abscesses break out.

Chronic wasting disease is another fatal disease that can occur after weight loss. Spread by deer and elk, CWD can be spread to other ruminants including goats.

CAE is yet another goat disease often characterized as neglect or abuse can be passed from dam to kids via milk, this is a big reason for pasteurizing milk to feed kids. Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Syndrome is often seen after progression as enlarged joints. Another form of the disease can show from 1-4 months as progressive weakness, lameness, un-coordination, difficulty in rising after lying down and eventual paralysis.

Still another serious disease is Johne’s (Yo-nees) disease which can affect ruminants, including goats. It is caused by a bacteria that is shed in the manure. It cannot multiply outside the host animal but is hardy and can survive both heat and cold. It multiplies rapidly once in another animal.

These diseases can show weight loss even when the animal is on full feed. While goats are normally very hardy animals, lack of research into their health issues often means that owners have to be proactive in eliminating this from the herds.

As animals pass from home to home they become stressed, which can cause progression of disease on the compromised immune system. And for a number of animals that have ended up in rescue situations it is disease, not abuse, that may be the reason.

There is little more heartbreaking than getting attached to an animal and finding that it is dying from disease. And though the animal may live for a couple of years, in that time it is contaminating the environment for the next animal.

Thus it is up to a prospective owner to be familiar with the challenges and be prepared for all possibilities. These diseases are too important for the goat owner to ignore.

“If Providence didst beards devise
To prove the wearers of them wise
A fulsome goat would then, by nature,
Excel each other human creature.”
~ Thomas D’Urfey

Other articles of interest:

5 Tips To Heed For Goat Rescues

Could You Love A Pygmy Goat?