Foot rot is a disease which affects both goats and sheep, if they are
kept on low wet land. It rarely proves fatal, and can be cured if the
cause is removed, but it sometimes causes a good deal of trouble. The
goats' feet swell between the toes and become so sore that the animals
are compelled to walk on their knees. It can be cured by carefully
trimming the feet and using solutions of blue stone. Goats should not be
put on wet land.
Sometimes the glands of the neck enlarge, a condition known as goitre.
This is sometimes fatal with kids, but usually cures itself. There is no
known remedy for it, but it is comparatively rare.
Anthrax, tuberculosis, pleuro-pneumonia and meningitis, will affect
goats, but these diseases are very rare. Some of the southern goats have
swollen ears, but what the cause of this trouble is no one has yet
determined.