# Udder Injury, Pink Milk



## abraeri (Jun 3, 2020)

Today on of my goat mama's tore a little bit off the back of her udder. It's probably taken one layer of skin off in a triangular shape. Hardly any bleeding. When I noticed it I sprayed it with iodine then wrapped it with some triple antibiotic. She is still nursing her kids (but separated at night) so they nursed while she ate her nightly grain ration. At the end for some reason I thought to squirt some milk out and found that it was pink like calamine lotion.

I really don't want this to turn into mastitis, so what would be the best course of treatment? For tonight I'm going to massage him with an udder balm and spray some iodine on it. I don't want to use antibiotics if I don't have to; but preventing an infection is the top priority.

Thanks.


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## farmerjan (Jun 3, 2020)

In the process of her getting the skin torn off, she could very well have bumped it to the point where she caused the tiny blood vessels that feed the udder to make milk, to break.  It is most likely just a little blood in the milk.  Plus, the kids are going to butt her to get the  milk flow going, that is natural, but it will cause it to continue to have some short episodes of the blood vessels leaking into the milk supply.  Don't do any antibiotics unless you see definite mastitis or the udder gets hot like from infection.  We see this pink milk often in cows if they have slipped on the concrete and gone down hard on their udder, or if another cow gets rammy or something.  If the kids are keeping her milked out the capilaries will heal in a few days, but their butting her will cause it to take a little longer.


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## abraeri (Jun 4, 2020)

Thanks for the reassurance. The area around the tear has hardened a bit. The kiddos do keep her milked out throughout the day, but she has two boys, who are pretty aggressive in their bumping.

What would you suggest to treat her so it won't get worse?


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## farmerjan (Jun 4, 2020)

Since you are letting her kids nurse, there isn't much you can do to prevent the milk from being pink due to their butting the udder.  Time should take care of it.  Just as long as she doesn't get hot, hard or lumpy, let it be.  If you were strictly hand milking, it would probably clear a little quicker as washing and wiping down the udder is a bit easier on her than their butting.  Just as long as you check her at least once a day, give it about a week.  I'd take a few squirts to see if it is still pink every day, but a soft pliable udder is the best indication that she is okay.  A little udder cream, bag balm or something should help the outside skin heal.  One of my dairy farmers used to use the  "Aveeno" brand of hand lotion on his cows udders.  Good for chaffed skin and with the oatmeal in it promoted healing and softness.


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## abraeri (Jun 4, 2020)

I milked her this morning and it was still pink but not as pink as yesterday night. However there are clots of milk and blood that get suck in her teat. I'm concerned that those clots could damage her teats; is that a valid concern? I'm going to be checking in her regularly to make sure the kids are able to drink and that the teat isn't clogged up.


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## abraeri (Jun 4, 2020)

Update; she's running a 106 fever (I know that is very high). My fault for not checking her temperature earlier; but aside from being a little standoffish she is acting okay (chewing cud, drink water, eating).

Going to get a vets opinion and probably a course of antibiotics.

Just one thing after the other.


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## D and L Meadows (Jun 4, 2020)

Was she outside all day? 
 Yes, probably antibiotics. Do you have banamine on hand to take her temp down? May need use something like Today antibiotics. But don’t know if the kids should get it
Hope she gets better!!


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## abraeri (Jun 4, 2020)

Yes she was and it was hot outside. Which is also why I didn't think much of her panting. Hindsight is 20/20; should have taken her temp anyway. 

No banamine but going to get a prescription for it asap


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## D and L Meadows (Jun 4, 2020)

Ok, that’s probably why her temp was so high. Or did you take it after it cooled down?


