Onion Creek Ranch, Lohn, Texas
Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Lohn, TX
Lohn, Texas
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PINKEYE IN GOATS

Pinkeye in goats and Pinkeye in cattle are not the same illness and vaccines to prevent Pinkeye in other species do not work with goats. Pinkeye in goats may be caused by several different agents even though the symptoms are similar. Pinkeye can be the result of infectious or non-infectious organisms. Since infectious Pinkeye is also contagious and is most commonly the type that goat raisers encounter, I will focus on how I treat my goats in this article.

Non-infectious Pinkeye can occur in individual animals as a result of over-exposure to very bright sunlight, dusty hay, or blowing dust. Treatment is similar to that used in medicating infectious Pinkeye and will be discussed later in this article.

Infectious Pinkeye can be caused by viruses or bacteria and is medically termed infectious keratoconjunctivitis.

Pinkeye can be brought on by many kinds of stress -- stress from moving or transporting, kidding, weaning, improper nutrition, severe weather, dramatic changes in temperature or weather conditions, or an underlying illness (abortion, pneumonia) . Stress reduces the immune system's ability to suppress the outbreak of illnesses. Do not underestimate stress induced through improper feeding. A properly-fed goat tends to be a healthy goat.

Flies are a primary transmitter of Pinkeye from goat to goat, so keep the fly population down. Shows and sales are ideal places for goats to pick up infectious Pinkeye. The abortion disease Chlamydia often begins with Pinkeye. Sometimes the first recognizable sign of an impending abortion is Pinkeye. Certain types of Pinkeye, particularly Chlamydia-induced infections, tend to be chronic (recurring) because the goat becomes a carrier, therefore able to infect others and have repeated bouts of the disease itself.

Pinkeye is a serious illness in a goat. Early signs of Pinkeye include runny, red, and swollen eyes. The cornea, the clear covering over the eye (including iris and pupil), becomes reddish and hazy then sometimes bluish and definitely opaque (clouds over). The goat begins to lose its eyesight. If left untreated, blindness can occur. If corneal ulcers appear and perforate, the infection can travel to the brain and kill the goat. The eye can also rupture, sink into the eye socket, and infection can travel throughout the goat's body. Prompt treatment must be given to save the goat.

Some people insist that nothing successfully cures Pinkeye and that the disease has to run its course. However, if left untreated, the goat may die from inability to keep up with the herd and find water and food. You can minimize its damage to infected animals by being aware of what I do when my goats have Pinkeye

Remove the goat from its herd and put it in a clean, cool, dry, shady location out of direct sunlight. Sunlight aggravates Pinkeye and delays healing. Make sure the pen is small but well ventilated; if the goat has lost or is losing its eyesight, it needs to be able to locate feed, water, and shelter. Keep a small jar of generic alcohol-based mouthwash in your medical kit. Put on disposable gloves, wet a paper towel in the mouthwash, and wash the goat's "tears" away. This "weeping" of the eye is the primary method of transferring Pinkeye from one goat to another, so clean the goat's face below the eye with generic mouthwash. Dispose of mouthwash once used.

Injectable oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml (LA200 or equivalent) should be used sub-cutaneously (SQ) in addition to topical eye ointments. I dose oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml at 5 cc per 100 pounds bodyweight and inject SQ over the ribs with an 18 gauge needle for five consecutive days. Some people also drop LA-200 or generic equivalent directly into the affected eyes. If a chlamydia-caused abortion is occurring, injectable oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml must be used to try to stop the abortion. (You won't know the causative agent, so assume it is worst-case scenario that can cause abortions.) The potential for interfering with fetal bone development in utero by using oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml is minimal and far outweighed by the benefits of the antibiotic.

The best treatment for eyes that have not ulcerated is to use Gentocin spray (vet prescription). You can make your own spray if your vet doesn't have Gentocin spray readily available by purchasing gentamycin sulfate 100 mg/ml, sterile water, and dexamethasone from a veterinarian and mixing in three equal parts. Spray the affected eyes twice a day for a minimum of five (5) consecutive days. Note: Do not use this steroid compound on ulcerated eyes (see below). Powders and aerosols, while effective, are irritating to the eye, particularly if ulceration has occurred. Therefore, I don't use powders and aerosols Some people use Vetericyn. I've tried it several times without success. There is no antibiotic in it, which to me is a negative. Yet I know people for whom Vetericyn works.

