# I'm guessing mastitis without a test, plan of action?



## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

So I aquired Nina 5 month and 2 weeks ago. She kidded yesterday two terribly adorable kids.

When I got her, she was in milk, and I didn't milk her after the initial "udder inspection", but I watched her udder closely as she dried off.

Fast forward to just now. I'm gonna puke.

I noticed since yesterday her kids were only nursing one side. So I dragged her to the milking stand to check her udder.

Oh boy. One side was hardish (It was full, but had give, not like congested udder). The other side drained from the kids.

I squirted out a squirt and Nina said YEOWCH!!! and I said "OH NO!"

It was clotted colostrum I assume, or pus. Like super clotted. Greyish green white in color. Almost fully clots upon milking. A bruise (at least I hope its a bruise and not dead tissue!) near her teat that is the size of a quarter.

Doesn't smell too bad, but doesn't smell like milk.

I have dura-pen, pen-g. I also have Today.

I didn't treat yet. I milked out a quart of this stuff. It took an hour with her craziness and the clotting factor. Her udder was much deflated but still had some in there. I know I need to get it out, but she was in so much pain. I had to give her a rest. The top of her udder near where it attaches IS hard though, like one large "lump". Felt very much like congested udder up there, but not below the top 1/3 or so. I massaged it a lot. Her udder is not hot, which was maybe the most surprising thing.

The place I got her from does test for the big 3 diseases, but I've never run across any cases here, nor has anyone else, so I didn't even think about asking for test results for her specifically. If you think I should, I can pull blood and send it in.

I was thinking banamine, B12, some sort of infused or injected antibiotic, and lots of milking?

Should I pull the kids for bottle feeding? Or see how it goes? I can put them in a crate at bedtime when I do the udder infusion for the 8 hours, and then milk that side out before they nurse.

Also, will the mastitis hurt them? I've never ever seen it this bad before. Ever. I've had pink tinged milk once. I've had a couple small clots once. This was like clabbered cheese.

I'm going to post a couple photos of her lopsided udder before I milked her out and what the "milk" looks like.

I didn't get a temp on her. I will tonight. But based on her activity level, her body when I was leaning up against her, etc, I don't think she has a fever. I can usually tell just by cuddling them. I will however check to be sure when I do her infusion.

I was so looking forward to milking her, she has such a large udder for her size of a goat. And the milk (even the chunks) comes out so easily. ugh.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Oh boy does it hurt! I was crying right along with her reading this because I know for a fact it hurts like heck. 
So I haven’t had many cases of mastitis but my alpine did get Mastitis this year. At first I couldn’t find my today and I was giving injected antibiotics and it was doing nothing. Since googling I read that infusion is the better way to go. FINALLY found the today and boy that was the total turning point for my girl. Like yours it was so hard to get all the gunk out so I just massaged and milked pretty much every time I down to take a break for a few days (probably 5X a day) and slowly I finally got that crap out. I put Vick’s on her udder which warmed and helped get it out but she was weaned so I don’t think I would do that with the kids unless at night when you do your plan to separate the kids. And I would wash it off before kids nursed. I can’t imagine it would be good if it got in their eyes. You can do warm wet wash cloths but the cool off pretty fast but better then nothing. But I think your on the right track with your plan. Hopefully she gets it cleared out fast for you


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Jessica84 said:


> Oh boy does it hurt! I was crying right along with her reading this because I know for a fact it hurts like heck.
> So I haven't had many cases of mastitis but my alpine did get Mastitis this year. At first I couldn't find my today and I was giving injected antibiotics and it was doing nothing. Since googling I read that infusion is the better way to go. FINALLY found the today and boy that was the total turning point for my girl. Like yours it was so hard to get all the gunk out so I just massaged and milked pretty much every time I down to take a break for a few days (probably 5X a day) and slowly I finally got that crap out. I put Vick's on her udder which warmed and helped get it out but she was weaned so I don't think I would do that with the kids unless at night when you do your plan to separate the kids. And I would wash it off before kids nursed. I can't imagine it would be good if it got in their eyes. You can do warm wet wash cloths but the cool off pretty fast but better then nothing. But I think your on the right track with your plan. Hopefully she gets it cleared out fast for you


Thanks. I feel like I usually know what to do, but I prefer to check to make sure I'm not missing some key thing.

