# Sore on udder?



## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

My mom noticed that while milking Jenna this afternoon, there was a hard puffy sore on the left side of her udder, she had been lifting her leg up when we milked that side.. 
I got a flashlight and we found a small round scab in the middle. There seems to be nothing wrong with the milk and we have still been drinking it.. It is warmer than normal on the sore. A couple weeks before I found a sore w/ a scab on Lolli Pop's udder around in the same spot as Jenna's, but the sore spot was minimal and healed back soon after. 

We have not noticed any different in anything aside from the sores.. I am thinking they ran into something inside the barn but I can't figure out what at all.. Back in August, Libby developed a large abscess on her check, and the vet said she probably got something pricked in it and her body was trying to get rid of it. Could it be similar? 

Does anyone have any recomendations as to what to put on it? Any ideas what it could be?


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

With open or scabby sores on udders I use aloe vera (fresh when I have some, gel from the chemist when I'm running low). I get this a fair bit with over eager kids biting at mums teats. 

If it is more of an abcess, I would treat with antibiotics and when it bursts flush well.


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW  

ok I'm not really THAT enthusiastic... *coughs* anyway my goat had that... a sore on the side of her udder just where her teat started. It was like a scab and a really hard lump behind it so it made it an extremely slow process milking her out that side as you had to avoid the scab... I had to wean the kids off, too.

Well I took her to the vet, and I also spoke to my friend's mum, and the general consensus was that it was orf. I dont know what you call orf in the states, but if you google it I think you'll find out what it is. It's generally on sheep/goats etc. mouths - and probably Whisper got it on her udder from one or the other of the kids - although I never saw it on their mouths. I have had lambs with it in the past - and in fact contracted it myself once.

There is a vaccine for orf, and also the treatment I was told to do was to apply strong iodine (I used 10%) to that spot every day. I put iodine on after milking twice daily, and it slowly healed and the lump broke away over the course of the next couple/few weeks. It was a slow process but it DID heal. Do try to make sure only to get the iodine on the affected spot - as the guy who minds the goats when I'm not there was fairly liberal with the iodine and messed up her skin on her hind leg and udder from its - I dunno I guess caustic? properties.

It killed the orf though :thumbup:


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

orf is called sore mouth here and honestly I dont think that is what it is. Sore mouth is very nasty and spreads like crazy. 

Sores can happen from a variety of things. How big is the spot?


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## lesserweevil (Oct 5, 2007)

it didnt spread from my doe - but Amos says he has 2 does with it


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

I do not think it is an orf, because its not on her teat, it is on the upper under side of her udder, I needed a flashlight to look at it because its covered with hair (and I'm not shaving her in this weather). It is the size of.. um maybe like the bottom of the average water bottle? Thats all I can think of to compare it to.. the scab is just the size of maybe a pea?


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

it could still be sore mouth.. either way i would clean it with iodine...


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Maybe I should clean up what I meant as 'sore'. It isn't like chapped skin or raw skin, its like if you bumped your head and its sore and there is a lump; does that make sense? But it is a swelled spot..


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

ok considering it is a larger raised area with a small scabby bit on it, I'm more inclined to think it was an abcess, and the scab is where it burst. If that was the case, and if it was me, I'd probably pull the scab off and see if I could get more gunge out of it (disgusting, I know) and flush it out really well with saline and then treat with some A/B


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

splinter ? ...infection being warm

I hate to say this but...to me ...it sounds like Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL) if you keep getting multiple break outs ....with other does ...and you've had one with a lump on her check..... it sounds like there lympnode area's... that is where CL thrives....very contagious..if it pops it spreads to other goats ...if they come in contact with it....through a cut......... I feel so sorry for you.if it is.  The only way to know... is have the puss tested....


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

CL is a possibility, but at the same time I have had a lot of abcesses that werent CL. 

Although, I think I may need to get one of the work goats tested, I'm pretty sure she has it. :sigh: And yet, they are vaccinated against it?? This doe at work started with an abcess on her back left leg, it went away then she got one under the left front leg, it went away then she got one on the brisket, it went away then she got one on the jaw, it went away then she got one on the udder, it went down and at the moment she is abcess free. Basically screws up the work herd and my herd if we have it :sigh: I'm trying not to dwell on it until after Christmas ...


