# Nanny due any day with mastitis



## moley829 (Jul 9, 2013)

Please help me! I have a nanny that is due any day and her bag is hot. She has a history of mastitis and I was wondering if I can give her penicillin while she is so close to kidding. We lost all four kids last year due to this. Please advise..........


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

Milk some out and have the vet test it. I think you should find out what organism you are dealing with. That being said drench her with her on milk to help her build antibodies to whatever organism is causing the problem.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I would be ready to bottlefeed the kids. If she has mastitis already then she wont be able to feed her kids. Get colostrum replacer if you cant get it from another doer. (I try to have some frozen and ready to go if needed).

As to treating her now -- go ahead and give the antibiotic, though Im not sure pen will do the trick. Best to test her milk (there are test strips you can buy or testing kits). Depending on how bad it is she may not produce milk at all. 

Has she been tested for CAE? chronic mastitis has been linked to CAE.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

People might not agree with me here but I would milk her completely out. Bone dry. At least 3x a day. She won't give you much at all. When she gets really close she'll come up in milk and you'll see a huge difference in texture and color right before kidding. 

The first time you milk smell the milk, check texture, and what color it is. Flakes/no flakes. Watery, yellow, or milk color. Take a milk sample from each half and put in the freezer. If the milk looks good, start freezing what you collect. Milk her out dry and inject a tube of your choice of medication. I prefer Spectramast, but you could try ToDay as well. Leave in for 8 hours, put her back on the stand, milk her out completely and inject another tube. One half or both halves? Repeat your treatment for a minimum of 3 days. 8 hours apart. You should see improvement by the second day. Grease her up well with udder mint or similar. This will help cool, soothe, and take the swelling down.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

I agree with mjs500doo. If she has mastitis she needs the bad milk out of her udder so it doesn't continue to get worse. With mastitis you typically just treat the udder ( i.e. using a product like ToDay which is infused directly into the udder) instead of treating systemically. Most forms of mastitis will wall themselves off in the udder which is why injected antibiotics won't do any good. If she is acting ill, has a fever, etc. then you would want to treat her systemically as well as infusing the udder as the infection has most likely spread to the rest of her udder. Doing an infusion is not hard at all, just remove the very tip of the tube (today and tomorrow are actually split so you can use either the whole cannula or just the tip) Use the little alcohol wipe to thoroughly clean the end of the teat, it is also a good idea to take a baby wipe and scrub the end of the teat some more. Line it up with her orifice (the little dimple on the end of the teat where the milk comes out) hold the teat near the end between your thumb and forefinger and push up gently with the tube of medicationand at the same time kind of roll the outsides of the teat down, this helps get the tip of the cannula inside the orifice, slowly push the plunger to dispense the antibiotics into her udder, if any comes out stop, reposition and try again. It will kind of make some funny sounds because there is usually air in the tube and it sounds funny as you push the plunger. Once you get it all in, remove the tube, hold your finger over the orifice and with the end of the teat between your thumb and forefinger squeeze a little bit and move your fingers up the teat to get all the medication up into her udder. Massage the udder to work the medication into the tissue. You can hear it kind of slosh around in there.

Before you milk her out, wash her udder thoroughly, wear gloves and milk out your sample from each side into a sterile container. Use a different container for each side and label them. You need the udder clean and your hands gloved so that there is no chance that the milk has been tainted with any of the bacteria that is already on the udder or your hands. It is a very good idea to take a sample because once you infuse her with any antibiotic you won't be able to get a sample that will accurately tell you what organism is causing the mastitis. If you take the samples to your vet he/she can send them off to be cultured. They will take the milk and put it into a bunch of petri dishes for about a week to let the bacteria grow, they then take all different kinds of antibiotics to find out which one(s) will kill the bacteria that is in the milk. They also test it to know what bacteria it is.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Absolutely be ready to bottlefeed kids...it will save you heart ache later. Treatment is what I would recommend and her getting mastitis again can simply mean that the bacteria that caused it the first time may not have been eradicated but treated enough to prevent a flair up during her previous lactation.


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## moley829 (Jul 9, 2013)

UPDATE: I have been messaging and trying to milk her but I only get a few little beads of sticky white. No babies yet. We are prepared for bottle feeding. I will get "ToDay" today and try that. I was unaware that mastitis could go dormant sort of. She will be treated properly it this time. Thank you guys so much! I will keep you updated.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

With mastitis, I suggest treating both chemically and herbally. Chemical can leave you thinking it's cleared, with just a little left that comes back next freshening. Herbal, in my experience, does the job better, but it takes longer and may not work for a serious case. If you use the two together, (using the herbal long after you think the udder is COMPLETELY better) you stand a better chance of kicking it for good.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

how are things with your doe?


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## moley829 (Jul 9, 2013)

I can't believe it but she still has not dropped kids. Her mastitis has gotten better. If she waits two more days she will be able to nurse them herself. Yay!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

great news : )


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Great to hear


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## VincekFarm (Jun 27, 2011)

That is awesome! Any kids yet?


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## moley829 (Jul 9, 2013)

We got these last night. Everyone is healthy and eating well!


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Awe, too cute!! Congrats


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Aww a big congrats, they are adorable


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

WOoHoo! :dance:


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