[mariegold]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on managing my goat with chronic mastitis please.

She's had several rounds of antibiotics and lots of time and care from me but I never managed to shift it properly (there is still one small lump).

She had two kids, a male and female, about 14 weeks ago and I have just sold the male.

I would like to dry her up asap but dont want to make her mastitis worse. Her female kid is with her 24/7 but this morning her udder was big and tight. I eased her off.

What would be the best way forward from now? Should I cut out her concentrates or cut them right back? Continue to ease her udder morning and evening?

I probably wont breed from her again but keep her as boss of the herd.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[Anke]

Difficult one without actually seeing the goat....

What breed is she and how heavy milking? What is her condition?

Possibly the easiest would be to take her remaining kid off her completely, and for a while keep milking her out twice a day with proper stripping out. You then have an idea how much milk she gives right now. Then you could reduce her concentrates (but only if her condition allows!) and reduce milking, by initially not stripping her out completely, then only easing her out, then reducing to once a day etc etc. Once she has been milked for the last time I would insert (or get the vet to do it) AB tubes directly into her teats/udder.

Mastitis lumps can be present in the udder for a long time, regular massaging with udder mint certainly helps, but it will take time... also highly likely that she will get mastitis again in her next lactation...

Did you get a sample cultured to make sure you were using the right AB's? Pen & Strep does not shift all strains of mastitis, and my vet now gives Noroclav as a matter of routine.

[mariegold]

Thanks Anke,

She is a Toggenberg and based on her last lactation she gives about 2 litres a day. Her condition is ok but she has always been on the skinny side. She doesn't do that well on concentrates and always has had 'grenade' poo rather than lovely pellets! I think she cant process the protein...

The mastitis has been such an issue for her this year (she's never had it before). We sent her milk off to be tested and were told its an ecoli type chronic mastitis. The vet suggested drying her off once the kids are weaned. She had Noroclav for about 4 weeks and we tried udder tubes and pen and strep as well as herbal remedies and udder mint  

In all she was on antibiotics for almost 2 months. Most of the lumps did shrink away and it hasnt got any worse but the vet told us to give up.