Lumps in goat udder

[Hadassah]

I have a lactating doe that birthed around two months ago. About a month ago, we dosed her with penicillin for extraneous lumps on the udder. Now I've noticed that she has some lumps in her udder, near the base of the teat. They became more noticeable in the last week or so. These nodules feel like small, firm marbles. They are beneath the subcutaneous layer, so it's not an external issue. Can anyone tell me if this is mastitis? We haven't given her a CMT so would this be a good idea? Her udder is also drier than the other lactating doe, and she is "shedding" some of her gray udder skin near the teat- the skin is pink underneath but doesn't really look raw. ( I hope this isn't "sloughing" as described by Fias Co's note on Staphylococcus aureus?) As far as milk production goes, she's producing only about a pint while her counterpart is making upwards of a quart. But the milk has no quirks that I can tell and it tastes completely normal. We just gave her penicillin sub-Q though, so no more milk from her for awhile. Any thoughts or similar experiences that y'all have had? If so, please let me no! I really hope that it's curable, whatever this poor doe has! Thanks!

 

[glenolam]

Is it on both sides of the udder or just one side? Is the udder hot? Does she have a temp or anything like that?

I would think that now would be a good time for a CMT but I have never had any experience with masitis so I can't be of help there...

Is she still nursing her kid? If she's only giving a pint (is that 1 pint per day, twice a day...?) and she still has a kid nursing, that may be why she's giving you less.....


BTW

 

[Hadassah]

It is one side of the udder, I believe. The udder isn't really hot. Her behaviour is pretty normal, and she's eating. And no, she's not nursing, just giving us approximately one pint, twice a day.

Oh, and by the way, thanks for the welcome!

 

[helmstead]

I would try warm compresses with peppermint oil and massage...could be clogged ducts or partly congested.

There are other 'things' that can cause lumps in the udder...lets hope those aren't what you're dealing with. Staph, for instance, comes to mind...esp with the sloughing skin about the teats.

 

[Goatmom]

Sorry you're dealing with this. My doe just had a mastitis attack that suddenly came on and it was hot and swollen huge and basically not producing. I just treated with over the counter stuff. Tomorrow dry cow morning and night for 3 days. PenG . Milking out 4 times a day to keep flushing the toxins out and you want to keep production up to keep the flushing, cleansing process up. Then massaging about 10 minutes each time. But the best way is to have some milk tested before any infusions to see what bacteria is involved and treat accordingly. Pirsue is vet script and is the usual treatment if Tomorrow is not appropriate. Tomorrow is used on goats instead of Today since it has more meds in it.
I would do all of this busy work for any mastitis. But amazingly I had her udder almost up to production in 4 days, but it took a lot of work.
I also gave pro bios, lots of vitamin c, extra calcium, magnesium, zinc to encourage production. I also added aspirin and did a couple topical DMSO treatments because of the acute nature of my does infection, mixing 50 50 with water or peppermint tea
It's prudent to vaccinate with Lysignin for staph mastits. Any kids drinking from a staph udder can themselves contract it for their future lactations and should be vaccinated for prevention.
I am thinking a prescription infusion and possibly a injectable antibiotic like Naxel may have to be used in your case.

 

[Hadassah]

An update: now she has lumps in both udders, mostly near the base of the teats, where they join the udder. I'm afraid these are permanent scar tissuing of the mammary glands? Maybe it is CHRONIC MASTITIS. There are also two lumps way up on the udder almost to the tail. Her milk production has remained low. Otherwise, she seems normal. But if we can't rid her of the lumps, we will not be able to use her as a breeder, and she will have to go. We just gave her a full round of oxytet. Still no difference... Maybe we will try Tomorrow.