Can a goat have CL that never bursts??

Milk n' Honey · #1 06/24/07, 02:35 PM

What if a goat has lumps and has had lumps for a long time and they never burst? Can that be CL still? Everything you read talks about the visual ones bursting and the ones you can't see are in the organs and you don't know about those many times. I've never read anything about a goat having visual lumps that are CL but they never burst. Thanks.

goatkid · #2 06/24/07, 04:34 PM

How long do you mean by a long time? From what I hear, CL abcesses eventually burst. If this is one of your goats, I'd get it blood tested asap. Some goats have lumps at vaccination sites. They are lumps and not abcesses. The usually get smaller over time and do not burst. All lumps are not CL, but any goats with suspicious lumps should get blood tested to be sure you don't have that nasty disease on your property.

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #3 06/24/07, 05:43 PM

Other than internal abscess that burst internally, it makes no sense that these could be CL then. The whole mission of the CL abscess is to burst out into the environment so it can contaminate other mammals and continue to reproduce. Vicki

Milk n' Honey · #4 06/24/07, 06:14 PM

She has been here for about 2 years and has almost always carried a lump on her side near her back leg. She has a huge one in front of her shoulder that I didn't even realize was there. It is really big but doesn't protrude much. She has one underneath her jaw and a pea sized one behind one of her legs. So she now has 4 of them and I've never seen one of them burst. She just carries them. I'm wondering if she could have lymphoma or some sort of infection?? I didn't think it seemed like CL personally.

kerrinatoz · #5 06/24/07, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milk n' Honey

What if a goat has lumps and has had lumps for a long time and they never burst? Can that be CL still? Everything you read talks about the visual ones bursting and the ones you can't see are in the organs and you don't know about those many times. I've never read anything about a goat having visual lumps that are CL but they never burst. Thanks.

I would suggest having the vet check it out, it could be an abcess due to a splinter from rubbing up against the barn, could be an infected bug bite. I would have it checked out by the vet if it hasn't burst I'm sure its probably benign but still needs attention.

Kerrin

DixyDoodle · #6 07/24/07, 06:04 AM

Do your goats have horns? Perhaps it is also due to an injury, ie, another horned goat poked at her? This is what happened to one of my does, she was diagnosed with having a burst salivary gland (which is right around the area where you would find CL lumps) on the neck. The vet drained it and told me it might come back because the fluid will just keep leaking into it for a bit, and it did. They repair themselves over time.

If you see any pus in the abcess, it is NOT a salivary gland lump. Pus might indicate something contagious to your other goats, I would separate her until you know for sure. You can get the lump fluid tested to see.

Milk n' Honey · #7 07/24/07, 11:13 PM

She had about 4 of those places but nothing ever ruptured and she never lost hair on them or anything. I think they were tumors. They were inside. I've seen CL on sale barn goats and they didn't protrude like those. She is gone now anyway...hated to see her go b/c she was a good goat but we culled her.

DixyDoodle · #8 07/25/07, 06:01 AM

Aw, sorry to hear that, but perhaps it was best for her in the long run.

Jim S. · #9 07/25/07, 08:42 AM

Culling is best for her and you, but I doubt it was CL. Goats can have CL internally and never show it externally, though. It is found in "clean" goats at slaughter fairly regularly. My theory is that, if the goat's immune system is excellent at fighting the disease, it never progresses to the external stages. If that's correct, then it may be possible to breed for CL resistance through a genetically superior immune system.

Unfortunately, as with much goat stuff, there is no research. And it would be hard, in my opinion, to breed superior immune systems as long as we do not have a test that is reliably accurate by clinical standards.

texican · #10 07/25/07, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milk n' Honey

She has been here for about 2 years and has almost always carried a lump on her side near her back leg.

Don't all animals have lymph glands (lumps) there? Of course you're lumps might be bigger than what I see when butchering animals.

Milk n' Honey · #11 07/25/07, 07:32 PM

This was a round, protruding lump. It wasn't a normal gland. They varied in size too. The one on her shoulder was grapefruit sized and she has a couple of pea sized ones. I think it was cancer. I can't find much info on cancer in goats but I really think that is what it was.

Feral Nature · #12 07/26/07, 09:53 AM

A grapefruit sized lump sounds like CL. You said in your post that the lumps were "inside" and that you "culled" her. Was she butchered? or how did you know they were inside? Just wondering. Also, if a goat has 4 places on her like that, i would rule out splinters or injuries from horns. Cancer would be an option though and there is no reason a goat can't have cancer, all lumps do NOT have to be CL. But a grapfruit-sized lump is suspiciously CL-like. Glad she is gone and hopefully nothing burst that you were unaware of. I routinely rub my hands along the throats, thighs, legs and areas of my goats that get covered in hair where visiblity may be reduced. It is easy for things to go unnoticed if goats are not preiodically examined real well. We all get busy with routine chores but these physical hands on exams are necessary to find hidden castastrophes. I know huge herds cannot be examined this way but if you can do it, a hands on exam as well as visual is worth the time.

Jim S. · #13 07/26/07, 10:29 AM

I have had two goats with cancer. It is very possible. Once opened up, they had rather innocuous-looking lumps in the peritoneaum and glands. Metastasis. One goat was very old and of indeterminate age. The other one was a 6 year old, who got it as breast cancer first, according to the state lab biopsy.

leecofarm · #14 07/26/07, 12:56 PM

my old rottweiler has fatty tumors on her body. the biggest the size of half a golf ball. others smaller. they are kinda spongy and you can move them around a little bit. they dont hurt her just make her look unkempt. vet says that they can be surgically removed but more will pop up. could the same thing happen to goats?