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weak fawn - white muscle disease?

wvdeerman

wvdeerman

Joined Apr 2009
519 Posts | 1+
Rivesville, WV
I have a 6 week old doe fawn that is having trouble getting up. I have noticed the past week that she doesn't seem to be very energetic and seemed a little lethargic. She is a single fawn and being mother raised. This morning she staggered around a little after finally getting to her feet. I did see her eat from mom and she pooped perfect pellets.



Can this still be a clostridium problem? She was given alpha 7 at birth. Or would this be white muscle disease? I do have BOSE but I have no idea how much to give. I was also going to give her some Banamine, penacillin and some C&D antitoxin.



Some advice is needed. Thanks
 
Jack, we give 1/2 cc of bose when we tag them at one day of age. Antitoxin would also seem in order. We give 2 cc's of that.
 
Jack if the Bo se doesn`t change things you may want to think of ole Monty`s theory. Thiamine deficiant. Shot of Thiamine or just try the B 12 complex. Wouldn`t really think perfringens with the Alpha 7 but we also have strain A that most of us don`t vaccinate for. Seems this problem has gone on a few days and with perfringens we normally don`t get that much time to fix things. The way we find out about strain A is normally through a necropcy. Sure has been a bunch of light bulbs going off in heads this year. Some things we have in the back of our minds but it takes a comment from someone else to spark the ole brain cells. Good luck Jack and keep em kicking.
 
Thanks Guys !! I had an idea of what to do, just wanted to run it by you guys first.



I plan to give 1cc BOSE, 1cc B12 or B complex and 2cc C&D antitoxin.



Do you think any banamine and/or penacillin is needed or would that be too much?



If this is white muscle disease, how long will it take to see any improvement?
 
Roger, that is great information, thank you very much.



Susan, I appreciate your concern. How have things been going for you? I know you have had your share of bad luck this year.



Mitch, your a rock buddy. Thanks for always giving an answer when I need it.



When I got home this evening from work, she was having more difficulty getting up. I gave her 1cc BOSE and 1cc B complex. How long should it take to see any improvement? If she still has trouble tomorrow I plan to give her the 2cc C&D antitoxin and 1cc banamine.



Any other options?
 
Hey Scott,



I am glad to get some input from you. YES, all my does and fawns are in the same pen...except for one doe and her twins. I have not had any issue like this with any other fawns this year. My pen is all wooded with no grass. They are 100% grain fed, with a natural spring fed creek.



The only thing related to this was I had a buck fawn with the same symptoms last year. The fawn that was sick last year with the same thing ( he did die) happend to be a full brother to the doe that has the sick fawn this year. They are full brother and sister from different years. The sick buck from last year, it is his full sisters doe fawn. Can this be a genetic thing?



If the BOSE is going to work, how long does it take before improvement is seen? What else can I try?
 
The BOSE was given at 5pm yesterday, she is no better this morning. Actually she is probably worse, because she can't stand on her own now. I gave her 5cc C&D antitoxin at 7:30am this morning. How long does it take to see results if these drugs were going to work?



I am now out of ideas. If this isn't white muscle disease, what else could give these symtpoms?
 
I'm guessing that your herd is not that large, It could be genetic, with a lower immunity than your other deer and could have a propensity toward getting the disease, for next year could you think about giving some protection in-utero by vacinating your doe late second trimester. If both the fawns did not get sick until 4-6 weeks of age they just may have a weak immune system and it takes that long for it to show itself.
 
If it is a thiamine problem, 1 cc of B probably isn't enough. I would think 5cc of B Complex sub-cu, unless you can get straight thiamine from your vet, then maybe 2 cc's a day for 2 or 3 days until you see change.



I agree with Mitch, don't think this is a clostridial issue.
 
I'm thinking something totally different. You stated "I have a 6 week old doe fawn that is having trouble getting up. I have noticed the past week that she doesn't seem to be very energetic and seemed a little lethargic. She is a single fawn and being mother raised. This morning she staggered around a little after finally getting to her feet. I did see her eat from mom and she pooped perfect pellets". I had a very similar issue a few years ago when for 3 years in a row, my best doe's fawns acted the same way. I treated for every disease known to man with no real success. I pulled the last set of fawns at age 3 weeks and they were the only ones to survive of the 3 sets she had over that time period. What I found out was I had another doe that would beat the daylights out of only the fawns from my best doe. I can't explain why this was happening other than the agressive doe was a real beeatch, but she only beat up on the fawns from the same doe. Not to say that this is your problem, but it may pay to observe and see if this is happening. Sometimes we treat just the symptoms without realizing the true cause.
 
Jack sorry can't come up with anything to help! Seems everyone has thrown around same ideas I had. Scott may have an answer. BO-SE should work in 24 hours or less, I can answer that. Sorry no help, keep the faith and good luck. Never give up! ZZ
 
Thanks to all of you that have given input on this thread. We have tried just about everything. This morning I gave her 4cc more B Complex (as Robbie sugested)and 1cc ivermectin. My vet is getting me some Dex the first of the week.



My wife went up yesterday and gave the fawn several cc orally of pedialite. The fawn is taking that. My wife also offered her a bottle this morning after some pedialite, and she took it. She did drink 2 ounces of formula very willing. The thing is this fawns mind is working perfectly. She is VERY alert and constantly grooming herself. She just can't get up.



Is there any diseases that cause nerve damage? she does walk like she has myscular dystrophy, or cerebral palsy or something like that.
 
Jack, if it is possible, you should pull her and bottle feed her. We have had does in the past that would take care of their fawns for a few weeks and then just stop. The fawns would starve to death without intervention from us. I don't know if it is the weather or what would trigger them to do this but one doe would ALWAYS follow this pattern. Good luck with her
 
Jack, I would get thiamine from the vet and inject 2-cc 3 times a day and see if this helps. Won't hurt and when they get to much you will smell it in her pee. When this happens cut back on dosage and give orally. When I read she was walking funny , we call it high stepping, act like they are not sure where the ground is, brought back to my shallow mind thiamine! Won't hurt anything and you can continue on Scotts path of trauma! Don't know how everyone raises fawns without it! Can't stress it enough already on my second 100ml bottle! ZZ
 
Another thing to consider is possibly a deep inner ear infection, listeriosis, or even polio. The thiamine will fix the later two, but if it is a deep inner ear infection only surgery and a heavy regiment of antibiotics will help. I'm guessing here.
 

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