# reoccuring mastitis



## gfn2005 (Jul 23, 2012)

We have had goats for 3 years. Every year that we have a doe freshen, they have mastitis. Any ideas?


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland (udder) that causes a chemical and physical reaction in milk produced by goats. It is more frequent in dairy and meat goats raised under intensive and semi-intensive management practices. Depending on the severity of the disease, mastitis could result in decreased revenues for producers.

Mastitis is generally associated with poor hygienic practices and caused by the bruising of mammary tissue or teats from traumas, nursing, fly bites, or other wounds to the skin that provide an important barrier to infection. Mastitis is also associated with viral, bacterial or fungi and their toxins. Under stressful conditions such as extreme temperatures, muddy and wet living conditions, or a sudden change in diet, a doe's immune system is compromised and has a difficult time fighting off the invasion of foreign bodies that cause diseases like mastitis.

Another predisposing factor is the abnormal anatomy of the udder or teat. Infection occurs when infectious agents reach the mammary gland. The infectious agent enters through the milk canal, interacts with the mammary tissue cells, and multiplies. Some microorganisms release toxins. The mammary tissue reacts to these toxins and becomes inflamed. Does can contract infection after birth, but infection can also occur during lactation and after dry periods.

The most common bacteria that causes mastitis in goats are:

Coagulase-negative staphylococci bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, S. uberi, S. dysgalactia, and S. caprae Mycoplasma capricolum; Enterobacteria such as Escherichia coli coliforms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Clostridium spp.)

The caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) causes mastitis in goats. In addition, mastitis can result from yeast infection, and it appears to be associated with the frequent use of penicillin, along with the prolonged and repetitive use of systemic and intra-mammary infusions.

The chronic form of mastitis occurs as a persistent and incurable infection. The udder may have hard lumps as a result of bacteria forming colonies and reactions occurring in the mammary tissues. In chronically affected halves, agalactia, which is the lack of milk, may occur.

The subclinical mastitis causes the most concern among producers and veterinarians because there are no visible signs of the disease. There is no swelling of the udder or detectable abnormalities in the milk to indicate the presence of mastitis. The sub-clinical form can eventually develop into the chronic clinical form of mastitis.

The use of antibiotics or corticosteroids are recommended in some cases. Antibiotics like benzylpenicillin, cloxacillin, amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid, cephalonium and cefoperazone, erythromycin , tylmicosin, kanamycin, penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, or tetracycline have been recommended to treat mastitis. However, cure rates may vary from animal to animal and according to the severity of the case


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

On a side note, if you are not milking them correctly (grabbing to high above the teat and into the udder) you could be causing damage and the mastitis as well.


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## gfn2005 (Jul 23, 2012)

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I am aware of what mastitis is and how it is caused. My milk machine is set on 11 lbs. of pressure and we are not tugging when milking (possibly squeezing too high??). We wash our hands before each milking and dip the milking iflations in between does when the milk machine is used. We use fight back after each milking and they are eating hay/standing afterwards. No blood in milk, no hard hot udder, just nasty tasting milk. We had the pasture checked for funky weeds that can cause yucky milk. The first doe that freshened on our farm had mastitis. I am wondering if she was carrying a bacteria and has infected my farm??? Lysogin has helped in the past, but I can not find it anywhere to continue their vaccinations, PBS has pulled it off the market and I can not find it anywhere else. Have treated with excenel, PCN, today, and have had to dry does off with tommorrow if we couldnt get it to go away.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

The to high comment was in regards to hand milking. We have seen many people destroy their does because they were grabbing above the teat onto the udder floor and then squeezing. Nearly the entire (cept for the bottom) part of that reply was copy and pasted and wasnt directed at you in fault just relaying info. And yes, the first doe could have infected the others as it is highly contagious if its a staph related infection.

If you are looking for an opinion, here is mine. It was most likely passed from the first one OR wa even left over from the first time they got it. A clinical doe can get it every year for the rest of her life. Some animals are more prone to get it and that might be a immune system thing. Giving them a good lose mineral mix? If you want to keep the does, then you need to have them infection tested as well as the milk. First by a vet who knows what he is doing and then I would have the milk tested. Here I believe WSU can test it and if not, I am sure they know where to take it. Or stop by a locale cow dairy and ask them. Either way I believe you are dealing with a clinical case and it will continue to reappear after each freshening. After you have it tested, dry off the infected side and treat as instructed. Good luck


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## Cazz (Jun 9, 2010)

