Mastitis...UGH!

[babsbag]

One of my Alpine does freshened on 2/14 with a single doeling. On 2/16 the doe did not fight for her hay so alarms went off in my head. First thing I took her temp...102.4, normal. The after birthing discharge looked and smelled normal, (yes, I smelled it) so next step was checking for mastitis. I was going to do a CMT test but the first squirt was BRIGHT red "milk". No need for the test. Only one side is affected and her daughter is still nursing on the good side.

Her udder is not hot, which makes me nervous as I worry about Staphylococcus aureus, also known as "blue bag" or gangrene mastitis. I took a clean catch in a red top tube for a culture and started her on Today, Bio-Mycin, and Banamine and teat taped her teat. I really expected her to be dead this morning. But she isn't.

I milked her out the best I could, repeated the treatment, and the culture is in the mail.

 

[norseofcourse]

Sounds like you caught it early, whatever it is. Best thoughts that she improves fast.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Good luck with the doe.
Oh, as far as "smelling" the afterbirth, you can tell a lot from smell.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

So sorry you are dealing with this Babs

I remember when our kiko had it, the smell of the milk was so horrific. Even after a few years that smell still "sits" with me.

Hoping your girl can get over this with no damage to her udder.

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry Babs. Hope you caught it in time. Hope she recovers.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

That really bites Babs. Keep us posted and let us know how treatment is going. You are always on top of things and detailed so I am sure she is going to be better in no time.

 

[Southern by choice]

hoping it is not bluebag- doesn't sound like it... no fever no stinky milk

 

[babsbag]

The milk doesn't smell and she is not running a fever but boy is that udder rock hard. I have only dealt with this one other time and I had some udder balm that was peppermint, and it was very strong. I still have that balm and it doesn't smell like mint anymore. I am wondering if I could whip up my own balm, I make lotion and creams all of the time. I was thinking something along the line of tiger balm or Ben Gay. I don't want to burn her skin but I need to break up that mass somehow. Any ideas?

Her other side seems to be drying up as well. I was warned this might happen so now it looks like I have a bottle baby. Tonight I stuck another doe on the milk stand and baby got a good meal to get her through the night. She is so bonded to her mom though, it is cute to watch. I just hope that the mastitis stays confined to one side.

And I hope that UC Davis cultures it in a hurry. I wanted to change drugs to Naxel or Erythromycin but my vet said to wait for the culture.

 

[Southern by choice]

One of our old timey vets when our Kiko had bluebag told us to do COLD compresses first then do warm.
The cold reduced the inflammation and we were able to get the junk milked out... after milking we did warm compresses.
I had never heard that before but we had never experienced mastitis before either... had always heard warm....
It worked VERY well. The cold compress was what allowed us to get it out!

I have tucked that away in case I ever need to do that again..I hope not to ever have to do that again.

 

[Sweetened]

Have youtried Cabbage leaves? You boil them so they are tender and warm but not so much that they rip easily anddrape/hold them on the udder. It releases pressure, for whatever reason, and is a touted remedy for humans as well. I know someone who has used it on themselves with great success.

Youll need hot oils, like oregano, cinnamon, maybe even clove and peppermint. Hot herbs create a tingling to stimulate bloodflow, peppermint does the same and would help create a residual cooling effect. Put some of your unsmelly balm on your hand and blow on it, does it still cool? If so the peppermint properties are still working, only the essence is gone.

We lost tootsie to blue bag, and her milk smelled like rotten flesh, for lack of better descriptors. Lavender, who apperently had mastitis the year I bought her, had one side come back blind. It was HARD but once I got a couple streams of bright red milk out of it, the hardness went away.

A woman i bought a goat from a couple years ago, bottleraised her babes, but kept them on the dam. Ie, she raised them, but they didnt associate her with milk, so didnt try. She found that to be a happy medium between having them bonded with humans and yet most of the worl being done by the dam, so they still got to be goats.

Good luck dear. Im sorry I cant help.