Whole Goat Care

>>What is the best preventative measure for coccidiosis......and if that doesn't work what is the best treatment?<<

Very clean kidding pens and housing facilities for the new babies are the best preventative. It is well known that the first kids born, if they are born on clean bedding and housed in clean pens, are very growthy in the spring, and their own immune systems, as they develop over the next few months, are very able to make antibodies to the few coccidia they are exposed to from the moment of birth. If the next and subsequent kids are born on that same bedding and housed also in the same kid pens, without benefit of complete sanitization between groups, then the later in the season they are born, the more exposure they have to the coccidia building up in the bedding from that critical time of birth when they have absolutely no immune systems going for them at all, and by Spring they are generally looking rather scrawny and undersized, a classic symptom of coccidiosis, in contrast to the first kids born that season in the clean environment, that are growthy and thriving.

It is important to add here that should those later kids fail to be treated to correct that scrawny and undersized condition, their future health will be permanently affected. The presence of coccidia at the level which causes obviously impaired growth and condition in the kid will, at the same time, cause great damage to the walls of the intestinal tract through which the nutrients pass into the goat's system. When this sort of internal damage takes place it is irreversible, and the animal's ability to absorb the nutrients it ingests will be permanently curtailed, subjecting it, should it survive, to a lifetime of unthriftiness. It goes without saying that the sooner coccidiosis is treated in a kid during that first year of life, the more likely it will be to be able to live a productive life.

The best treatment is the oral sulfa. You can buy Albon, or its generic,
sulfadimethoxine, recommended over some of the other forms of sulfa for its only-one-dose-per-day property. You can buy it in the catalogs...
Sulfadimethoxine is available in the form of: gallons of oral sulfa (intended to put in large quantities into the cattle waterers, so it needs to be broken down into kid-sized individual doses); and boluses; and tablets (prescription item); and injectable... And you need to dose the INDIVIDUAL kids by weight, doubling the 1st dose, and then giving a regular dose the next 4 days after that, which will do a very good job of wiping out the coccidia in them at the time you treat. The dose of oral Albon (generic is sulfadimethoxine) is 12.5milligrams per pound. Remember, milligrams (mg) are not the same as millileters (ml). The label will tell you how many mg there are in every ml.

Sue Reith
Carmelita Toggs
Bainbridge Island WA

+++++ More on Coccidosis Treatments, by Sue Reith +++++++
Overview of Coccidia Treatments Used Routinely for goats

by Sue Reith.


Coccidiosis is treated in a variety of ways. Treatments with amprolium (CoRid is a common brand name), and decoquinate (Deccox is a common brand name), and sulfa (sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethazine, etc... Albon is a common brand name), are all routinely used to control this problem.

Amprolium is a coccidiastat, which means that instead of killing off the
coccidia it simply keeps it from producing for a couple of weeks to slow down its advance in the system. A serious downside is that it is a thiaminase substance, so that when dosed in sufficient quantities it has the capability of destroying the necessary thiamine within a goat's rumen, causing potentially lethal polioencephalomalacia in the goat as a result.

Decoquinate is generally fed routinely and long term to young kids to prevent the development of coccidia within them in the early stages, before the immune system kicks in. Its downside is that it is expensive and requires daily dosing in the milk or the feed.

Sulfa is the most effective way to treat coccidia in the goat. Sulfadimethoxine has the advantage management-wise over other forms of sulfa, because it requires only 1X daily treatment, as opposed to the 2X daily treatment required by all other forms of sulfa. I am personally highly in favor of dosing each kid individually by weight, to ensure maximum efficiency in the treatment. Also, while kids are being treated with sulfa it is essential to have plenty of fresh water available to them at all times.

Albon is the best known brand of sulfadimethoxine, and there are several generic brands as well. Additionally, there are several non-prescription forms of sulfadimethoxine available for use.

Sulfa in all of the available forms is dosed at the rate of 25mg/1lb of goat the first day, and 12.5mg/1lb of goat daily for the next 4 days.

The available (non-prescription) forms are:

1) Oral liquid, 1 gallon, 12.5%, designed to be used in the water of cattle, or as an individual drench.

2) Injectable, 40%, designed to be used intravenously, but routinely
administered by owners to their goats subcutaneously.

3) Boluses, 5 grams each, designed to be dosed orally with a balling gun.

Sulfadimethoxine 12.5% oral liquid is in a gallon bottle for use in drinking
water when treating cattle, and it can be used as a drench as well. It is dosed one time daily for 5 days in a row. When using it as a drench, the first oral dose (always double) is 20cc/100lbs of goat. The next 4 oral doses are 10cc/100lb of goat.

Sulfadimethoxine 40% inj contains 400mg of sulfadmethoxine per ml, which at the rate of 25mg per pound of goat the first day, and then 12.5mg per pound daily for the next 4 days, would be injected SQ at the rate of 1ml per 16 lb of goat the first day, then 1ml per 32 lbs of goat daily for the remaining 4 days of treatment.

Sulfadimethoxine is also available in boluses, with each goat/sheep sized bolus containing 5 grams of sulfadimethoxine. If using these, 1/2 bolus would treat 100lb of goat the first day, and 1/2 bolus would treat 200lb of goat daily for the next 4 days. A balling gun would be used for administration.

Sue Reith
Carmelita Toggs
Bainbridge Island WA

Reality Check!!!
By Bill Braun, DVM.


