MEMBERS - please help! :)

[mygoat]

I've got a list going personally as well for the master sticky. I would love input from people.

I'll be going through links after I get out of work, but if anybody has some time to go through the stickies above and click links to make sure they're not dead, that would be very helpful!

Credible and pertinent personal websites only - trying to keep personal websites and/or opinion/anecdotes to a minimum.

Some various topics:

supply stores
disease testing labs
disease info references
nutrition/feeding
management
vet med books online

Probably more, but my break is over.

[terri9630]

Will the disease testing labs cover the labs that test milk?

[mygoat]

What kind of milk test do you mean, DHIR or like a milk bacterial culture? We can include info links for both. Many of the labs I plan on including are accredited diagnostic labs for many, many species, diseases, and tests.

[terri9630]

My doe freshened in Feb with a congested udder and developed mastitis. I kept telling the vet I wanted to have the milk tested because the Today and pen g wasn't helping. I couldn't find a lab to test and find out what she needed so had to guess. Finally got it cleared up but a lab to check the milk would have helped us pick the right antibiotic faster.

[mygoat]

That's probably true. What you were looking for was a lab to do a bacterial culture and sensitivity. (sensitivity evaluates what antibiotics the bacteria is sensitive to, so you know what antibiotic is going to work).

Getting the sample to the lab fresh for a proper culture can be difficult. Usually shipped same day as collected, on ice and overnight (shipping can be killer). Some ship it priority 2 day and freeze the sample prior to shipping. This can work but if the level fo bacteria is small, the quality of the sample for culture is decreased somewhat. If the animal is on antibiotics, the likelihood of culturing something from the liquid milk isn't great. The quantity of bacteria in non-treated milk can be fairly low as it is for mastitic animals, let alone those being treated. That may be why you were encountering resistance from the vet for a culture.

If you search your state with 'veterinary diagnostic lab' you're sure to find a few places to call. Look for accreditation - AAVLD means they have to have certain standards in place, like a human quality lab. You may be close to Texas A&M vet lab : http://tvmdl.tamu.edu/

[terri9630]

Thanks. The vet here knows nothing about dairy animals. He kept telling me she was fine and the kids just weren't getting any milk because her teats were so big. While that could be possible I guess it didn't explain why I wasn't getting any milk when I milked her. When we finally started breaking up the congestion and getting some he said that nasty taste was the way goat milk always tasted. NOT!! He was no help and the dairy vets here are under contract with the dairies and won't see outside animals for "bio security reasons".