Thursday, September 23, 2010

Udder Update

Ginger seems to be doing better. It doesn't show very well in the photo because she still has scabs on her udder. But the redness is gone and the scabs are different. I'm assuming that is because the infection is gone, but whatever is causing the allergic reaction isn't. The scabs look as if they are healing at this point, but I'm not going to do the 'Happy Dance' until they are all gone. Maybe I'll do a little 'Happy Dance' if half of them heal and fall off!

After two injections of Exenel (two days worth) she had flakes of skin that peeled off her udder. I'm assuming that was dead skin, perhaps the most irritated skin, that had died and fallen off.

She is still milking 5-6 lbs twice a day. We don't want to dry her off unless the vet asks us to. She's our experimental doe. She kidded out in March 09, so she has been milking continuously for 18 months. We would like to see how long she will milk before she needs to be bred again.

The vet called yesterday. He hasn't gotten the results back yet. He'll call as soon as he gets the results and has a chance to look them over. He's on the other side of the country attending some specialized Army training. He's an Army Veterinarian, too.

The darkest scab near her leg is where one of the samples was taken from. There are a few stitches there that will be removed after 14 days. The other scabs seem to be healing, but I've gotten excited a few times about stuff looking as if it was going to work, so I'm a little hesitant still.

3 comments:

Marie said...

I hope she is on the road to recovery! It looks so uncomfortable.
So if it is an allergy, how will you declare what she is allergic to. Do they have allergy tests for goats?

Linda Foley said...

Thanks for the update. I am looking forward to learning the results. Before internet, I was clueless of so many ailments goats have. I had goats in the mid 80's but then didn't have any more for a while. At the time my goats did fine with me being ignorant. Then I got into computers and internet and started research about goats, what to feed, and how to take care of them. Then I discovered so many problems that I almost didn't get any goats again! But I have learned so much since then. When something like this comes up with your goat, it makes me want to know why...

TJ said...

Marie,
it looks uncomfortable, but I honestly believe that humans feel physical and emotional pain, so in a sense, things like this are more painful for us. But I am convinced that animals feel pain in a whole different way. Not that they don't feel it, but since there doesn't seem to be an emotional part to the pain, they take it in stride better than we do. She doesn't scratch or seem to bother with the scabs at all. They would drive me crazy!!

Linda,
I am also very, very grateful for the internet! I've learned so much by searching around. We also have a few books that we turn to often. If I had known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have let Vet2Be get goats! I would have been too afraid to do something wrong and cause them to get something or to be deficient in something.... I had no idea what complicated creatures they could be--but oh.... we love 'em!