Mastitis?

[HollyBearFarm]

I'm really, really new to the goat world, so forgive me if this is a silly question.

One of my goat's milk was kind of stringy this morning. The strings weren't thick or anything and the milk didn't smell, but then when I emptied out the pail there was a tiny spot of blood on my strainer...no bigger than the head of a pin, but unmistakably blood.

Everything that I have read says that stringy milk+blood=mastitis, but her udders aren't hot, she doesn't have a fever, and I can't feel any lumps. Plus she acts fine. Could this be just the beginning of mastitis? If so, what should I do? Or is milk just a little weird sometimes? There weren't a lot of strings, but there were just definitely more solids on my strainer than I would normally expect.

TIA!

Stacie

[sungirl]

When did she freshen? Do you have or can you get a CMT test kit? It does sound like Mastiits.

What route would you like to take? (Drug or natural???)

Patty.

[HollyBearFarm]

She freshened for the first time this spring. I'd prefer to take a more natural approach, but I will do antibiotics if that's necessary.

Would a feed store have a CMT?

[Alice In TX/MO]

One thing you can do is milk her out every two hours. Get the stuff OUT!

[HollyBearFarm]

Well, I just went out and checked on her and did new strip cups, teat dips, etc. for both of my does. And while Wendy's (the one who might have mastitis) was a leeetle chunky, neither of them have fevers and I can't feel any lumps or heat on their udders. Then I milked Wendy out and now I can't see any strings or chunks at all. I am headed to the feed store to get a CMT...I'll update you guys when I get back.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'm sure Vicki will tell you this later, but the CMT test is not used as diagnostic on goats.

I'll let her say the rest. I only know it from reading her educational posts, not from personal experience.

[HollyBearFarm]

Okay, I now have a full gallon of CMT and a records sheet. I'll be testing both does in about ten minutes, as soon as my sterilized milking buckets are dry.

Any special hints on testing technique?

[Alice In TX/MO]

http://dairygoatinfo.com/index.php/topic,36.0.html

[HollyBearFarm]

I got a very, very, very weak positive on Wendy's left side...but isn't that pretty normal for a goat?

I don't think she has mastitis. She acts just fine and even though her milk still has five or six strings in it, none of them are bigger around than a straight pin and they are all a lot shorter than that.

What do you guys think? Thanks a lot for the help, everyone. You guys are awesome.

Stacie

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'd keep milking her out every two hours for at least another day.