# Doe bleeding when in heat. Possible infection.



## babsbag (Nov 28, 2013)

I know that goats are not supposed to bleed when they cycle.

I have a 3 year old doe that should have freshened last year but she lost her kids at about 4 months. One had obviously been dead for a while before she aborted. The other was almost full term. We assumed that she aborted because of the dead fetus. She went into milk, fostered a couple of kids for me and I have been milking her since March.

Mocha went into heat and was bred on 10/19. The next day I noticed that she was bleeding a little and I thought "hmmm 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





" 10/25 she was in heat again, and again I bred her, and again there was blood the next day. OH OH.

Yesterday 11/14 she was in heat again. I bred her again. This morning some blood...again. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




She was in heat again on 11/25 and I did not put her with the buck and again there was some blood but now I know that it is not from the actual breeding.

It has been suggested that perhaps she has a low grade uterine infection left over from the dead kids or from who knows what. If I want to treat her for an infection is Pen my best choice of drugs  and if so what would be the dosage for 150 lb goat?


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## alsea1 (Nov 29, 2013)

Wouldn't it be awesome if as herd keepers when something like this happens we could just take a swab sample and submit to a lab for testing. Then with that info be able to buy the appropriate med over the counter or get rx because there is proof of disease via the lab test without having to involve a vet coming out or taking to a vet.
Many of us are very familiar with medicating and treating. We just need to know whats there to treat at a reasonable cost.
I would love this service.  If they can do this in order to test for CL and CAE it should be easy enough for other issues.


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 29, 2013)

First thing, I am not a vet and I am not attempting to diagnose your goats issue.

But, another possibility is cystic ovaries.  That can manifest with repeated heat cycles and not settling when bred. The typical treatment for this is Lutalyse. We had one who kept coming into heat last fall and ultimately did not settle.  Our vet gave her an injection of Lutalyse in Oct and she came into heat within 72 hours and it appears that she did settle because we have seen no other signs of heat.  A vet has to prescribe Lutalyse you cannot buy over the counter.  And, if given to a doe who is bred it will cause her to abort.

If it is a low grade uterine infection, Pen G would be the correct choice of antibiotic.  LA200 is preferred for most infections (it kills less good bacteria in the gut) , but our vet told us that Pen G is preferred for reproductive infections. The dosage should be on the label.


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## babsbag (Nov 29, 2013)

I was thinking it was Pen but just wanted to be sure. After talking to my vet's asst. today who is VERY goat savvy we decided to take her in for an ultrasound to see if there is any thickening of the uterine lining which may indicate infection. Most of what I have read suggest treating her when she is in standing heat and doing a uterine flush. I think we will do the lute so we can be ready for her to cycle and take her back to the vet as I am not really comfortable about  doing that myself. Fortunately my vet also raises goats and has done it all.

We did talk about the cystic ovaries but the bleeding is a little "off" for that condition, but still something we are thinking of. I read an article that discusses both of those conditions and since she short cycles and does go into standing heat we are really leaning towards the infection.


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 29, 2013)

babsbag said:


> I was thinking it was Pen but just wanted to be sure. After talking to my vet's asst. today who is VERY goat savvy we decided to take her in for an ultrasound to see if there is any thickening of the uterine lining which may indicate infection. Most of what I have read suggest treating her when she is in standing heat and doing a uterine flush. I think we will do the lute so we can be ready for her to cycle and take her back to the vet as I am not really comfortable about  doing that myself. Fortunately my vet also raises goats and has done it all.
> 
> We did talk about the cystic ovaries but the bleeding is a little "off" for that condition, but still something we are thinking of. I read an article that discusses both of those conditions and since she short cycles and does go into standing heat we are really leaning towards the infection.



Glad to hear you have a vet who knows goats.


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## babsbag (Dec 4, 2013)

Took the goat to the vet and she does indeed have a uterine infection. We are doing a round of Duramycin for 6 days and then if she short cycles again the vet will try to do a uterine flush with an antibiotic. Hopefully it won't come to that. She was in heat yesterday so hopefully I don't see her in heat again for 18 - 21 days.


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