Mastitis?

[Goatgirl47]

I usually milk our two Nubian does 4-6 times a week, letting them be with their kids on the days I don't. The last time I milked them was Saturday morning, and because we had more than enough milk for ourselves, I let their kids in with them. They have all been together since then.
Yesterday I noticed that the left side of Matilda's udder looked a bit strange... the teat was angled in a weird way and that side of her udder was a little full. Geoffrey Charles (her kid) usually nurses the heck out of her, and so I just thought that he was slacking a bit (rut has started so he's been a little pre-occupied lately) and would soon catch up.

This morning her udder still looked the same, so I put her in the stanchion to have a closer look and if possible, to milk that side out.
The whole left side of her udder was significantly full and, come to find out, the teat and that half of the udder is really hard to the touch (I didn't notice whether or not if it was hot though). I tried to milk it but it was obviously painful/uncomfortable for her because she stopped eating and commenced kicking and moving around until I let her out.

I am really worried that this is mastitis. I've never dealt with this in goats before. How can I properly treat it if it is indeed mastitis? Was this probably caused by Geoffrey not emptying her completely?

First three pictures are from today.



What her udder usually looks like on an 8-12 hour fill.


Thanks in advance!

 

[babsbag]

You need to milk her out, there is no other way. I know it is hard on her and on you but it has to be done. It could just be engorged but again, no way to know. Do you have CMT kit? If the milk is bloody, clumpy, stringy, smelly, clear or just different it is probably mastitis and you will need to treat her with a teat infusion. Today is for an animal in milk.

You can get a clean sample of the milk before you treat her. Wipe her teat, squirt out a bit, and then catch some in a sterilized container, I use a red top tube. Put it in the refrigerator in case you want to send it to a lab and see what the bacteria is sensitive to for treatment.

Is she running a fever? If so I would start her on Oxcytetracyline.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Take her temp and milk her out anyway.
Check milk for any obvious mastitis indicators. Remember though, a goat can still have milk that looks okay, but still has mastitis. You may want to drop a sample to the vet and have the vet send it out.

When a goat has mastitis ALL of our vets say to milk as often as you can and start the goat on appropriate antibiotics. Do you have a CMT kit? If you don't, you need to get one.
I don't like doing teat infusions unless absolutely necessary.


Hopefully she is just a little congested.

 

[babsbag]

The teat infusion are scary the first time and you have to be scrupulously clean. Once you get over the initial fear it isn't as bad but you don't want to induce any bacteria into the udder so be careful and as sterile as possible. Unfortunately the bacteria can wall itself off in the udder and often time the infusion is the only way to treat it effectively.

 

[Goatgirl47]

I milked her out, getting between 1 - 1 1/2 a cup. It looked normal - no weird smell, not stringy or smelly or anything. Her udder wasn't hot either.
We do have a CMT kit but it is for cows. It should still work, correct? Either way, I used it on that left teat and the milk (and the CMT solution + water) didn't gel or thicken at all that I could tell. Is it reliable?

I've done teat infusions before, but on a cow. And I'm sure it'd be easier to do it on a goat (albeit I'd prefer not to if there is another way)! We still don't have a thermometer, although we can pick one up tonight.

I took before and after (milking) pictures of her udder, will download them soon.

And lastly, have you ever used Mastoblast on a goat? We've used it to treat cows who have mastitis and it is effective.

 

[babsbag]

I have not used Mastoblast so no help. The CMT kit is the same for cow or goat and you should trust it. I would milk her out again today just to make sure that nothing is brewing in there.