I have a goat that through all this reading, I am beginning to think she must have mastitis. I don't have a thermometer yet (getting it tomorrow), but her teats were very warm tonight. It was 90 degrees outside too, so that may be it, but she has always had a lump in her larger teat. She is lopsided from her kid nursing more on one side. It is the not-very-nursed side that has the lumps up in the upper part of her teats. I finally have her drinking water, IF it has koolaid in it , she won't drink any other kind. She still fights and kicks me when I try to milk her , though I keep on until she is pretty dry. Today though, I did not keep up with it due to her kicking me in the face. I finally got her to stay still by holding her tail and collar on her neck in one hand while I milked with the other hand, but that is no fun. If she has mastitis, should I be throwing her milk away? I have been pateurizing it if I mananged to keep any from being stepped in or thrown on me from her kicking. I then made it into sour cream. We did get to drink some of her milk when we first got her since she let me milk her a bit easier then. Could this be from her being so picky about what she drinks, or mastitis? Could the mastitis make her kick like she does when being milked? The guy that I bought her from has offered to trade her back with two pygmy goats, but if there is any hope that I can get her to work with me, then I would like to keep her, she is a real sweety when she isn't being milked.

Cindy Cluck

-- Cindy Cluck (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 14, 2000

Answers

Ok, there are a few things I need to know. Is her milk on that side clumpy or stringy? Is it a funny color or does it look like it has pus in it? Is the stream of milk the same or does it seem like less is coming out? Does she kick you when you milk both sides or just one? Milk some into a strainer and see if there are any lumps in it. Some goats have naturally lumpy udders and do not have mastitis. If it is mastitis milk do NOT drink it. It is full of bacteria and is not good even pasturized. If her udder is hard and is lumpy all over than you definietly have a case of mastitis. If on the other hand her udder is soft, but has a few lumps in it. check for lumps in the milk. if there are none it is most likely not mastitis.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), June 14, 2000.

Her udder is lumpy on that one side, not on the other. The milk is very white, creamy and tastes sweet. It has no bad odor and does not seem to have pus in it (wouldn't that look kind of oozy coming out?) She does not like either side milked. She will let me start with that one side (the large one) first, then start to wiggle and kick, then I move on to the other side and by then, she is totally uncooperative. The one week we had good milking ,I had given her koolaid in her every bucket of water. I have been trying to cut down the amount of koolaid, would that affect things? First we thought that she fought so much because she was taken away from her baby (it was 3 1/2 mths old). We also bought a 3 mth old pygmy goat when we bought her. So, we thought maybe she was confused and was trying to save her milk for the pygmy, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. She has not been with the pygmy very much since we thought this to be a problem, plus, we have her on a tether ( 20 ft long with ability to go in a cirle). She has torn up all but one fence that I made trying to get to the bird pen up front since that is where she was raised. I have finally made one fence that she likes and has not torn down yet, but since I need more then that to make a fence ;-) she is on a tether. I move her all over the place so that she has plenty of roaming places, but she mainly just wants to lay in the shed and have the food brought to her. Is she just spoiled? She is one year old according to the previous owner. Whew, this turned out long, sorry about that, I had asked about mastitis and you got a whole biography! ;-) I hope this is enough info to be of some help, I sure to appreciate any help I can get!! :-)

Cindy

-- Cindy Cluck (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 14, 2000.

Hi Cindy,

Sounds like your having a lot of problems! Fences and goats can be a BIG headache. I have found cattle panel ($$$$) and/or elctric fencing works the best. You need a SERIOUS shocker and that is the least expensive route to take. Also it is fairly portable!

As for her milking, and the lopsided udder, it sounds to me as though she is in pain. I wouldn't think mastitis from your description of the milk, but it could be something as unfortunate as CL in the udder. Caseous Lymphadientis. If the lump is predominately on the outside of the udder you could have it incised and checked by a vet. Call around for a vet that KNOWS goats in your area. I had a terrible experience because of my vets lack of knowledge combined with my own.

If she is soo into sugar I am wondering about an imbalance in her diet that causes her to crave it. Maybe ketosis...but I am not as versed as most of the "goat folks" here.

You might need to massage her with warm towels on the udder to get her to calm down for milking. Also, if she is only a year old she is probably not too accustomed to the entire milking experience yet.

You can probably get her to work with you, just might take more time than you would like! Best of luck!

