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I need help cause my big heart may have just gotten my big bottom in trouble

728 views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  TexCountryWoman 
#1 ·
OK, let me fill you in. A couple of weeks ago my dh and I were down by a neighbors who has MANY MANY animals. Well the theory down there is the strong survive, if they get sick they'll get over it or die trying. Last year the man was very ill and in the hospital so our family went down and helped them milk, I really liked this one doe and would have loved to have taken her home. Anyway while we were talking I saw her and she was covered in mud, and looked pretty pitiful. I asked about her and was told just to take her, cause she gets her head stuck in the fence and they figured the dogs would end up killing her if we didn't take her. I jumped on it and we brought her home. Now she had been running with the buck for months and may be pregnant. I noticed when we brought her home that one side of her bag was hanging lower than the other, but thought maybe she was starting to bag up if she was pregnant and didn't think alot about it. We wormed her with Ivermectin (thanks for the help with that one) and started her on good feed and she is in a nice grass lot. Now this is where my trouble begins. DH and I were out with the goats a little bit ago and I wanted to check her bag since it still looked lop sided and she had developed a cough. I milked the smaller side and out came a nice stream of colostrum, good news, until I squeezed the other side and out came some colostrum and then thick nasty mastitis looking goo. CRUD!! I was masaging the bag and sure enough she is full of small knots. I masaged and milked out as much as I could. Then hubby said "dear, you might wanna look at this" The side of her neck is one abcess after another forming down under the ear!!! :Bawling: I'm thinking it might be CL. So this is what I've got to figure out how do you treat a possibly pregnant, mastitis infected, possible CL case doe? Hopefully the cough is a cold and not internal abcesses, and I'm gonna try my darndest to milk out the mastitis, but the CL is another story. :help: In a way I'm kicking myself in the rear for getting her, but in another at least maybe her and her kids have a chance.
 
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#2 ·
Antibiotics, quick. Keep her isolated from the other goats, and don't worry about the kids -- you need to cure the doe, and quickly. If she gets better she can have kids another time. A vet check wouldn't hurt, either. Keep everything sterile between her and your other animals -- practice biosecurity. Keep milking her out, but dump the milk. Don't feed it to any of your other animals.

Kathleen
 
#3 ·
Follow Kathleens advice. But if the doe does indeed have CL, and she were my goat, I would put her down. If the abcesses pop, she will contaminate your other goats, the dirt, and your farm. Read all you can about CL. Treat her with antibiotics now for the cough and mastitis, and isolate immediately, treat her like a "leper". Don't ever get another goat from your neighbor, ever. His farm is contaminated with CL, if indeed your goat does have CL. Read the "sticky" on CL....Your heart was in the right place.....perhaps good karma is on your side....Diane
 
#5 ·
CAE often manifests itself in an udder that is congested like that as well. ANd CAE and CL are often found together in an animal.
I am sorry this happened to your doe! Please have her checked! Don't risk your whole herd. The stress of pregnancy can cause the symptoms to manifest.
 
#6 ·
I agree with the others. Don't risk the health of your other goats. Your heart was in the right place, but the symptoms you listed are not re-assuring. Please don't let her mix with your herd, quarentine her. You could spend the money to test her, but the kindest thing to do may be to put her down. At least you saved her from the possibilty of wasting away, or being killed by dogs at the neighbor's farm.
 
#7 ·
Thank you all for your reply's. My dh and I discussed it and decided that we couldn't risk the rest of our goats by keeping her here and disposed of her this evening. Had to consider the greater good for the greater number of goats. I did some reading on it and the cough may have indicated an abcess in her lungs and we made the best choice. Thanks for the advice, you were my voice of reason. You can't save em all, it just really bites sometimes that you can't. Glad we found it though before one burst and we had a royal mess on our hands.
 
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