# Mastitis?? Half of Udder is HUGE



## echocreekranch (Oct 7, 2009)

Once again.....I have an issue  My commercial boer doe kidded on Sunday. Two big, beautiful, strong kids and she is a great Mom. I just went out to do chores today and discovered that the left side of her udder is HUGE....I can't express any milk out. I got the kids to try to nurse off it by blocking the other side but they obviously weren't getting any milk out and clearly try to avoid that side. What is this and can I do about it?

Thanks (once again) for any help.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

It could be congestion from being over full and the kids not being able to latch on.
With dairy does, it helps to have them up on a stand and using a combination of wet heat from a dish towel as well as massage to help break up congestion, it will hurt her and she won't like it one bit but I would use a towel made hot enough for you to be able to bear it, wrap it around her udder and work the congested side til you are able to express from the teat.


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## echocreekranch (Oct 7, 2009)

Ok thank you. I am heading out to do that now...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How is your Doe? :hug:


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## echocreekranch (Oct 7, 2009)

She isn't any better I'm afraid. I have started her on antibiotics 1x last night and 2x so far today. My vet (who is out of town at a funeral) said to use the hot compresses as well and really massage the udder. I've been doing that but still cannot express any milk at all. My vet thinks the blockage is very high. The doe seems fine but half of the udder is so huge that she must be terribly uncomfortable and I have no idea what to do.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

You need to massage with something with pepermint oil in it, or something like that to help break up the congestion. Try to milk that teat for all it's worth. It may have a clump in it which needs to be sqeezed down and pulled out. 

Try to get Excenel to give IM and spectramast to put in her udder. Kids need to be pulled and bottle fed so that you can put the medicine in her udder and keep it there without them sucking it out.


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## echocreekranch (Oct 7, 2009)

We will keep trying....my husband and I have both worked on her. The only I have to massage with is bag balm so I was using that....it is like trying to massage a basketball. I am using Pen G...vet said to switch to excenel only if she has a fever but I will get some if that would be better. The vet also recommended against putting anything in the teat (infusing?) due to the risk of introducing more bacteria....will the penicillin start to reduce the swelling - I am very concerned that I will not be able to get milk out of her.


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

The vet is pretty much wrong wrong wrong right now. That milk NEEDS to come out. Give her banamine if you have it to reduce swelling. 

She needs high doses of Excenel so that it gets into the milk. If you can't get spectramast then try ToDay, or Tomorrow, or what ever your grain store has. Sometimes, when they are really blocked high up there, just getting some of that oily medicine in will help dislodge some of the milk clots. 

Teat infusions are the only way your going to get rid of this. There is already bacteria in the udder, so putting a sterile tube in it isn't going to hurt it. 

I would also switch her to Oxytetracylcine 1cc/20lbs every day for 5-7 days. This infiltrates the udder much better than PenG. 

Good luck! :hug:


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## Mon Reve Farm (Jun 25, 2010)

I'm seconding what is being said about massage, getting the swelling down and expressing the milk. Now none of this is practical knowledge at this point - its all based on research I completed recently.

The peppermint oil mixed in with olive oil or the bag balm to massage the udder is a very good holistic method of treatment. The peppermint penetrates and opens pores with the warmth and motion of the massage helps to breakdown the mass. This is very important on top of the recommended medicines and teat infusion Runaround listed.

(Again this isn't practical knowledge but based on extensive research - one of the ewes I may be getting from the Katahdin breeder had mild mastitis this past year and I needed to learn if I could handle it should it occur again.)


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