I did feel so so so bad for her, but her udder was so tight her skin texture had changed. And I knew I needed to get out as much as I could. Do you think giving her banamine might help with the inflammation and the pain a bit? I can give it to her for a couple days while I milk out the worst of this.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Warm compresses before you milk her might help it to soften up a bit too.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I would try it. I’m sure anything to lower the pain will help a lot. When I had it it hurt worse then my c section incision.
And I do the same thing! We seem to have a more level head when we are not freaking out about one of our own. But I would go with your plan and add in the warm compresses. I know I got so frustrated because I wanted it all out NOW but I had to just keep giving her breaks and rub rub rub.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

I had a terrible case of mastitis this summer (extremely sudden onset) and I infused Pen G right into the teat. I used the same dosage per weight as I would do IM. I did not give any IM because I didn't want to overdose her and cause a penicillin reaction. It worked amazingly well actually. That said, different bacteria react differently to penicillin so no guarantees here, but since you have it on hand I'd suggest giving it a try. 

So here's my story: I came home on 4th of July to a doe with a fever of 108.6. I was afraid I'd lose her and I was sure I'd lose that side of her udder. It felt like she literally had a hot, hard brick inside and I could hardly milk anything out. I milked her out about every 2-3 hours, squirted in a fresh dose of Pen G, then massaged her udder with hot compresses for 20 minutes or so. I did that through the night and by about the third treatment she took a turn and was much better by morning. I had a vet out and he gave her a shot of LA-300 and told me to continue the Pen G infusions since they seemed to be the only thing working (I had actually tried ToDay first with no result). I continued the Pen G infusions 2x/day for about 3-4 days and by the end of it her udder was almost completely back to normal. She had a second dose of LA-300 a few days later (can't remember how many). Anyhow, her udder had no lasting damage other than a slight change of shape. Sounds like you're dealing with a different type of mastitis, but I hope you can have a similar outcome. I also give probiotics and lots of vitamin C for mastitis.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Thanks everyone. Getting ready to put the donkeys away and get her back up on the stand. Its a huge ordeal because she doesn't want to leave her paddock. Maybe I'll carry the kids and she'll follow me for that.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

My only question about Banamine so soon after kidding is that Banamine works on smooth muscles and the uterus is a smooth muscle. It may prevent it from contracting, which is not good. But, one or possibly 2 injections of Banamine probably won't hurt. 

You probably know, if you put anything in her teat, wipe the teat well with isopropyl alcohol. If you use "Today", just barely put the nozzle inside the teat orifice then massage the medication up the teat and into the udder. Use the entire tube.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I have used banamine right after kidding for doe's who had a bad kidding, still dropped afterbirth, so it is OK to use.

All advice is very good about mastitis treatment.


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## Matt Paskewitz (Jan 8, 2018)

When you are infusing a teat for mastitis, how do you do that, what equipment, etc.?

Had a little bit of this myself this year and want better ways to treat it. Infusing penicilin seems to be one option? And what is the ToDay you are talking about?

Sorry, newbie here trying to get ready for my next kiddings


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Well that was a poop show. lol

I am home alone for a few days. And I HAD to do the udder infusion today. I milked out as much as I could again, and towards the end it was more milk less clots. So I think thats a good sign that I'm getting it. She still won't let the kids nurse that side so I left them on her. I had to clip her collar/head to the fence, and tie one leg up in the air to the fence and the other leg on the ground to the fence. and it was still darn near impossible to get that infusion tip in there and steady enough that I didn't hurt her and push it up while massaging it up into her udder. 

How many times do I have to do this?!

And I know I'm supposed to massage it up through the teat but there was no way that was happening. I had to put it most of the way into the teat. I had to do my best. Poor goat.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Just do your best on the massaging it up. Any you do is better then nothing. I don’t know the correct answer on how long but I have always just done it till it cleared and maybe a day extra. With the alpine I just did it at night that way it had hours to do its thing before I got down and dirty milking again. It sounds like your getting it though! I don’t know why some take the today way better then others. The first time I had to do it I was freaking out and that old girl stood there like it she didn’t even know what was going on. The alpine was the same as yours, took every rope I had to keep her from moving to get it in. Maybe depending on how bad they have it? I really don’t know because about 5 years ago I had one with bad enough mastitis she lost a half and she didn’t seem to mind either


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree, it all depends on the doe and how bad the mastitis is, just keep doing it every 12 hours on the mark, if you do it earlier than that, you are not giving the meds time to do their job.
Do the today until her milk is flowing good and you don't get any chunks, strings ect out. And the udder feels good. Then as mentioned, 1 more for GP.

