Milk doe with hot swollen teat

hobohill · #1 04/23/07, 07:41 AM

Hi, I have a 3 week freshened doe. She had a scratch on her teat and kept licking and chewing on it so I put neosporin and then iodine on the scratch and quit milking that side for 3 days to let it heal. Now, the scratch is nearly healed and I tried to milk her out last night. I can't get any milk, can't see her teat ofifice and the teat is swollen and reddish and hot to the touch. I looked up all this in Merk's and nothing sounds like it. Help! She is really uncomfortable. Thanks, Rachel

ChickenMom · #2 04/23/07, 07:51 AM

Sounds like she got mastitis from not being milked for 3 days. Even if it is painful for them you have to keep them milked out daily or this will happen. You can get mastitis test kits to check but if it's that bad I would hurry. Does she have any temp?
Go to this link and read to see if the symptoms match up.

http://fiascofarm.com/goats/mastitis.htm

hobohill · #3 04/23/07, 08:54 AM

She doesn't have any signs of mastitis, more like the edema style. I am calling my vet and getting some tetracycline for her to do sq. Otherwise, I guess i will dry her up. I hate to do this as she is my main cheese making milk goat. I absolutely couldn't milk her as the friction on her teat of my hands even with udder balm was really irritating her scratch. Every time I milked the bad teat, I irritated the scratch until it became larger and more infected looking. I practice sanitary milking, but stuff happens. Thanks again for your advice. I will do antibiotic just for a precaution. Rachel

mary,tx · #4 04/23/07, 10:06 AM

I don't know if now would be a good time to dry her off. I don't see how you're going to clear her up without keeping her milked out. I'd nix the neosporin, too, since it is gooey, and will collect bacteria there. Iodine spray is okay. I've had to milk a goat after she ripped her teat on barbed wire, so I know it is a challenge, but I think you will just have to do it the best you can, twice a day, until you get it cleared up. I would definitely mastitis treat if it was me.
mary

hobohill · #5 04/23/07, 04:22 PM

I saw the vet today and he gave me Pirsue to inject into the bad teat. He didn't exactly say it was mastitis, but the drug is an antibiotic for that. I am going to keep milking her as advised. She wasn't too pleased to have me shoot the stuff in her, but seems relieved a bit already. I will use it for the full treatment. I am doing another one tonight as I only got 1/2 the dose in her. Her teat is so clogged that i couldn't get more in this time. She is still giving a quart plus out of the other teat. Thanks again. Rachel

southerngurl · #6 04/23/07, 04:28 PM

Use a tube of some kind to drain the teat out. We had a similar problem and were torturing that poor doe trying to milk her out. Then grandpa took a tube that comes on a WD40 can and took a file to round the end a little so it would slide in easier and we used it to drain the milk out. Didn't hurt the doe and kept her milked out. Use a little petroleum jelly when inserting it.

Alice In TX/MO · #7 04/23/07, 08:59 PM

When I had cows, we had one clog up, and my neighbor gave me a narrow, rounded metal tube with holes on the sides, then a hole at one end for the milk to flow out. The end that was inserted into the teat was smooth and rounded. It opens the teat and allows the backed up milk to flow out. Basically a teat drain.

I am assuming that your vet should have one of these.