We have also had problems with reoccurring mastitis, despite many tests, antibiotic courses and the like. We hand milk (and very carefully not too high, and also not stripping/pulling) and use a suitable disinfectant on each does' teats after milking, as well as washing and drying each goats' udder prior to milking with different cloths and paper towel for every goat.
I have found that garlic in large quantities will severely reduce and sometimes remove the mastitis, and there are many other natural treatments as well - vitamin C and dolomite being among them. I have also read that mineral deficiencies can cause the does to be vunerable to mastitis. Our does seem to be unsusual in the fact that many of them, if not milked very early in the morning when they are producing a lot of milk (or even not a lot, but either soon after kidding when they do have a lot, or later in the lactation when their udders have started to shrink but they are still making quite a lot and they are too full) will leak milk, and that is when they get mastitis.
I can almost guarentee that they will have mastitis (though almost never, from this cause, a severe case such as blood, clots etc) by two days later if they come in with milk leaked down their legs. Some of our does had their mastitis cured by antibiotics, others had no different (but still bad) tasting milk afterwards and the same hardness and lumps, which I later mostly or totally removed by using garlic.

The mastitis I am talking about is very few and occasional lumps (some does none) with very occasional thickening in the udder, but bad (goaty or just yuck) tasting milk. More serious types (such as a hard udder with little or no milk, or blood or clots in the milk, or lumps in the udder) can also be kept under control and sometimes cured with garlic, and we've had experiences with a variety of mastits types.
The problem with garlic is that when the does have a lot of it, the milk tastes like garlic, so it's no good for human consumption during treatment anyway. If you can give a continually high dose (20-30 cloves per day) for a week, it is the most effective, but even five-ten cloves a day for one-two days can help dramatically. (hint - don't drink the milk for at least two milkings after stopping the garlic treatment, and have a good sniff of the milk before planning to use it for people as if it smells like garlic, it will definitely taste like garlic :? ) We still have some does with slightly bad tasting milk, but they had more serious mastitis (hardness, lumps, swelling or discomfort) as well as very badly tasting milk which was fixed by the garlic, and, if I can set aside time each day to battle the garlic-hating goats (obviously the ones who need the garlic - wonder why those who don't need it often like it :roll:  ) then I can often fix them completely.
From something I recently read though, as I mentioned above, mastitis is very rare, if not impossible in goats with the perfect mineral balance. We just must not be at that balance yet obviously! Try getting a copy of Pat Colebey's Natural Goat and Alpaca care - it is fantastic on the relationship between diseases etc and minerals, very eye-opening. For example, she (and some of her clients - she is a dairy goat judge over here with a lot of people following her methods and having good success) has cured goats of snake bite with vitamin C, and all sorts of strange and interesting things - often just ordinary vitamins and minerals which work in ways I'd never have guessed.
I have been gathering info everywhere I can on mastitis in goats, so although I haven't always had success with methods that others have recommended, I haven't tried everything and what has or hasn't worked for me may or may not work for you. 

Anyway, enough rambling on, feel free to ask any questions though.  
Cazz


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## Cazz (Jun 9, 2010)

Oh, and another note... the one doe who we haven't managed to 'fix' the taste of her milk, had a type of mastitis which the vets said was often incurable, however after her antibiotic treatment did nothing, the garlic removed heaps of the lumps and hardness in her udder as well as some of the bad taste. I might be able to totally cure her of mastitis if I managed to force enough garlic into her, but this doe is a very determinded enemy of garlic, and I don't have the time to force a large quantity of garlic into her every day for a week - as it is, her milk is enjoyed by our bottle fed alpaca and any lambs or piglets we have on the bottle at any time.  It also tastes fine when made into Ricotta cheese, so when we don't have enough bottle fed creatues to drink it, it goes into the cheese and you wouldn't know the difference. 
We had a huge amount of mastitis several years ago, and after having the does tested, we had five or something different types of mastitis in our does - each doe with only one type though. (not all of our does had mastitis, but quite a few at any rate) It is only the Staph type that the one doe mentioned above which has totally defied the garlic, while several others have a very slight taste or very small amount of hardness or lumps, which I keep a close eye on and dose heavily with garlic if anything changes, but is not a problem.
All the best,
Cazz


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Wow Cazz, I have never heard of that before and am exited, well as much as one can be to get mastitis, to try that. We have a few does who seem to have problems every year. Most with the hard lumpy udder. Thinking it might be started from flushing into milk to fast and the new babies not being able to take enough to keep up and thats the start of it. But we have had the very nasty fast hitting mastitis as well. We quarantine any doe that is suspect just to make sure to keep the rest of the herd outta harms way. Which is good as 2 years ago we had one doe come down with a stafe case of mastitis and it turned bad for the doe fast. So, am always eager for new tools to do battle with. Thanks!


