Floppy Kid Syndrome (FKS)

It seems that each year we get to gain experience with a new problem without livestock.  It's a learning experience that makes us better prepared to prevent or treat it in the future.  This year while I was gone at work, my children found a goat kid that was wobbly and unsteady to the point of not being able to walk well.  He had very uncoordinated movements.  It wasn't something I have seen before.

​My husband searched and found treatment.  My children searched the herd for other sick kids and found two more.  They were all brought in and treated

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We've read things attributing the illness to a specific bacteria, but I don't know about that.  The way it moves through the herd, that makes sense since it appears infectious.  They were treated with oral baking soda water to counteract metabolic acidosis.  They were also fed sugar water to give them some calories and energy.  They still had good suck reflexes, but milk may not be digested as it can paralyze their digestive tract.

​None of the sick kids looked dirty or were seen eating dirt or dirty straw.  It has been muddy this year with quite a few cycles of freezing with snow and then warming up.  I wonder if it might have something to do with the weather.  The two more severe kids died and the less severe one made a full recovery.  They were all from different dams and their siblings were not affected.

If this comes through our flock again, my plan is to withhold milk from all affected kids.  I will also monitor them for dehydration and err on the side of over hydrating if anything.  Keep them warm but not hot - definitely out of the sun as they may not move themselves if suffering from paralysis.

1. Stop feeding milk.  Do not let them nurse.  They make look horrible and even near death, but their rumens and gastrointestinal tract is shutting down.  Milk is complex to digest and may result in increased acid excretion and further GI irritation.  You will give them other things for calories.
2. For severely weak kids, place a feeding tube and an IV​ (and keep them placed during treatment).  If starting an IV, be sure to keep fluids volumes low as this is a tiny body and can be overloaded.  An IV is not required, but may be desirable for very sick kids whose GI tract has shut down.​​​  If you have access to rapid blood tests, you can draw blood from your IV start to find out the pH.  If you have an IV, you can run dextrose 5-10% or dextrose 5% with 1/2NS at a slow rate, keeping in mind how much fluid your putting into such a tiny body.
3. Support the kid in a natural position.  This can be using towels, pillows, straw bales, a sling, whatever.  If laying, they should be up on their brisket.  If pseudo-standing, their head should also be supported.  This is important to help them breathe properly and in case any stomach (rumen) contents leave the stomach.
4. ​​Prepare a bicarbonate solution.  Dissolve one teaspoon of baking soda (not baking powder) in a half cup of water, electrolyte solution (like Pedialyte), Pepto Bismol, or a combination of these.  Administer 1-2 teaspoons (5-10 mL) of this solution orally through the feeding tube or using a needleless syringe.  This will help with the GI tract acidity and inflammation.  If not IV bicarbonate is used, you will give his solution one or two more times in one and two hours.
5. Make and administer concentrated sugar solution unless giving IV dextrose.  Using an electrolyte solution such as Pedialyte or water, heat it and mix in as much sugar as will dissolve.  If you end up with a little undissolved sugar, add just enough liquid to let it dissolve.  Remove from the heat or microwave and place the bowl in an ice bath and stir to cool the liquid.  Cool to body or room temperature.  Do not use hot!  Administer 1-2 tablespoons every 30 minutes by feeding tube or needless syringe.
6. Administer antibiotics orally, injected, or through the IV based on the kid's weight.  It can be penicillin or another that you have on hand.  The oral antibiotics a be rinsed out of the feeding tube with a sugar water feeding.  Make sure if giving by injection or IV that you follow the antibiotics administration instruction - some injectable medication should not be given intravenously.
7. Administer vitamin B complex, 1-2 mL orally if swallowing or subcutaneous injection.
8. If you haven't given it to your kids already, consider administering 1-2 mL selenium by subcutaneous injection.  This will not treat the FKS, but may help if it is white muscle wasting disease parading as FKS.​ ​

The kid may respond to treatment and seem to rally.  Do not let the fool you into thinking they are cured.  This pre-death rally is not uncommon in sick animals, especially sick babes.  Continue the treatment and keep withholding all milk from them for 24-36 hours from beginning treatment.

​Check the rest of the herd frequently for even subtle signs in other kids.  Do not force feed any kids who do not want to eat.

​After 24-36 hours, begin giving them their regular type of milk.  If from their dam, limit their feeding time to very short.  They can have another short snack in another hour.  Each time you can let them eat a little more and wait a little longer between feedings.  For bottle babies, dilute the first feedings and make them small and a little more frequent than normal increasing in volume, time between feedings, and stop diluting it quite as much.

​The kids may have normal poop at first followed by diarrhea.  This is actually a good sign because it tells you their GI tract is awake and working.  Teeth grinding or grunting indicate pain, which you can treat with a little more Pepto Bismol and backing off the feeding a little.
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Have you seen this in your herd?  Have you had treatments that seemed to help your kids survive?  Have you tried things that seemed to fail, even considering the high mortality rate?