The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Oopsiboughtasheep on August 07, 2018, 10:50:57 pm

Title: Mastitis in non lactating sheep
Post by: Oopsiboughtasheep on August 07, 2018, 10:50:57 pm

One of my pet sheep (age 4yrs)  who is not and never has been in lamb, looks like she may have mastitis. Very swollen and inflamed looking udder (one side only) warm to the touch. She is a bit quieter than usual and I have no antibiotics or analgesia to give her, so will call the vet first thing in the morning to get her looked at. I didn't know that they could get mastitis without lactating. As a relative newbie to sheep keeping (only 4 yrs) I would be grateful for any information on this or advice re: why this may have occurred? I have looked online but can only find info on pregnant or lactating ewes. Most of the information also says that they might die, which is very worrying.
Thankyou.

Title: Re: Mastitis in non lactating sheep
Post by: Anke on August 08, 2018, 06:34:52 am

You will need an antibiotic and also some pain relief, like flunixin (NSAID) asap. I would also reduce her food intake to dry hay if possible. No idea on a prognosis, I never had mastitis in a non-lactating animals, but it can happen if infection gets into the udder.

Title: Re: Mastitis in non lactating sheep
Post by: Buttermilk on August 08, 2018, 08:01:19 am

Summer mastitis is spread by flies, our dairy heifers were prone to it if we relaxed the fly control.  Antibiotics and pain relief are a must.

Title: Re: Mastitis in non lactating sheep
Post by: Oopsiboughtasheep on August 08, 2018, 09:33:19 am

Many thanks for your replies. Vet has confirmed it will be due to flies (despite her being Clik'd only 8 weeks ago). Someone coming out to her today for antibiotics and pain relief. What a constant learning curve animal husbandry is and how helpful this forum is to me. Thankyou.

Title: Re: Mastitis in non lactating sheep
Post by: Anke on August 08, 2018, 09:53:48 am

I have just googled it - never heard of it before… and now I am going to be paranoid for my goatlings in particular, as they do have small udders, but not being milked. Heyho… the flies are really bad this year!

Title: Re: Mastitis in non lactating sheep
Post by: shep53 on August 08, 2018, 06:58:44 pm

Summer Mastitis in sheep is rare , I have only come across it once in some one else's  empty shearling   ,treatment worked well . In heifers it is common and rarely  a bullock gets it  .  Clik does not keep flie's away it only deforms any maggots that are laid  plus it will be biting black flies that cause summer mastitis