Ariel301
Loving the herd life
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- Jan 1, 2010
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Last summer when I shaved down one of my does, I noticed she had identical matching lumps on each side of her ribcage, a few inches behind the elbow. I thought it was weird, but didn't do much about it...she came with a negative CL test when we bought her, and as far as I know, we have not exposed her to a sick goat. She hasn't been off our property since we bought her, and none of our other goats are positive for it or showing symptoms. We always quarantine new goats coming in too.
I've been watching the two lumps for the last year, and they have not changed in size or shape or texture. I have not noticed any new ones. They aren't in a spot that is famous for CL abscesses, when I research the disease, this area is not mentioned as a usual location. She also doesn't seem to have any other symptoms, she is fat and shiny and generally healthy and a great milk producer.
The lumps are round and hard, about the size of a quarter. They seem to be under the skin, not attached to it--I can pull the skin up like I would for an SQ injection and the lump doesn't come up with it. I tried aspirating them with a needle to see if they would drain, and nothing would come out. So, I've just left them alone.
Then this evening, when I was brushing her with a plastic horse currycomb at milking time (she loves the scratching feeling from it so I give her a good rubbing every evening), I accidentally knocked a scab off of her brisket area (between the front legs on the underside of the body). I was not aware of an injury to her there, so I had a look. There was a little round hole where the scab came off, and a little bit of white pus dripped out. It was not a lump though, just a flat spot like she had gotten a cut or scrape. I cleaned it out really well with water and then hydrogen peroxide in a syringe, then squirted some tea tree oil up in there. (It seems to work well for me at helping wounds to heal up and is less irritating than iodine). I checked her all over again, and no new lumps anywhere. The two I already knew about were still unchanged, and still would not drain with a needle.
We don't have a vet who knows a thing about goats, so there isn't a possibility of having one come out to examine her. Even if they would, their advice about sick goats is always 'Just shoot it and get a new one, it's cheaper than treating it.' There wasn't really enough pus in this new spot to collect for testing either, it was just a couple of drops. So...do you think I am definitely dealing with CL, or something else? If the lumps on her sides were CL, wouldn't they be able to be drained, or have grown in the last year?
I've been watching the two lumps for the last year, and they have not changed in size or shape or texture. I have not noticed any new ones. They aren't in a spot that is famous for CL abscesses, when I research the disease, this area is not mentioned as a usual location. She also doesn't seem to have any other symptoms, she is fat and shiny and generally healthy and a great milk producer.
The lumps are round and hard, about the size of a quarter. They seem to be under the skin, not attached to it--I can pull the skin up like I would for an SQ injection and the lump doesn't come up with it. I tried aspirating them with a needle to see if they would drain, and nothing would come out. So, I've just left them alone.
Then this evening, when I was brushing her with a plastic horse currycomb at milking time (she loves the scratching feeling from it so I give her a good rubbing every evening), I accidentally knocked a scab off of her brisket area (between the front legs on the underside of the body). I was not aware of an injury to her there, so I had a look. There was a little round hole where the scab came off, and a little bit of white pus dripped out. It was not a lump though, just a flat spot like she had gotten a cut or scrape. I cleaned it out really well with water and then hydrogen peroxide in a syringe, then squirted some tea tree oil up in there. (It seems to work well for me at helping wounds to heal up and is less irritating than iodine). I checked her all over again, and no new lumps anywhere. The two I already knew about were still unchanged, and still would not drain with a needle.
We don't have a vet who knows a thing about goats, so there isn't a possibility of having one come out to examine her. Even if they would, their advice about sick goats is always 'Just shoot it and get a new one, it's cheaper than treating it.' There wasn't really enough pus in this new spot to collect for testing either, it was just a couple of drops. So...do you think I am definitely dealing with CL, or something else? If the lumps on her sides were CL, wouldn't they be able to be drained, or have grown in the last year?
