Boergoat: coughing, snorting sounds, disoriented, drowsy, hind numb

One of our Boer goat ram started acting weird yesterday afternoon. He is disoriented, can’t stand for long before falling around like an intoxicated person, and then can’t get up. Hind legs sort of numb. When he tried standing on them he spilts them outward. He snorts very badly, opening his mouth. Sounds like a lot of mucus, but checked and there’s none. Coughs as well. Weak and tired. Not sure if he’s really eating or drinking at the moment. And just a bit bloated, but not like a tense hard bloat. Has a very hard abscess on his lower neck, but not sure if it may be causing it. He is in a kraal/pen and has been there for about a month. Get’s feed and has gotten it from a young age, nothing weird has been introduced or suddenly introduced. Don’t see any bite marks, there aren’t any bones in his are. Very clean and only has one other ram in the pen with him. Antibiotics, electrolytes, etc. have been given, and we have asked a vet what could be wrong, but nothing seems to work. Any suggestions on what could help or what might be wrong with him, please?

Hello - and I'm sorry for your poor ram.  Every body system appears to be affected in quite a serious way:  the neurological system (intoxicated / numb legs / possiible weakness), resp system (nose blocked?  Coughing), GI system (sl bloated, not sure if he's eating or drinking - rams are supposed to eat for a substantial portion of the day), also a hard abscess on the lower neck.   That's a lot going on in one animal at the same time!

I wondered about infectious diseases, including TB, which can present rather vaguely in the goat.  Vets will often suspect it if a goat doesn't respond to the appropriate antibiotics for a respiratory infection, for example.  TB is notifiable in the UK - which means that the government must be informed if it is suspected.  It can also be transferred across species including people, so for that reason it is extremely important -  we strongly reccommend that you contact your vet.  There are plenty of other possibilities by the way, including bloat, parasites, liver disease, acidosis affecting the breathing, anaemia - but everything that I think of is potentially severe and your vet did ought to be involved.  Visible breathing problems in any species are always a cause for concern, so please mention the symptoms on the phone and ask whether any steps need to be taken in the meantime.