Nigerian doe with swollen face

[journeysend]

I went outside earlier around 3 and noticed that my ND x doe was swollen in between her jaw and eye... not a whole lot though. Within an hour and a half, it had spread all under that side of her jaw. I gave her a benadryl but it hasn't seemed to help at all. She acts like it itches a lot and is painful to the touch. The swelling is hard, not mushy at all and is only along the left side of her face. I don't think this is bottle jaw. I've had experience with that in the past and it doesn't seem to be the problem. It is possible that she could have been stung by a bee, wasp, etc because she is my little adventurer and likes adventure outside of the fence. So, is it possible that this is bottle jaw? Or should I treat it as a sting?

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

I had a doe stung in the face by a bee once. I gave her benedryl and it was back to normal in about 24 hours. I would check her FAMACHA score and if everything is hunky dory I'd keep her on benedryl and see if there is improvement by tomorrow. Poor little gal!

 

[helmstead]

I had a doe stung in the face by a bee once. I gave her benedryl and it was back to normal in about 24 hours. I would check her FAMACHA score and if everything is hunky dory I'd keep her on benedryl and see if there is improvement by tomorrow. Poor little gal!

I agree...looks like a sting.

 

[journeysend]

n.smithurmond wrote:

I had a doe stung in the face by a bee once. I gave her benedryl and it was back to normal in about 24 hours. I would check her FAMACHA score and if everything is hunky dory I'd keep her on benedryl and see if there is improvement by tomorrow. Poor little gal!

I did check her FAMACHA when I was doubting a sting and as far as I can tell, it's pretty close to the 'acceptable' color. The experience I've had with bottle jaw is that it's onset isn't so quick. I hate it that she got stung, especially because I am trying to sell her and prevent any future misadventures like this one.

 

[elevan]

I'd keep treating as a sting for the first 24 hours. Benadryl at the human weight dosing every 8 hours. If you want to sit and hold a cold compress on it for 10-20 minutes that'll help too if it's a sting. If you can find the actual sting location you can rub some liquid benadryl (same stuff you're giving orally) onto it and it'll help to alleviate the swelling quicker (this works for humans too).

Hope she's feeling better in the morning. Poor thing...I hate bee stings

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Good luck holding a compress on her face for 20 minutes! That sounds like an exercise in frustration to me.

 

[Griffin's Ark]

My first impression was bottle jaw, but looking at the pictures I see a lot of pink in her lips and jaw area, though that doesn't mean she doesn't have bottle jaw. Bottle jaw increases through out the day with head down browsing and decreases at night while at rest. Treating for a bee sting is fine, but also keep bottle jaw in the back of your mind. A bee sting is uncomfortable, but bottle jaw is typically a sign of impending doom!

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

My doe's face started puffing up around the top of one nostril, then spread to her lower jaw just like the doe pictured. If I hadn't seen it starting to swell from the beginning and just discovered her already swollen I'd have sworn it was bottle jaw despite her healthy lids. You'll know for sure after 24 hours or so of Benedryl.

 

[elevan]

Good luck holding a compress on her face for 20 minutes! That sounds like an exercise in frustration to me.

Golly I know it! I've never had to hold one on a goat but a horse doesn't like it either (why I said 10-20 minutes) and keeping it on for more than 10 minutes became a chore! But it helped a lot.

 

[journeysend]

Today the swelling is almost completely gone, only a little under her jaw is left... it seems that the swelling went down the same way it came up, first on the face and then working it's way down. It doesn't seem as tender to the touch either.

n.smithurmond wrote:

My doe's face started puffing up around the top of one nostril, then spread to her lower jaw just like the doe pictured. If I hadn't seen it starting to swell from the beginning and just discovered her already swollen I'd have sworn it was bottle jaw despite her healthy lids. You'll know for sure after 24 hours or so of Benedryl.

This is exactly what happened with me... I would have automatically suspected bottle jaw had I not seen the original swelling which started out fairly small compared to how big it got last night.