White muscle disease in goats: symptoms and methods of diagnosis, treatment

White muscle disease occurs in kids with a deficiency of selenium and vitamin E in the feed. The diseased animal eats poorly, loses weight, cannot stand up, limps, often falls and lies all day. "Belomishka" is often complicated by cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and respiratory system diseases. Young animals are sick because pregnant females consumed feed poor in selenium and vitamin E.

Causes of the white mouse

White muscle disease is a dangerous disease that occurs in young kids. In another way, the "white mouse" is called muscular dystrophy.The disease usually occurs with metabolic disorders, as well as with biochemical and morphological changes in the muscles, nervous system, and internal organs.

Usually, young goats under the age of three months, who are in stalls, are sick at the end of winter or early spring. In 60 percent, the disease leads to the death of young animals. Kids that have been ill, but recovered, subsequently lag behind in growth and development.

The main reason for the "white mouse" is malnutrition, that is, the food of pregnant goats and queens poor in proteins, vitamins and minerals while feeding their newborn cubs. Dampness, dirt, stuffiness in the goat house, untimely cleaning of contaminated bedding, crowded content can lead to complications.

The disease develops with a deficiency in the feed of minerals (selenium, iodine, copper), vitamins A, B, E, proteins and carbohydrates. "White mouse" occurs in animals that graze in floodplain fields and in lowlands, on peat and sandy loam lands, in frequently flooded pastures.There is a lot of sulfur in such places, which prevents plants from absorbing selenium. The disease occurs if goats are not fed coniferous branches, finely chopped vegetables (beets, carrots), a small amount of grain in winter.

Symptoms of disease

White muscle disease appears in goats during the period of milk feeding, that is, at the age of 2-3 weeks and up to 3 months. "Whitefish" occurs in acute, subacute or chronic form. You can recognize the disease by its characteristic features: inactivity, weakness, impaired coordination of movement.

Acute symptoms:

• disorders of the heart (tachycardia, arrhythmia);
• palpitations;
• muffled and weak heart sounds;
• frequent, shallow, labored breathing;
• nasal discharge;
• fetid feces;
• cloudy eyes with serous discharge;
• loss of muscle tone;
• poor appetite;
• digestion problems.

The duration of the acute stage is 7-10 days. The animal has serious problems with the heart and digestion, muscle weakness. The kid almost does not move, with difficulty stands on wide-spaced legs, his shoulder blades protrude, convulsions are possible with the head thrown back onto its back. The temperature is normal, but if pneumonia joins, then it rises to 40-41 degrees.

In the subacute and chronic form of whitefish, the symptoms are the same as in the acute stage, but only less pronounced.

A kid can look he althy on the outside, and then suddenly die.The duration of the subacute form is 15-30 days, the chronic form is 50-60 days. The highest mortality is in the acute course of the disease, when 6 out of 10 sick kids die. In subacute and chronic forms, the number of deaths is halved.

Important! The characteristic signs of white muscle disease are visible only after the death of the kid, during the autopsy. If the heart or skeletal muscle is cut open, diffuse or focal lesions may be seen. These neoplasms are white in color, dense in texture, and they are similar to boiled chicken meat, only drier.

Diagnostic Methods

Only a veterinarian can establish a diagnosis based on the clinical picture and laboratory tests. Do blood and urine tests of a sick animal. With the "white mouse", the number of erythrocytes, hemoglobin decreases, leukocytosis is diagnosed. There is an acid reaction of urine, the presence of protein, sugar, and increased creatine in it.

If possible, they do electrocardiography, radiography and fluoroscopy. Based on laboratory tests, rickets, malnutrition, dyspepsia are excluded.

How to cure white muscle disease in kids

Treatment gives results if the disease is treated in the early stages, that is, even during the pregnancy of animals. First of all, pregnant goats are transferred to a dry and warm room, they are given better food: green grass, sun-dried hay, finely chopped carrots, coniferous branches, oatmeal, pharmacy vitamins (A, E, B and D), minerals ( necessarily selenium).

Medication for sick goats is prescribed by a veterinarian. Usually, the "white mouse" is treated with preparations containing selenium and vitamin E. Previously, whitened goats were treated with sodium selenite. It is a white powder, from which a 0.1% solution for injection was prepared. As a rule, they prescribed 0.1-0.2 mg per kilogram of goat weight (subcutaneously or intramuscularly).Animals were injected with 0.1-0.2 ml of a 0.1% solution (diluted with distilled water).

Sodium selenite can still be used today. However, it should be remembered that this is a toxic substance, the dosage of which must be correctly calculated. It can be used in recommended doses. The lethal amount of the drug is only 1-2 mg per kilogram of goat weight. Abscesses often appear at the injection site of sodium selenite. The solution is recommended to be injected together with antibiotics.

Currently, instead of sodium selenite, various complex preparations are prescribed, which include selenium, as well as vitamin E: "E-selenium", "Ferroselenite", "Seevit" and others. A drug such as "E-selenium" is used for young kids at a dose of 0.2-0.5 ml per ten kilograms of animal body weight.Injections are administered intramuscularly and once. This drug can be injected into pregnant goats 30 days before lambing.

If pure sodium selenite is used, then the kids are additionally given injections of vitamin E (three times a day for 5-7 days in a row). Along with feed, animals are given useful mineral supplements (cob alt chloride, copper sulfate, manganese chloride), as well as proteins (methionine, cysteine).

In case of inflammatory processes, goats are treated with antibiotics. In case of heart disease, Kordiamin is injected intramuscularly, camphor oil, lily of the valley tincture are prescribed.

Possible consequences

White muscle disease causes serious metabolic disorders in animals. There are changes in the skeletal muscles, as well as in various organs. In advanced stages, the animal loses weight, its muscles atrophy, it cannot even stand on its feet. This is an irreversible process, which, as a rule, leads to the death of kids.The more severe the degree of damage, the less likely it is to save the animal. The disease is treated only in the early stages, that is, during the pregnancy of goats and in the first weeks of life of kids. Recovered animals will subsequently lag behind in development and growth.

Prevention measures

Preventive measures depend on the quality of feed, disease statistics in a particular area. In regions where there is a deficiency of selenium, pharmaceutical preparations must be given to animals. As a preventive measure, E-selenium is administered intramuscularly to pregnant goats 30 days before lambing (once). It is recommended to inject this drug to goats aged 2-3 weeks to three months, but only in the minimum dose and once.

The diet of pregnant animals includes fish oil, fodder yeast, vitamins A, B, D and necessarily E. As a prophylaxis, goats can be given pharmacy vitamin-mineral complexes with selenium. Additives are mixed into food or drinking water.

Animals, especially in winter, are recommended to give premixes for goats. The diet should contain hay, finely chopped vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, beets). In winter, goats are given coniferous branches, a little grain mix, silage, and bone meal.

White muscle disease is a dangerous disease that occurs when there is a lack of minerals and vitamins in animal feed. "Belomishka" does not affect adult goats, but it is found in kids. If the female did not eat well during pregnancy, she gives birth to a weak animal. The main thing is to provide the goats with high-quality feed, vitamins, minerals and, of course, selenium, then the young animals will not suffer from white muscle disease.

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