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## abraeri (Jun 4, 2020)

I did take it after the temperature had cooled down a bit. It will probably lower a bit over night because we have been having really hot days and cool nights. But I don't think it will lower much


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## farmerjan (Jun 4, 2020)

If there are clots of milk (mastitis) as well as some blood clots, AND her temp is running that high, then she likely has some sort of an infection.  Usually they aren't wanting to eat though..... 
I would definitely think that a vet visit/consultation is necessary at this point. 
 Coliform mastitis usually get watery and a high temp....Klebsiella mastitis they will quit eating, milk drop to nothing and they will be subclinical temp.  Kleb can kill them in 12 hours if not caught and it really needs high power antibiotics IV.  Common if you are using "green" (not dried) sawdust from oak trees that have been dragged through mud or dirt.  Most all the farmers here will "cook" a pile of  "green" ( just sawn not dried) sawdust, under a tarp, for a week or so before using in the barns.
Coliform usually will respond pretty good to antibiotics, but the sooner the better.  Either can have blood but the milk is usually very watery.
I still think part of this is from the injury, but she may have gotten some bacteria that is going into mastitis also.  

It is really hard to even make suggestions without seeing her.  I am not a vet, but have been around dairy cattle for well over 40 years so have seen some cases. 
I still call the vet whenever I see something I am not sure of or that doesn't "resolve " in 24 hours, to where I feel we are making progress.  But we have also established a very good relationship with the vets over the years.  And they all know that I am not a big "antibiotic" person so they don't hesitate to tell me to use one because I don't think they are the answer to every little problem; so don't use and abuse them.  

Staph and Strep bacterias are both on the skin, and most anywhere,  and can get into the udder and cause problems.  Common, and can be hard to get rid of so getting on it sooner than later is better.


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## abraeri (Jun 5, 2020)

I do appreciate the advice of those who have much experience because we are very much newbies (we just finished our first year of raising these goats. We have a herd of 2 adults who both kidded two kids this year, and a 1 year old. 

We use straw for bedding.

The symptoms do seem so wack. She has a great appetite, drinks tons of water. Just checked her temp; 105.6. She is breathing labored and starts panting with slight exertion. Her udder has some hard areas and a little hot. She isn't too keen on her kids nursing it I'm guessing it's sore.

I mean at this point I'm thinking it could even be worms. I would put her Famacha at the question mark. I am giving her raw garlic and she's on a herbal treatment though. 

Will keep you all updated anyway. Hopefully can get our vet to visit tomorrow or at least go pick up some antibiotics.


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## farmerjan (Jun 5, 2020)

If her udder is hot and doesn't 't want the kids nursing it is definitely gone into mastitis.  You do need to get on it ASAP or it could cause damage to the udder.  You may have to force her to allow the kids to nurse, or to keep her milked out.  She needs to be kept as empty as often as you can.  And sorry to say, she most likely will need antibiotics to catch it before it goes systemic and gets into her blood stream and causes problems within her body not just the udder.  Sounds like she may have a touch of resp  infection with the labored breathing. 

Sorry... but at least you are being very diligent for her sake.


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## abraeri (Jun 5, 2020)

I'm just surprised it progressed so fast. I did put her kids on her when I went to check her temperature. 

I'm just praying she doesn't get any worse by morning because there is nothing I can do for her tonight. If I don't get a reply from the vet, I'll be heading straight to TSC to get some Penicillin

On that note, what is your opinion on medicine shelf lives? We have some penicillin from last time a goat got pneumonia. It's probably at least half a year old and it's been punctured more that the recommended amount of time.


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## abraeri (Jun 5, 2020)

Today morning temp is 104.8. still shallow breathing. She won't let me milk her but she let her kids drink like usual. 

Going to get some meds from the vet; just confused now on whether I'm dealing with pneumonia or mastitis


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## abraeri (Jun 5, 2020)

So update her temperature is lowering. I have penicillin on hand in case we need to give it, but I'm debating whether I want to give it tonight or wait until morning.

She's still eating, drinking, chewing cud, etc. Kids are nursing and I don't feel any lumps in the udder anymore. But you can tell she is uncomfortable as she stands kind of to a side and her breathing is very shallow.

What is your opinions on giving the penicillin? Our vet suggested Draxxin which I heard is good drug for respiratory illnesses, but very expensive.