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## gfn2005 (Jul 23, 2012)

Cazz-This may sound stupid, but how do you get them to eat 20-30 cloves per day? The mineral bit sounds interesting. We have tried a few different types of minerals, but I never keep them in there all the time, my bad, I really know better, but I simply just forget. We do have a Vita 4 plex mixed into their feed though. Maybe just not enough for them??? I just sent the milk out to be tested. I am curious if it is one type of staph or many??? Our barn used to flood horribly. We brought in about 60 tons of limestone gravel to raise the barn to stop the flooding. I am wondering if that is how all of this crap started??? 

Thank you everybody for your help.  I will let all of you know what the test results are. 

Cazz, I see you have Toggs. I have never raised one, we have lamanchas and oberhaslis, but I have heard their milk can sometimes taste mastitisy? Has anyone ever heard of that?


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

I have heard a Toggs milk does have a different taste. The funny thing is, its our Toggs that have the most problem with mastitis. Like 80% of our issues are with the Toggs. Though the nasty case we had was an alpine.


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## Cazz (Jun 9, 2010)

Hi again
Sorry I didn't get back to you both sooner! Always hectic around here. :?  
In reply to your first question gfn2005, some goats will just eat it (I have one doe who ate up to 50 cloves, but she didn't feel too good for a few days so I have decided the limit to a healthy dose must be around 40, since she ate that amount fine on a previous occasion, but I prefer to stay on the safe side with 20-30) however some have to have it forced into them. For most, even if they won't take it, you can pop a few at a time into their mouths, hold their mouths shut, and they will actually chew them up and eat them. Others have to have one-two popped down their throat at a time, the same as giving a dog a tablet, and they're the hard ones because they get expert at using their tongue to manipulate the garlic back out of their mouths! With 20-30 a day, I do 10-15 cloves each milking.

The flooding could be what started it, apparently it is easier to get in the wet, or it could have been the same as we have when the entry point is the doe leaking - do you ever have a problem with that?

With the Toggenburg's having a bad-tasting milk, I've heard that often and know of people who have does with yucky milk but no mastitis, however all of our does who have/have had some mastitis had lovely milk to start off with, so I know it's not genetic.
We do also get a yucky taste when they eat a heap of lucerne (pig out on it when they get a new bale for example) but that's not quite the same, more just a goaty taste.

That's interesting Dave! We've only had a few cases of bad (bloody/clotty mastitis) and one of them was a Saanen doe, but we have only had around 1/3 or 1/4 of other breeds in total. We've had Saanens, Anglo Nubians, Australian Browns and Boers and Boer Xs in milk - we'll hopefully have some Angora does in milk next month too.  However, our majority of does are Toggenburg, at least in the dairy breeds. (you can check out our goats on our website - www.waygara.com)

Anyway, looking forward to hearing the results gfn2005! 

Cheers,
Cazz


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Going to throw out the obvious in case its not known and I cant remember if I already posted it. If you milk a doe with at the very least of 4 hours between then and when she last ate anything, it cleans up the milk pretty well. The best way is to follow how the cow dairies do it. Milk first then feed. Granted this isnt really an option with does on pasture where they can eat all day long. Grass and grass type hays will also make for a goatie tasting milk. Here, with no pasture and when we feed and milk in the right order, our milk from all animals tastes nearly identical to cows milk. Though we have found that Lamancha milk is by far the best. Its a little higher in butterfat then Alpines so it gives it a slightly richer taste.


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## Cazz (Jun 9, 2010)

With our does at the moment Dave that's not possible, as they are with feed 24 hours a day - hay, (both grass and lucerne) grass, trees, shrubs, forest, pasture, you name it, since they haven't got an overnight yard at the moment (in construction since the last one has now been converted and divided into a garden, foaling pen, chook pen and lamb pen) they are loose in our property (we have individual paddocks inside our property but they are just in the property) and wander around and eat what they like when they like, apart from their concentrate which they only get while being milked. The thing is they eat the lucerne too quick (we've got around 40 goats and sheep eating the same bales, but only 5 are does in milk) so they dive into a fresh new bale when we bring it in, despite having a dozen round bales of grass hay, plenty of lower quality lucerne that they've left and plenty of grass/trees etc. :roll: I've found it tastes fine when made into cheese though, so it's okay if they're making a decent bit as they only have the goaty milk for one-two milkings after getting a new bale and I make that into cheese while we drink the milk from the day before. 
Over here, it's the Anglo Nubians with the highest average milk fat, then all of the others in a similar range with the Saanen sometimes a bit lower because of their often slightly larger capacity than the other Swiss breeds.
Cazz


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Ya I can understand that. Here because we are not currently using the milk for anything other then kids, we feed and then milk  I feed before I go to work in the morning and my other half milks upto 4 hours later. Feed when I get home and she milks upto 4 hours later. Just have to do what you can do.


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