*graphic picture warning*

[BlueMoonFarms]

I think it is days away from sloughing off. See that light gray line between the healthy pink and the dead black? Her body is doing a great job of healing and separating the dead flesh. It's for sure gonna look nasty again for a while, but it should fill in and heal.

I had a Hereford heifer get chronic mastitis back in 2005. She stayed at the vet for several weeks on several different occasions. In the end, the vet ended up injecting her entire udder, 1/4 at a time, with FORMALDEHYDE to slough the whole thing off. She was a pet, so we were willing to shell out the cash to get her taken care of. The clinic loved having the opportunity to do the procedure, because most times a poor-uddered or udder-less cow is just sent to slaughter vs. being treated to this extent.

We never did find out what caused the mastitis in the first place. She had never been bred, or even exposed to a bull. Snake bite and spider bite were ruled out, the only other thing the vet could think of was puncture wound from one of the many hedge apple (bodarc, bodoc, what-have-you) trees on our property.

I am glad to hear that you have had some experience or at least know what your seeing and what I should be expecting.
You know my vet said the exact same thing, that most people just send off the animals who get mastitis so they rarely see what ends up happening to the udder during healing.
Im kinda hoping that her udder just keeps shriveling up until its nothing but a scab >_> But I know it will end up coming off...Bleh.
Your cow did end up pulling through right? I assumed she did from the way you wrote everything but I didnt want to jump to conclusions.

 

[MDres]

Yes, she survived just fine. She wasn't real happy about being at the clinic and being treated like a "cow" and was terrified of the other cows there! She'd only ever been around horses.

She stayed at the vet for 75% of the healing process. It was wicked ugly and smelly! I visited her every couple of days... The vet had the facilities to keep her in a deeply bedded clean stall to make her heal quicker, and they had the equipment to do hydrotherapy on her. So I didn't bring her home until it was okay for her to lay down in pasture dirt - grass - mud, etc.

She was an extremely smart and gentle pet. Before being sloughed, I had to strip and inject her udder 2x a day. This meant I had to tie her to a sturdy post or tree. I only had a few of each scattered close to the house. I swear she knew exactly how long the leadrope was, because she got to the point that she would stop 2' short of me reaching the tree or post to tie her. That's also why she stayed at the vet so long!

 

[hilarie]

Yes, she survived just fine. She wasn't real happy about being at the clinic and being treated like a "cow" and was terrified of the other cows there! She'd only ever been around horses.

She stayed at the vet for 75% of the healing process. It was wicked ugly and smelly! I visited her every couple of days... The vet had the facilities to keep her in a deeply bedded clean stall to make her heal quicker, and they had the equipment to do hydrotherapy on her. So I didn't bring her home until it was okay for her to lay down in pasture dirt - grass - mud, etc.

She was an extremely smart and gentle pet. Before being sloughed, I had to strip and inject her udder 2x a day. This meant I had to tie her to a sturdy post or tree. I only had a few of each scattered close to the house. I swear she knew exactly how long the leadrope was, because she got to the point that she would stop 2' short of me reaching the tree or post to tie her. That's also why she stayed at the vet so long!

Ai yi yi.....I give you credit and blessings for staying with it. What we do for love!

 

[BlueMoonFarms]

And it is officially starting to come off.

You can actually see where the scab is starting to separate from her skin. The nipple has completely scabbed over and the part that was milkable has now shriveled into a scab with one single soft spot left that you can see in the first picture.
Im actually very curious as to what her udder will look like under that scab! And terrified to lokk at it at the same time...

 

[MDres]

I'm betting it will look like a head of wet pink cauliflower. Not that cauliflower in that form exists, but it is the easiest way to visualize granulation tissue. The "cauliflower" will scab over, and then you will see a pink line of healthy skin start creeping from the outside edge to the center. It will take time, but it will get there. You just want to make sure the "cauliflower" stays flat, and level with the skin. If it starts puffing up and getting tall, or bumpy like brocolli, then you will have to change your method of treatment. Granulation tissue that goes a bit crazy like that is termed "proud flesh". It is more common on bony areas that are healing (like legs) than it is on fleshy area. Just keep an eye out for it... If you don't catch it in time, then it has to be surgically removed, which sets the healing process back a long time.

 

[BlueMoonFarms]

I'm betting it will look like a head of wet pink cauliflower. Not that cauliflower in that form exists, but it is the easiest way to visualize granulation tissue. The "cauliflower" will scab over, and then you will see a pink line of healthy skin start creeping from the outside edge to the center. It will take time, but it will get there. You just want to make sure the "cauliflower" stays flat, and level with the skin. If it starts puffing up and getting tall, or bumpy like brocolli, then you will have to change your method of treatment. Granulation tissue that goes a bit crazy like that is termed "proud flesh". It is more common on bony areas that are healing (like legs) than it is on fleshy area. Just keep an eye out for it... If you don't catch it in time, then it has to be surgically removed, which sets the healing process back a long time.

Cool! And at the same time..Bleh
I'll definitely take pictures when it does fall off. Thanks for the info!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Wow that is nasty!

Love that you update it thru the processes of it all

 

[BlueMoonFarms]

Um, ok so today was interesting. *barfs*

Back side before we milked cleaned and milked her...

Front side before we milked and cleaned her...

After we milked and cleaned her.

And the front after we milked and cleaned her...

OMG it was awful.
It looks like her milk gland is still trying to produce milk. I am not quite sure what to do as it heals, our vet said we could still milk her but if that other udder is going to be leaking nasty pussy goat cheese milk curdled yuck, then im not so sure...
We packed it with Fura Septin and made sure the udder was done leaking before we put her back in her pen.

 

[Melanie]

OMG... Nasty!!! I think you are a very strong person to still be taking such great care of your doe. I hope that this never happens to one of my goats but if it does I really hope I can do as great of a job as you and your husband caring for them. It should be very interesting to see if she stops producing milk on that side. I sure hope so for your sake. I will continue to be praying for her recovery. It does look a whole lot better and less painful.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

OMG... Nasty!!! I think you are a very strong person to still be taking such great care of your doe. I hope that this never happens to one of my goats but if it does I really hope I can do as great of a job as you and your husband caring for them. It should be very interesting to see if she stops producing milk on that side. I sure hope so for your sake. I will continue to be praying for her recovery. It does look a whole lot better and less painful.

Well said!