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## farmerjan (Jun 5, 2020)

I would go on and use the Pen if you are not drinking the milk yourself.,.  I am allergic to pen but do use it on occasion.  
Yes , Draxxin is very good, expensive, but normally a one shot thing.  If you don't use any antibiotics often, will the vet give (sell) you a single  shot?  Ours will if we ask.... but we always keep stuff on hand in the fridge in case.  Draxxin is also very good on pinkeye.  
I would find a needle, and keep it with the pen bottle to use to just go into the bottle now and not be putting different ones in and out.  The holes will get too big, mostly worry about contamination.... but I don't know of a single farmer that hasn't used whatever they have in hand to draw a shot if they needed to.  
She may just be able to shake off the mastitis part, maybe just due to the injury,  but the respiratory part will cause damage to her lungs if she labors with her breathing for a long period of time.  
Do you keep the pen refridgerated?  If not, then I wouldn't use it.  It will have an exp date and we have used it well past the date, but we keep all our drugs in the fridge (except sometimes the LA200 or 300 gets left out)....  but we are often doing vaccinations so they are always refridged so they all just go in for safe keeping.


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## abraeri (Jun 5, 2020)

Ok, so tonight her temp is down to 103.9 which is great. Lets her kids drink, overall looking brighter and more alert. We decided not to give the penicillin tonight. It is kept refrigerated and I have at least 50 ml in it which should be enough to give her a full course. It hasn't passed its expiry either.

I believe the vet was intending to give us one shot, but wasn't able to communicate well with her as she is pretty busy. If based on her condition tomorrow we want to go ahead with the antibiotics, I think we will start with the penicillin since we have that. It also worked for us previously.

Her breathing is still shallow, I don't want to call it labored. It is just faster than normal. And she isn't panting anymore; it wasn't too hot today either and we got a good rain which was nice. It is hard to make the decision of whether or not to medicate based on her symptoms.

Thanks again for all of the advice.


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## farmerjan (Jun 6, 2020)

If she is acting and doing better, than I would do a day to day basis.  Shallow can be partly due to the temps that are getting better as is her temp.  Sounds like she is fighting it off.  Let her system work on it.  If it changes, goes up,  or anything then hit her with the pen and go full course.  See how she is and once you make a decision to do it, then make sure she gets full treatment so it does get "killed" in her system.  Some of them seem to be able to marshal their systems to fight things but the weather can make it difficult.


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## abraeri (Jun 6, 2020)

So tonight her temperature is up to 104.4, but she is acting much better. We did have a much warmer day today than yesterday though (by 10 degrees) so I'm chalking it up to that.

She looks brighter, not being as stand-offish, and her breathing seems a little slower. I listened to her breathing with a stethoscope and there was no rasping. It is fast though.

I think the mastitis may be getting worse so I'll try to stay on top of that with some hot compresses and massages. She still lets her kids drink though so that's great.


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## farmerjan (Jun 7, 2020)

The increased temp would worry me.  If she was my animal, she would be getting treated at this point.  If the mastitis gets too well established, and is staph, it will become a chronic staph infection that will come and go and you will never get rid of it.  They will be fine for days at a time, then have a flairup, and then go away again.  She can also infect any other animals that she beds down near as it can leak small amounts of the staph infection while laying down, and then it could be contracted by another animal laying near that spot.  It will also be passed from one teat to another from the nursing kids.   Staph is a b$@#h to get rid of if you are able to do so.


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## abraeri (Jun 7, 2020)

Yup she got a penicillin shot tonight. She wasn't getting worse but also not getting better, and the weather is not on my side. High temp and humidity. Hopefully the course of penicillin will do its job, if not probably will go for the Draxxin from the vet.

I'm very grateful that her kids are nursing her as I think it is keeping the mastitis at bay and the injury has healed up nicely. The udder doesn't feel particularly warm and it's not apparently bigger than the udder.


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