Tumor??

[churchwidow]

One of my nannies has a larger-than-golf-ball sized lump below her left ear, sort of in the jawbone area. I finally got a quick feel of it today and it felt fairly solid. She seems unaffected in all other ways -- eating well, generally being herself.

I first noticed it just a couple of days ago; don't know how long it's really been there, but I think it has grown just since I noticed it. (Yuck.)

Every heard of this??

[tduerson]

It could be CL. I would have it checked out by someone who knows. If it is CL it is very contagious to other animals and Humans.

[NewlandNubians]

Is the lump on her cheek (the side of her face)? What breed is she? Or is the lump more under her neck and is there a matching lump the same size on the other side?

[churchwidow]

I'm sorry, I'm a very, very ignorant goat owner. My goats are mainly pets and are used to keep my fencerows clean. I don't sell them.

Having said all that . . . I don't know what CL is.

And I don't know what breed she is. She is a beautiful black and white -- mainly white with large black patches like a Holstein cow. She is horned.

The lump is not bilateral, no matching lump on other side, definitely not a lymph node, either. It protrudes from under where her ear hangs over her cheek, the back of the jawbone area.

Thank you for your help and patience with me.

[NewlandNubians]

It sounds like a salivary gland cyst.

CL is a contagious form of abcesses which can be a real maintenance problem and spread quickly through your herd.

If you were worried about it, this is what I'd do. You should be prepared to remove her from your herd at the moment you do this.

1. take her somewhere where you can lance it and check it out where no other goats will ever go (a horse trailer is good - sanitize it afterwards if she has a suspicious lump - and you can quarantine in it until you find out exactly what it is).

2. lance the cyst and squeeze some fluid out.

if the fluid is greenish or yellowish, you might have a problem. You better call a vet and keep her away from all of your other goats.

If the fluid is liquidy and clear, like saliva, then you have a salivary gland cyst and you can safely put her back in with the others.

Judging from the position of the cyst, I would say it's a salivary gland cyst. since her lymph nodes aren't involved, it's not nutritional either. Salivary gland cysts happen in nubians from time to time and judging from your comment about ears hanging down she may have nubian in her in some shape or form.

Hope this helps.

[churchwidow]

Thank you again.
Once you identified it for me, I knew what to look up in my goat book. I felt more comforatable letting the vet lance it, so I took her in today. She said it can also be pyogenes bacteria if it's not CL, which would not be a problem. It was grayish liquid with white cheesy stuff -- not really thick green/yellow like CL would be. They've sent it off to the University of Kentucky for a culture. I have her separated from the herd (tiny herd of 5 others) until the culture comes back.

Thank you, thank you for your help!

Mary A.