-- Doreen (livinginskin@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

Thanks so much. I will begin calling around and see what I can find in a vet. I hadn't thought about getting a shocker, but now that you mention it, I do remember my Dad using one on our billy when I was growing up.

Cindy

-- Cindy Cluck (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

The above answers have covered most everything, but since she nursed her baby, a good possibility is that she just doesn't want to let you touch her udder, because YOU are NOT HER BABY!! If you watch livestock, whatever type, you'll see the kicking and fussing that goes on when a baby tries to nurse the wrong mother -- it is a rare momma that will put up with that. On the other hand, one of our does decided that I WAS her baby, after a difficult birth, with the kid removed from the pen immediately -- here I was with birth fluids all over me, and she smelled me all over, and bonded -- for several days, whenever I left her, she set up a terrible fuss!! Had no problem getting her to let her milk down for me!! :-) The lumps may or may not be serious, but it is worth getting them checked out, just ot be on the safe side. And when she kids again, if you can manage to be there and slip her baby away without her bonding with it, and get her to bond to you instead, that may make milking time a little easier!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 15, 2000.

I agree with Kathleen's answer. I doubt that it is mastitis, since the doe isn't ill and the milk tastes fine. I would think her temperment is from nursing kids, without any hand milking going on. We actually try to breed Nubains with good temperments, and one of the reasons that if we do allow a first freshener to keep her buck kids to nurse, we still milk her twice a day, in the normal milking routine, even if all we have to milk is 3 squirts. We then teat dip her and let her finish her grain, this way when we wean the bucks, or notice that she is weaning the bucks, she is already used to the milking routine. I would definetly get the lumps aspirated and have the material sent to Washington State Diag. Lab P.O. Box 2037 Bustad Hall, Room 115N, Colleg of Vet. Med., Pullman Washington 99164 509- 335-9696 for a CL diagnosis and to a local diagnostic clinic for staph or strep or Mycoplasm. I wouldn't drink the milk from the affected side until I got the results back. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 15, 2000.

I don't think bonding is a problem here. The day we got her, she rode in my lap on the way home, and she doesn't want me to leave her. She will follow me around like a puppy dog. I will take her baby away from her when she has one and see what happens then. We had a bit of change in the lump since I began this thread. It feels larger and nice and soft. Today I got twice as much milk as I have been getting from her. She still fought, but not as much. She REALLY liked the warm towels and massage. The other side feels like an empty bag, so substance to it, is that the way both sides should feel? I can't believe I can't remember how they feel after milking goats my entire childhood. I guess it is different now that I am grown up and a good many years later since raising goats. I sure do appreciate all the help I am getting. I have made a few calls to try to find a goat savvy vet. I do want her looked over.

Cindy

-- Cindy Cluck (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

I'm glad the towels were a help! I didn't bookmark the site, but when I was looking for a knowledgeable vet I found a directory through a Google search...I think I tried goat+veterinarians+directory.

Re: her "empty side", is she drinking water better? Could just be congested from her dehydration previously, and hopefully she will be more consistent as she acclimates to her new environment. Do follow Vicki's advice on the testing of the udder. It's REALLY important that you know. Take Care!

-- Doreen (livinginskin@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

I am still trying to find a vet, will try Google. Her udders are getting to be closer in size as I milk her (one was really small, the one that has no substance to it) the other one, the lump is softening up, yet feeling larger. I am milking her out and still getting the same one cup from each side each day when I get her to calm down. I called the guy I bought her from and he said she was gored real hard on that udder. I really wish I knew this when I bought her. He said he didn't know how to treat it, only that it would make her have a large swollen lump inside her. Anyone have any experience on this? Questions questions....I really appreciate the help though! THANKS!!!

Cindy Cluck

-- Cindy Cluck (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 16, 2000.

If being gored caused the problem, it could be an abcess or scar tissue. As far as the bonding issue, if she was bottle fed herself, she considers people to be her "mommies" -- but not necessarily her "babies" who should be allowed to touch her udder!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 16, 2000.

Oh, that makes sense, her being a baby, not me...I hadn't thought about it that way. She would not want me touching her udders then..makes sense. We have really good improvement!!!!!!!! I have continued with the massages and the lump is half the size it was yesterday!!! Boy, when I milked her out today, I got alot more milk then I had ever gotten out of that side, so maybe things are clearing up.:-) I hope so!

Cindy Cluck

-- Cindy Cluck (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 17, 2000.