By the sounds of the latest thread on coccidiosis, there are some misconceptions about this disease. I hope this helps. Yes coccidiosis is a disease and it is a parasite. As a parasite it needs a host of some sort in
order to live and reproduce. Coccidia DO NOT live in the ground, they eventually die in the ground. The only part of their life cycle that is in the ground, and therefore outside of the host's body is in the form of oocysts. Think of these as eggs, as in intestinal worm eggs. Its the same sort of principle. Oocysts on the ground will eventually die, the speed of that die off depends on the temperature, amount of sunlight and how much moisture is present. Freezing (winter) will kill them and hot, dry conditions will also do them in. The reason it seems that coccidia are more active as the weather warms up and the rains come is because fewer of the oocysts are dying off, therefore, there are more present to infest or infect their next victim.

The victim: Each coccidia species has its own particular host and will not tolerate another. There are coccidia for chickens, for sheep, for goats, for cows and so on. They typically do not cross to other species, other
than sheep and goats share a few of the coccidia types. Their usual victims are the young, in this case the current years kid crop. The young pick up the oocysts from eating things that are contaminated with feces (goat berries) that contain the oocysts. The parasite breaks free of the shell of the oocyst in the victims gut and begins its life's cycle. The only place a coccidia can live is in the gut. It usually takes 2-4 weeks for the life cycle to be complete to the point of that victim shedding its own oocysts in its feces. Now you know why you don't have trouble with coccidiosis in kids until they are 2.5 to 4 weeks old.

Immunity: As long as the coccidia doesn't kill its host, the host will gradually become partially immune to the parasite. So as the animal becomes older, it builds up its immunity until coccidia are usually no longer a problem. Coccidiostats (rumensin, lascalocid, sulfas, etc) help the victim keep down the number of coccidia in its body so that the victim can live long enough to develop that immunity. The coccidiostats don't totally
eliminate the coccidia from the body, just reduces their numbers and the severity of any clinical problems. Coccidiostats like amprolium (Corid) tie up thiamin and make it unavailable to the host, there by causing polio in some overtreated animals. Adult goats have coccidia in their gut. they have learned to live with the bug and have developed some immunity. If the adult animal becomes debilitated from some disease or condition (starvation) it may break with coccidiosis. Otherwise, the adult animal does not have clinical coccidiosis.

If, by chance (like being raised on wire or slats like little pigs), an animal makes it to adulthood without experiencing coccidia, they will die rapidly from exposure to the bug. They have developed no immunity to the
disease and are very susceptible. Most (all) producers want to have their animals exposed to coccidia at an early age so they can develop immunity and be protected later in life.

This is getting long enough. Hope it's been helpful.

Bill Braun, DVM.



Brand Name: Bovatec
Active Ingredient(s):
lasalocid sodium
Availability:
OTC
Withdrawal:
None
Indications:
Control of coccidia FDA approved for non-lactating sheep.
Dosage:
not less than 15 mg and no more than 70 mg daily. Do not feed to Equines.
Goat Notes:
It is available as a feed additive and in blocks.
Caution:
Bovatec blocks are high in copper.

Brand Name:
Corrid
Active Ingredient(s):
amprolium
Availability:
OTC
Withdrawal:
1 day before slaughter for beef calves
Indications:
Control of coccidia
Dosage:
mix in drinking water as directed. Corrid is available in liquid or soluble powder.
Goat Notes:
Coccidia has shown a high incidence of resistance with Corrid. There are other products on the market that are more effective. Also, Corrid depletes the thiamin levels in the rumen, need to watch out for thiamin deficiency polio when treating.

Brand Name:
Deccox
Active Ingredient(s):
decoquinate
Availability:
OTC
Withdrawal:
none
Indications:
Control of coccidia
Dosage:
Mix in feed ration to provide a daily dose of 22.7mg per 100 lbs. Feed for at least 28 days during exposure or stress.
Goat Notes:
Although many people prefer Deccox because of it is safe around equines, Deccox is a rumen inhibitor, and I don't believe is as effective as rumensin or bovatec.

Brand Name:
Rumensin
Active Ingredient(s):
monensin sodium
Availability:
OTC
Withdrawal:
None
Indications:
Control of coccidia
Dosage:
Mix 20g rumensin per ton of feed. Can feed continuously.
Goat Notes:
Most effective product for goats. Ingestion by equines can be fatal.

Brand Name:
Sulmet
Active Ingredient(s):
sulfamethazine
Availability:
OTC
Withdrawal:
10 days before slaughter
Indications:
Bacterial pneumonia, E.Coli, Diphtheria, mastitis, and coccidiosis. May
use soluble powder, constitute per package instruction and give 15cc orally.
Dosage:
day 1 = 1cc per 5lbs body weight, day 2-10 = 1cc per 10lbs
Goat Notes:
Dose orally or mix with drinking water, first dose is double the following four doses. Do not give with penicillin.

Brand Name:
Albon
Active Ingredient(s):
sulferdimethox
Availability:
OTC
Withdrawal:
10 days before slaughter
Indications:
Sulferdimethox is effective against Bacterial pneumonia, E.Coli,
Diphtheria, mastitis, and coccidiosis. May use soluble powder, constitute per package instruction and give 15cc orally.
Dosage:
can be drenched or mixed with drinking water for self-medicating.
Goat Notes:
Available in liquid and soluble powder form. Albon is also
available in injectable form. It is very effective for coccidia and certain
types of mastitis. Can also be added to milk replacer to treat kids. Good
management for freshly castrated kids. Do not give with penicillin.


information from missouri meat goat group

Just a note on the above...
Bovetec is a steriod. Not FDA approved for Goats Rumesin is FDA approved for Goats and is safe for Human Consumption (milk) Decoxx is FDA approved for goats and testing is underway for Human Consumption (milk).
There is no studies showing that animals build a resistance to either Rumensin or Decoxx. Studies do show that animals will build a resistance to Corrid. Animals will also build a resistance to most Sulfra's. So it is suggested that Corrid or Sulfra drugs be given on a daily basis for long period of times.

Provided by Rinestonegoat