# Congested udder treatment?



## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

I have a yearling first freshener Lamancha that's about 4 months into milking.
Tonight I noticed that her udder on the right side is about twice as big as it usually is. She has a lopsided udder and is bigger-and gives more milk-out of that side. Tonight she gave about a quart less than normal.

The skin is warm and feels the same as the other side, not tender to touch. She was congested one time before but not as much. 

Today I added alfalfa hay to their diet, usually they browse for 6 hours and she gets a pelleted goat ration and alfalfa pellets on the stand. Probably about 1 1/2 -2 pounds. She's a thinner goat.

Can a goat become congested at anytime during milk production or is it normally when the milk is first coming in?

She usually has several small clumps of milk come out of that side when I first start milking her.

Appreciate any advice!
Cara


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

I would be worried. Congestion like edema is a problem in the beginning of lactation. Adding alfalfa hay to the diet needs to be done slowly, they love it...any goat worth her salt would never choose alfalfa pellets over alfalfa hay  We simply give ours no choice. Keep her milked out, perhaps send in a milk sample, clean to LSU, testing is free, we have the info up on dairygoatinfo.com the goatkeeping101 thread.

Biggy here for me is milkfever. I would watch her temperature, you would be looking for it to go lower, for an unsteady gait...if you don't already have it on hand I would get some CMPK injectable from your vet, and read the hypocalcemia threads on the goatkeeping 101 section by Sue Rieth...hypocalcemia is really just milkfever before kidding.

Horrible mastitis of course starts with the swelling of a half, it will turn blue, the teat will slough...might want to read saanendoah.com on malignant edema. Take her temp each milking, lower or higher and you need to get into emergency mode,,,, call me if I can be of help. But do get meds on hand.

Edited to add that I would start her on high doses of C, banamine 1cc per 100 pounds for the next 6 days...perhaps giving half of that about 20 minutes before milking to stop the inflammation. But get that milk sample from both halves off to a lab. Vicki


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Yuk, thanks for the help Vicki. I'll check all that out. I will say that I didn't give her much alfalfa but I thought I would mention it.
I'll let you know how it goes. What would be considered a high dose of vitamin c?
Cara


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

I just get the large vitamin C bottle from Wallmart, crush it up in the blender and then give 1 tablespoon of it over their milkstand grain. My does get vitamin C (just one tab and a vitamin E) each day when first fresh, most will eat it out of my hand, some hate it so I haveto squish the contents of the E over their feed. It works out cheaper for me than powdered E's for horses. Vicki


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Just thought I would let you know I started her on Pirsue as that was all the two local vets had to recommend for goats. I hope it works allright. She's not any worse today eating fine and perky. I'm off to the drugstore now for the vitamins.
Thanks for all the help,
Cara


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

So did you send in the milk sample before you did the infusion? Pirsue is for staph, but using it as an inflation only with no systemic meds will not cure your doe of staph. Is it staph? We don't know because a milk test isn't back yet. It comes back as staph, do you then use more infusions of Pirsue? What is her temp? A doe can't have mastitis to inflame the udder if she does not have a temp, is ill, her milk is nasty...subclincial staph is treatable but causes no symptoms other than lopsidedness, not swelling.

It's a slippery slope when you start using antibiotics on your herd with no real answers to the questions. So now do you start systemic anitibiotics? and when you really need Pirsue will it work? Infusing comes with it's own set of problems if you don't do it cleaner than you have ever done something clean in your life, because you actually introduce bacteria into the orifice along with the meds. Vicki


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## Arina (May 9, 2007)

I am newby, two months in the goat keeping.... My two-year old Nubian got a congestion (a lump on one side of the udder) - after much research and reading I concluded it as a congestion. My sources stated the following: frequent milking out the affected half, long massages of the udder, hot compresses. Frankly I found it too hard to sit with a hot water bottle while figthing the normally laid back goat, but I did it three or four times. The lump is still there, but no more discomfort at milking time, the production from that half is up again and it is getting softer. Oh, and another thing - iodine tincture applied to the hardened part helps to "get the juices flowing again" (blood, lymph, whatever) - apply twice per day, don't overdo it.


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

Hi Arina and welcome to the forum and goats. 

Congestion is a swelling under the skin, as in blood pooled in the milk ducts which swells the whole half of the udder, the doe milks less because the ducts swollen with blood, so no milk can flow through or what milk can flow or be made is smaller amounts do to lack of area....not a lump...a swollen lump in the udder is usually a swollen duct, or a milk cyst...it's a milk cyst if it is flat and soft, it is usually the body walling off a bacteria (usually staph) from the rest of the udder, it is very hard to treat.

Be careful applying iodine to the soft tissues of goats, under their tail and on their udder. It is caustic and can chemical burn them. It's an old wives tail that it can penetrate into the blood stream and cure anything, or add to the iodine in the goats system. It's for topical use and the caustic nature of it works well for umbilical cords.

But yes frequent milking and massage works well in all problems with udders, as long as it is done gently as to not cause bruising. Vicki


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## longhorngal (Aug 4, 2005)

Ack, I remember when I could go to a vet, trust their advice, and treat my animals. I would guess that they both recommended the Pirsue because from what I've read Staph is the most common cause of mastitis in goats. I did collect specimens from her early this a.m and have them refrigerated. Will the California Mastitis Test determine that pathogen? I can pick that up tomorrow in another town. We just don't have very good resources around here. No, she doesn't have a fever. Her milk looks fine. I don't know if it's the same in goats as in humans but when I personally had Mastitis my milk looked fine too. When I contacted her breeder last night she kind of freaked me out and said to get her treated right away. None of the local vets can do a mastitis test apparently.
I appreciate the help!
cara


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

CMT is nothing more than an additive that will gell milk with a high somatic cell count...since goats always have higher somatic cell counts than cows in which the test was made for, it will always show some kind of gel during lactation. CMT is a tool to use on your herd, to keep records of how much each doe gells in differeing parts of lactation, if they gel when they aren't supposed to than send in a milk sample. But only labs can do a sensitivity test for which bacteria, and then tell you what drug killed this specific bacteria.

Along with the Pirsue a systemic antibiotic should have been added to the therapy if they think this is staph...like pennicillin and gentamycin...so perhaps they are just having you do the Pirsue until you get the milk test back from LSU? Vicki


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