infected tooth

prairie song · #1 06/27/11, 11:11 PM

i have one older goat ( 11 years old ) that the last year she has a tooth that gets infected repeatedly. a couple of shots of long acting penicillian clears it up, but after a couple months it comes back. wondering if changing antibiotics would do any good. like to biomycin maybe. anyone have any ideas on what could clear it up so it stays that way.

houndlover · #2 06/28/11, 02:20 AM

Have the tooth pulled.

TwosCompany · #3 06/28/11, 02:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by houndlover

Have the tooth pulled.

That's what I was going to suggest, too. That's probably the only way to stop the infection from coming back. If we have an infected tooth, the options for us are either extraction or a root canal. Probably the same for her.

prairie song · #4 06/28/11, 02:35 AM

i thought of that but at her age she is already missing several teeth. afraid if she looses any more she will not be able to eat at all. while i know she will be gone eventually i am not quite ready for that . the local 'goat vet' recently moved away , the other vets in the area i am not impressed with.

TwosCompany · #5 06/28/11, 02:37 AM

It's probably causing her pain. Could she be sustained on a mash? Maybe soak her hay? I know grazing would be a problem for her if she had no teeth to chew. I've gotten horses through with no teeth, but I know goats are different. I've yet to deal with a very senior goat.

ChristieAcres · #6 06/28/11, 02:41 AM

You probably couldn't get her to eat Garlic, could you? I had an abscessed molar, still do, BTW, and couldn't afford to go to the Dentist. I took a fresh Clove of Garlic, pressed it all around my molar, held it up against the molar/gums for 5 minutes (burned at first, then the pain began subsiding). I then chewed the raw Garlic and swallowed it. The whole side of my face was swollen (this was late at night). I went back to sleep, awoke to find the swelling was almost gone, no more pain, very little swelling of my gums. I repeated the Garlic treatment a few time over the next few days. The swelling disappeared completely and no more pain. When it flares up, I've used more Garlic. I have no idea if that would work on a Goat, but it has worked on me.