If you are allowing her with her kids, you should tape that side so the kids don't drink by accident that side and get the meds out.

I have those who are difficult as well.
I tie them snug all over the place too.
And with open hand, slap their belly and tell them top quit when they are acting up.

When trying to insert the teat orifice, gently stretch the teat so it is straight, it opens up the channel better so the meds get up there easier.
If the teat orifice is too small or getting raw and painful, you can put the Today tip right up to the teat orifice snug and right on, start plunging very slowly, but to find the hole, squirt just a small amount of milk out, so you know where the orifice is.
When you find the opening, as you plunge, try to get it in as quickly as you can, before she moves, you will hear a strange noise, almost like little farts, as it is going in.
If you plunge and it doesn't make that noise, you are not at the orifice.
So stop, pull back on the syringe and try to line up the orifice again.
I don't try to insert the tip, as it is hard to do on some, but if the doe has a bigger orifice, it can slip in there.

I think the Doe's hate the feel of it going in there as to why they freak out or it is getting sore.
Think about, if it makes that little fart noises, it most likely feels the same way, weird.

You do need to gently strip upward to get Today up their good.
Remember to gently pinch the teat orifice (tip area) as you are striping upward to get the Today in or it will squirt right back out.
Massage the udder really good, shake the udder around a bit too to work in the med. You should hear it sloshing in there.

For tougher cases, or big udders, I will put a whole tube of today up there.
It is best too, when you have to fight with the Doe and lose some.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

THANK YOU!!! The way you wrote that made a lot of sense to me. I'm a hands on learner so reading about some of this has made the learning curve harder for me. The way you described it I could see it in my mind and is a lot closer to hands on learning.

I'm so grateful to everyone for the advice. This poor doe.

The outside of her skin feels weird, almost like plastic. Any advice for that or is it just damage from stretching?



toth boer goats said:


> I agree, it all depends on the doe and how bad the mastitis is, just keep doing it every 12 hours on the mark, if you do it earlier than that, you are not giving the meds time to do their job.
> Do the today until her milk is flowing good and you don't get any chunks, strings ect out. And the udder feels good. Then as mentioned, 1 more for GP.
> 
> If you are allowing her with her kids, you should tape that side so the kids don't drink by accident that side and get the meds out.
> ...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Glad I helped.

Also give her 4 vitamin C 2x a day.

Do warm compresses, I use a hot water bottle it holds in the heat longer. Make sure it isn't too hot. It helps break apart the bad stuff.

Massaging in peppermint oil, Vicks, or udder comfort may help.


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

How is the doe doing? Is she better?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

How are things?


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Thank you all for asking. I'm still massaging twice a day, but the hardness of her upper udder has had no change. Her kids nurse off that side, and she is producing milk (no much chunks or anything). But I think the udder is ruined? If that is the case I need to start looking for a pet home for her.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I mean can you even breed a doe with one side of her udder like that? I want to be responsible. And hubby just mentioned that someone else might breed her. So I guess she would be retired at 4 years old as a pet here.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

It’s up to you! I have a doe that went threw the same thing it sounds like yours is doing and she did loose half her udder. She simply just doesn’t make anything in that half. But I was worried at first that maybe it would be a constant issue in that half but it’s just nothing. I went ahead and bred her the following year because her lines and kids are amazing! So it was worth seeing what would happen. Since she is a Boer I just pull anything that is over a single......:stinking snot gives me trips and quads every year, but this will be her 3rd time kidding and no issue. So to me it was worth it. You need to decide if she is worth it to you. If she has lines you want or even qualities you want then keep her. If she is just a doe and or your wanting milk only then send her down the road. But yes someone else could breed her and if they are buying her because of something they want they probably will breed her. It is not uncommon for people to keep breeding after I have learned


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I do agree.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

One of my friends has an Alpine doe that lost one half of her udder to mastitis years ago, and she breeds that doe every year. She makes enough milk in the one side to feed two kids no problem. 

Don't give up hope on that side yet. It may be hard, but if it's producing normal milk now it will most likely recover. She will probably always have an asymmetrical udder, but if it's functional that's what matters.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Yeah, she feeds both her kids and Miyahs three kids nurse off her as well. lol All 5 kids nurse off both moms. All kids are of very good weight.


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