If the eye has ulcerated (the covering over the iris - the colored part of the eye - appears to have risen outward from the surface of the eyeball), then I use Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates and Bacitracin Zinc Opthalmic Ointment (Triple Antibiotic Opthalmic Ointment) that I buy from my veterinarian. I buy several tubes and keep them on hand; the tubes contain only 1/4 ounce. This is not the triple antibiotic ointment available over the counter in drugstores. Triple Antibiotic Opthalmic Ointment is not an item that every vet keeps in stock, so maintain a supply in your emergency inventory. Terramycin Opthalmic Ointment, available without prescription, is an alternative product. Opthalmic ointments are pricey, but there is no substitute for them. Apply this ointment a minimum of twice a day until the goat can see and the cloudiness/ulceration is gone. The goat may lose its eyesight completely for a period of time, but if properly treated (even if ulceration has occurred), sight will usually return, though sometimes only partially. It is not unusual for a white scar (blindspot) to appear on the eyeball after the ulceration has healed.

Permanent sight loss may occur if steriod opthalmic medications are used on ulcerated eyes. Do not use steroid products such as Gentocin Durafilm (cortico-steroids) or any medication containing dexamethazone on an ulcerated eye. Blood vessels must begin to grow back into the eye for healing to occur and sight to return, and steroids will interfere with blood-vessel regeneration. If the organism causing the Pinkeye is viral, steroids make the illness worse fast.

While early stages of eye ulceration may not be visible to you, a badly ulcerated eye can be diagnosed easily: a portion of the colored part of the eye (iris) looks like it is sticking out of the eyeball on a stem, preventing the goat from fully closing its eye. Ulcerated eyes may rupture and collapse into the eye socket or infection may travel to the goat's brain. If left untreated under such conditions, the goat can die. To prevent this from happening, any goat with a suspected ulcerated eye should be taken to a vet. The vet can put a vegetable-based stain in the goat's eye that glows in the presence of cobalt blue light to determine the extent of damage that the ulcer has caused. This is a simple test involving touching the white of the eye above the iris with an over-sized Q-tip that has been saturated with a special stain. This procedure is preferable to culturing the organism, because it is quicker and less expensive.

The vet can perform a Tarsorrhaphy by injecting the eyelid with a local anesthetic and sewing the third eyelid shut. At the same time the vet may inject a mild antibiotic directly into the eyelid. The third eyelid in a goat has a gland which provides some immunological protection and helps increase the blood supply to the eye. Stints (small pipettes through which sutures will be threaded) and dissolvable sutures will be used to hold the eye closed for 10-14 days, allowing the eye to stay moist and healing to take place. The stints used to hold the eyelids together can easily be cut loose from the eyelid with small scissors after the sutures have dissolved. Obviously you don't want to use this procedure on both eyes at one time.

Severe cases of infectious Pinkeye may result in partial or complete loss of sight and visible scarring of the eye. Pinkeye lasts anywhere from ten days to multiple weeks. While Pinkeye may well have to "run its course," damage to the goat can be greatly reduced by following this treatment. Blind goats are an obvious liability.

Non-infectious Pinkeye generally falls into three categories: (1) Abrasions caused by outside irritants such as blowing dust or by the Listeria organism; (2) Vitamin A deficiency; or (3) Toxins, such as locoweed poisoning ("Dry Eye") or fire ant stings. Topical opthalmic ointments mentioned above are used to treat these conditions. With Listeria and Vitamin A deficiency, the underlying problem must also be cured.

Pinkeye negatively affects the productivity of a herd. Do not underestimate the impact of Pinkeye on goat health and institute treatment quickly to stop the damage.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto, Onion Creek Ranch, Texas 7/2/17

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Important! Please Read This Notice!

All information provided in these articles is based either on personal experience or information provided by others whose treatments and practices have been discussed fully with a vet for accuracy and effectiveness before passing them on to readers.

In all cases, it is your responsibility to obtain veterinary services and advice before using any of the information provided in these articles. Suzanne Gasparotto is not a veterinarian.Neither tennesseemeatgoats.com nor any of the contributors to this website will be held responsible for the use of any information contained herein.

The author, Suzanne Gasparotto, hereby grants to local goat publications and club newsletters, permission to reprint articles published on the Onion Creek Ranch website under these conditions: THE ARTICLE MUST BE REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY AND THE AUTHOR'S NAME, ADDRESS, AND CONTACT INFORMATION MUST BE INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REPRINT. We would appreciate notification from any clubs or publications when the articles are used. (A copy of the newsletter or publication would also be a welcome addition to our growing library of goat related information!)

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