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

It could be either a splinter or an insect bite...I know this time of the year is supposed to keep bugs away and seeing as how it's really cold where you are, it could still be a spider that bit her, especially since it was in a hidden warm area of her udder, scrape the scab off and see if you can express anything out of it...if it's thick and odorless have it tested if you can, if it is on the runny side and has a foul smell, irrigate and flush with an iodine solution and keep it open if you can to allow drainage, start her on an antibiotic as the heat with the bump seems to be indication of infection....and don't panic, Cl is a very contagious disease and you would definately know you had an epidemic as it does spread fast, other than that, if you can have the gunk tested, go for it that is the only way you will really know. Keep the wound open and flushed out, just as precaution though, make sure the other goats don't have contact with the contents and sanitize your hands as well when treating the bump.

BTW, Just because a bump shows up in a " cl location" it does not mean thats what it is,only testing will confirm a diagnosis.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Ok, thank you everyone. 

I am quite positive that this is not CL, as I have encountered CL before and know what it is quite thouroghly. The 'lump' is not noticable until you massage her udder (sometimes shes stubborn about letting down her milk). It doesn't even stick out or anything, it is hard to explain.. I am leaning towards a slinter or a sliver of metal, in the barn we have a cattle panel sepeterating the barn in half, well Jenna's horns grew too big and always got her head stuck, we would cut the metal with a bolt cutter.. there are about 12 spots we had to cut.

I am thinking I will have to get down on my hands and knees and 'play goat' and see if I can find any specific pokies. 
I will also try to get a picture.
My mom said this morning that she squeezed the spot a little and some juices came out (not much, just moistener her hand a little), but it was clear, and odorless.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Good boy, Amos, you know it's not Cl, try a antibiotic cream on it for a few days, it will keepo it moist enough to allow for drainage though it being in an awkward spot on the udder, you'll also end up with bedding sticking to it...so, I'd try and keep it as clean as possible, and watch that the bump doesn't get any bigger causing her more problems...that has to be about the most "delicate" area on a doe I think.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

It is even worse now. There are like 3-4 small open wound areas, and it is puffy now. I'll attack a pic, its not very good, because it was either too dark or too bright.

The large circle is the sore puffy area, the two smaller circles are two of the larger open wound areas.. It is not as close as her teat as it looks.

I'm just really worried... 
What is gangreen? What are the symptons and causes?
At her peak she was giving over a gallon, she kidded in late June, she is a FF.


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

do you have any horned goats?? aurora did that to twist yesterday and i am SO MAD!

i would clean them out with saline and put some type of protective spray or cream on it and watch her


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Amos, to me that looks alot like it could be from a bug bite..any way you can clip just that area? It would be alot easier to keep clean if there was less fuzz around it. Gangrene will turn black and the tissue will be cold as it starts to die from lack of blood flow, she looks nice and pink to me so the best thing to do would be to keep it clean with an iodine solution and maybe even take her temp, if it's infected, it may cause her temp to rise but if what came out of it is clear or bloody then she may not have an infection, the bump probably came from a hard hit or even a scrape.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Thanks; no Jenna herself and Ernie are the only horned animals, and Ernie can't get anywhere too near her. 
I do think she got it hooked up on something, but I'm not sure because the other day it was just one spot with a scab, now there are four open spots? The cats do stay in the barn.. my mom's kitten Gracie sits on her lap if shes milking and my mom always gives her a little bit, she knows where milk comes from.. one spot almost looked like it had been bitten.. so I don't know if Gracie decided she'd have an afternoon snack or what.. That evil kitty has bitten me too.. The thing is, Gracie, and her three siblings, when their mother abandoned them, they started to try to nurse on eachother, and Gacie has been bitten by one of the other three (they were like a month old at this time), and ended up getting maggots there (they cleared up and she's fine now, this was a couple months ago), so I'm really begining to think that is what has happened..


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## Joegtall (Jan 12, 2016)

My goat has all kinds of what looks like little pimples on her one teat. It's really sore and I can hardly milk her. Also it has a couple of blood bubbles. Puss comes out the pimples(if thats what they really are).


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