abscess (lump) on side of neck

[barfarm]

I have a female mix-breed meat goat that has developed a lump about the size of a golf ball on the side of her neck about 2 inches below the left ear. The lump is somewhat soft and spungy to the touch. The goat does not seem to experience any pain when I press on the lump. She has no other symptoms of being sick. There is no hair loss and opening at the lump.
What could this be and what would be a suggested treatment be?
Thanks for your suggestions.

[DairyGoatSlave]

one of my pygmys had something that sounds similar, we poked a hole in it and squeezed to see what came out and it was like a big puss bubble! gross!!! we kept draning it and it went away. could be something else though

[delphinium]

Sounds as though it might be CL ... in both cases. Check the sticky on this forum for more info.

Good luck.

[DairyGoatSlave]

i no longer have my pygmys, so no worries there. good luck barfarm

[ozark_jewels]

Classic CL location and description. Read the sticky and take *every* precaution. If this is CL, its nothing to play around with.

[goatkid]

This sounds like it could be CL. Isolate the goat. Do not lance or otherwise drain the abcess on your property. If the bacteria gets on the ground or barns, it can spread to other goats for years. Take her to the vet and have them clean it out and send a sample of the pus for testing. If you don't want to bother with all that, or if she tests positive, I suggest you put her down.

[betsy h.]

Unless she is a beloved goat, get rid of her- classic CL site.

Here's the tricky part- if you sell to slaughter, her carcass will be condemned. If you sell her to another person, she will infect their property. If you keep her, she will infect your property. Cl stays on the ground for at least 2 yrs. after exposure to pus.

If you put her down and burn her carcass in a pit at least 4 ft. deep, then cover with lime and bury her, this may be the best way to deal with it. Sorry to bear such bad news.

If she is a beloved goat, create a plan to isolate her other goats and get the vet to do a lumpectomy before it bursts. Sometimes the use of Draxxin can mitigate the symptoms. It is an expesive anti-biotic, but it is dosed once every 7 days and TAMU is \doing a study to see how well it works on the CL bacteria.

[susanne]

Originally Posted by betsy h.

Cl stays on the ground for at least 2 yrs. after exposure to pus.

where did you get this information from?

[hoofinitnorth]

In addition to CL, it could be an unrelated abscess, a swollen thymus gland, bottlejaw (although I think this is wrong location from the sound of it), or something else entirely.

One of my friends is dealing with something similar to your description that is not CL. She has drawn a sample and sent it in. It was watery and smelled AWFUL. The thoughts are that it could be a swollen salivary gland (cyst?). The doeling has been struggling to maintain strength and won't suck. She has tubed and provided support to get her stronger and she was improving the other day but I haven't checked up to see how she is now. My friend was afraid of Floppy Kid Syndrome mixed with this concern.

[wisconsin_917]

Originally Posted by susanne

where did you get this information from?

I don't remember where I read this bit I also heard that it could stay in the ground for years even with sub zero temps.?????

[susanne]

Originally Posted by wisconsin_917

I don't remember where I read this bit I also heard that it could stay in the ground for years even with sub zero temps.?????

fact is, nobody knows for sure and depend on where you read, it goes from a couple of month ( most likely) to for ever

[hoofinitnorth]

Follow-up on my friend's doe - she hasn't had the sample analyzed yet as she is waiting to talk to the vet at WADDL to see what tests to run besides CL.

She clarified that when she first drained the lump, she emptied it and got more than 64ccs, with the lump nearly larger than the doe's head. The doe then went kaput and could not nurse or stand or do much of anything. She tubed her for a few days and gave her baking soda in milk and Nu-Flor IM. A couple days later, the doe was standing again and strong, but the lump has been refilling. My friend has been instructed to only *partially* drain the abscess as it is acting like a salivary gland cyst, which apparently can make them acidotic when fully aspirated.