# Goat with swollen cheek/neck



## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

Hello! Before I say anything about the problem at hand, I want to say we do NOT have any goat vets around... I don't want to see the comment "Take them to a vet!" anywhere because sadly this isn't possible, otherwise I wouldn't be asking online for help...

Anyways... I have a yearling buck, I've been crazy busy with kidding and kindling (rabbit's having babies for those who may not know!) that I've neglected to pay a lot of attention to the boys... I noticed tonight when I went to bring the boys in for the night and feed them that my yearling was acting off, he wasn't right up with the other 2 trying to break the gate down to escape for dinner. Instead he stood way off by the shed and just watched, didn't even bother to come up until after both the other bucks and myself were out of sight, than he slowly made his way up. Got him in the stall, and he wasn't real interested in the food... barely nibbled at it, even when I gave him something different as a 'treat' for him he didn't care. He is getting quite fuzzy so I didn't notice at first, but one side of his face is swollen, not a lot, you can just kind of tell the one side is bigger when looking at him face on. The left side I believe it was, like the back of his jaw/cheek area. The upper half of his neck, his throat more so I guess, was also different... feels kind of hard really. I snatched a picture of another goat and tried to kind of circle roughly where the areas I mean are. Does anybody have any ideas what I may be dealing with here?


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Bottle jaw? Check his eyelids for color. They should be a deep pink. If not, he is anemic and that swelling is what happens when a goat is very anemic. Most anemia is caused by blood sucking worms, barberpole, liver fluke etc.

Do you hvae any biting insects or snakes that night have bitten/stung him? If so, for the insect bites, benedryl would work getting the swelling down.


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## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

I had been reading up and bottle jaw came up for everything I was reading, only it seemed to be more under the jaw in all the pictures that came up for it so I wasn't sure if it was really bottle jaw. We just wormed them recently but I had noticed he had worms, him and one of our Nigi does seem to always have worms I swear! I will check his eyelids in the morning, thank you! 

Not that I know of, I've seen like no insects yet this year aside from the occasional fly in our house. It only just started warming up yesterday here. I did see anything that looked like a snake bite on him, but can't say I real close for bite marks. We mostly just have black/garter snakes here and I don't see them often.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Blockage? Be careful, not to get bit but check the cheek for food compaction, it may be the goat has compaction from the cheek all the way down the throat. If that is the case it needs to be dislodged. A vet can do that if that is the issue.


Other things mentioned could be a possibility as well.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Get his temp as well as check the lower inner lids for color...and as suggested..see if there is food in the cheek..or a lump....


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How are things?


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## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

Does not seem to be compacted food, eyelids looked like a light pink, he does have a big swollen area on the bottom of his jaw too I found once I got to look him over better, didn't notice it before because of his beard. With that it seems more like the picture of bottle jaw I'd seen now, and the swollen area does seem fluid filled. So I am suspecting a bit more now that bottle jaw is indeed what it is. We had just wormed him last month too.


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## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

We gave red cell and dewormed again. Not sure what to do, I hope neither of those things will harm him? It was the 2 things I most commonly saw to do for him when looking up bottle jaw. It's really hard with not having a goat vet around. I am worried about the little guy.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Keep giving the red cell. I had a 5 month old Alpine doe kid I acquired. She hovered at death's door for a long time. White eye lids, diarrhea etc. kaopectate, ( kaolin and pectin, the animal kind) red cell and an injection once a week of pig iron , I threw it all at her. She was full of Barber pole worms. That was Aug. by Christmas she was fine. I wormed her with injectable Ivomec, orally. 1 cc per 25# of body weight, every 10 days for 3 weeks. Then another dose a month later. It worked. My vet had no clue what to do.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree, if it is worms that should take care of it.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Have you had a fecal run? Do that so you know what worms to treat for, and make sure you're repeating in 10-14 days if it calls for it.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Anemia and bottle jaw take time to recover from..be patient and try not to over do...once wormed..then supporting his system is all you can do for now..red cell once daily for a week..then once a week...30 cc of a 50/50 mix of acv and water..once daily..b complex..vit c and probiotics once daily. ...and all the natural.browse foods he will eat...leaves..vines..cedar...pine..alfalfa and hay...repeat wormer 10 days from the last dose...


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

What did you worm with, how much, and by what route?


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## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

Thank you all for your help! I sure hope our little guy gets better, only way I've been getting him to eat is by hand feeding him. He doesn't want to eat a whole lot but it's something, I go down a few times a day to get him to eat something. So far I'm not seeing much improvement, but as happybleats said, from what I've been reading it takes a long time... fingers crossed!

However, I do have one thing to ask about... the fluid filled bubble under her jaw popped today. Bunch of fluid came out, look like foggy water. Had no smell. Is this okay? I got the other boys out just in case. I hadn't seen anybody talk about it popping in everything I've been looking at, so was a bit worried... 

We used cydetin (Hopefully I spelt that right lol!), was either 1 and a half or 2 CCs, whatever it said to give him. Orally.


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## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

Also to add to that, he's got a lot of 'eye snot' as I call it in both eyes suddenly, I know it wasn't there before when I looked at his eye lids.


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## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

Good news! He was acting better today! Was moving around a bit more/faster and even was wagging excitedly when I went to feed him!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

glad he is filling better



> the fluid filled bubble under her jaw popped today. Bunch of fluid came out, look like foggy water


That is not bottle jaw...he must have had some kind of cyst..bottle jaw is fluid filled but would not pop and drain..this infection must have been making him feel ill..if its still open...flushing it a few times a day with a weak iodine solution will help remove infectious gunk...he may need antibiotics to help him fight what ever that was...were you able to get his temp?


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## Megan197 (Mar 3, 2015)

That is what I was wondering. Like I said I hadn't read anything about it popping with bottle jaw so was starting to wonder if it was bottle jaw... I don't think it is still open, it was just one small hole on it I think. But I will check when I get home. Do you think this could be something the other goats could get? I totally spaced getting his temp. Things have been so hectic with Spring's arrival.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

It could be a few things... a sticker that fester and came to a head..or thorn....doesn't sound like CL...pus would be more like cottage cheesey....


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## NillaVanilla (Aug 5, 2017)

Hi! I just checked my baby goat and his right cheek has a swollen area. Looks like if he had a tiny gumball there. I checked his inner cheek and nothing seems to be stuck and there's no bite mark outside. Looks like something might have bitten him. I just called the vet and he's out of town. Can I give him children's benadryl?


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I have read that giving a kid children's Benadryl should be at the child's dosage (regarding weight) given on the bottle. I have never given Benadryl, so I can not attest to the helpfulness. Good luck.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

This thread is over a year old.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

NillaVanilla said:


> Hi! I just checked my baby goat and his right cheek has a swollen area. Looks like if he had a tiny gumball there. I checked his inner cheek and nothing seems to be stuck and there's no bite mark outside. Looks like something might have bitten him. I just called the vet and he's out of town. Can I give him children's benadryl?


It sounds like he got poked by a thorn or something and it abscessed.


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## NillaVanilla (Aug 5, 2017)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> This thread is over a year old.


I saw that, but Im new here and don't know how it works yet. Sorry! Thank you for replying.


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