ack! help! need stitches on teat or not?!!! (pic)

[DQ]

I've never encountered and injury on a teat before. I just went out to milk and found this (along with escaped goats). should I get it stitched or debrided??? I'm so mad this happened to her she is my best!!!!

[tmfinley]

I can't really tell if it would be easy to put back together cleanly or not, but you can use super glue. I haven't tried it, but I had a doe who had a cut on her eat and everyones advice was to superglue it shut. She died before I could try though.

Sorry this happened. Hope she heals well.

Tiffany

[ozark_jewels]

I personally, would just use an herbal salve on the tear itself and not try to stitch or super glue it shut. I believe it is too swollen by this time to successfully try either of those possible options anyway.
It is not into the milk ducts so it is relatively minor. Just be gentle with it, keep her on clean bedding and keep a healing salve applied to it twice a day.
Be sure to *only* apply the salve to the damaged area itself, not the surrounding area as salves on the udder can easily bring on a case of staph pimples this time of year.
It should heal with just a minor scar.
I have dealt with a much worse cut on the teat in the past. It was into the milk(over halfway through her teat) and the milk just ran out. Could not be stitched. I kept salves on it and it *very* slowly healed. But it did finally heal and although she lost production a bit in that side from the injury, she has freshened with no problems three times since then.
This cut could be *much* worse, so don't fret.

[TennesseeMama23]

I had one similar to that recently. I sprayed it with chlorhexidine to kill the germs. Also I think it is important to keep her bag from getting full. We dam raise ours and I didn't put the kids up for a few nights to give it a chance to heal-she was a heavy producer and we milked her anyway. If I milked 2x a day I would milk her out more often.

It healed way faster than I expected, it's not as bad as it looks I don't think.

[DQ]

well, I cleaned it real well with alcohol and used butterfly bandages. it actually went together smoothly but I am concerned that 1. the bandages won't hold anyway 2. I probably just made a little bacteria breeding "pocket" 3. it is too old to stitch so it probably is too old to heal together with bandages either.

I initally tried "new skin" but the dangly flap is driving me crazy. do I just need to control my self and let the flap hang?

I will check it this afternnoon and probably just take the butterfly bandages off.

???she has month old kids on her now. I watched them nurse to see if they even took the teat in far enough to get to the cut. they did. because of the "flap" hanging down I'm afraid they will tear it further while sucking. they are both just butcher kids and I would rather save my does udder than them. do you think it would it be ok to leave them on her? I hate to compromise them but I will if neccessary.


oh and there will be no stopping me from fretting

[Freeholder]

You'd better leave the kids on her. If you take them off, you'll have to milk her out at least twice a day, or she will fill up uncomfortably with milk, and could end up with mastitis on top of the injury.

The injury looks like it was probably caused by a hoof on the udder as she stood up -- I've had one like it, only worse, and it healed just fine. I was milking the doe, and it was a bit awkward, but we managed. Just keep it clean, and keep antibiotic salve or ointment on it. Don't worry about the flap right now -- you may need to cut it off later, but it could heal back on. And don't use bandages! As you've already realized, it will be hard to keep them on, and you may be making a pocket for infection to develop. Fresh air and sunshine are the best healers.

I think she'll be fine, just give her a few weeks.

Kathleen

[Raftercat5]

DQ: I know what you're going thru. My goat ripped her udder just above her teat and it looks exactly the same size and depth of wound. I'm pretty sure it happened when she jumped up onto the stanchion to be milked. I cleaned it well, and put "Blue-Kote" spray on it. After it dried, I put 3 butterfly bandages on it. Two fell off, but then I realized it was because the Blue-Kote didn't dry completely first, so I re-did the butterfly using only one. It held overnite, but barely. The next morning, she re-tore it getting on the stanchion. (cringe!!!) So, hubby built her a ramp to walk up onto the stanchion instead of jumping. Well, she is afraid of it, and still jumps to get over the ramp ...which, yup, you guessed it...she split the wound open again. It's been 4 days now, and it's healing, altho there was a small amount of bleeding when she jumped past the ramp tonight. I guess her very full udder and the strain of stretching her body over that ramp did it this time. It is healing, tho. I spray her off before milking using a weak solution of bleach/water/Dawn dishwashing liquid, and blot the wounded area dry. Just try to keep the wound clean. Don't use any more alcohol...can you imagine how bad that burned? And the "New Skin"....OUCH. I can't bear to use that on me! Try some Solarcaine or neosporin ointment first. Good luck with your goat. I hope she heals quickly.
- Kathy

[DQ]

Oh I know the alcohol hurts but I also know that when I pour alcohol on a cut of mine right after it happens it heals a hundred times faster. the new skin too despite it stinging at first helps in hard to cover but likely to get dirty areas imo. amazingly she is very stoic and never flinched. I guess I would rather put her through a bit to insure healing than not. trying to milk out that side she was pretty kicky though. I am useing neosporin now though after the initial cleanings, especially becuse it has already started to dry a bit. I do worry with the ointment type things that it just makes dirt and gunk stick to it. I will do that for a few days and then let it dry up some. I just cringe everytime I go out there and look at it. oucchhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! what a terrible place to get hurt!! and watching the kids nurse and seeing how she still just stands there for them even though it HAS to hurt....what a good mom.