Gangrene Mastitis: Friday, June 6, 2008 | Day 34

Introduction

Toggenberg doe, Andi, kidded with two boys. She was still giving milk even though the kids have been weaned for over a year. I wanted her to dry up and was told not to milk her. However, I suspect the donkey has been nursing her and kept her in milk. Now, this has escalated to gangrene mastitis.

This is not meant to be medical advice. This is only to keep track of my experience for my reference and to show a visual time line of the progression for anyone else who is unfortunate enough to have to go through this with one of their goats.

One thing I have learned is that immediate action should be taken at the first sign of mastitis. In the case of gangrene mastitis the goat's life is threatened and if she doesn't receive antibiotics within the first 24-48 hours, she will likely die. I was fortunate enough to have gotten Andi antibiotics the day after she showed signs of being ill. I still wonder, had I started treatment even sooner, if this wouldn't have spread as far up the udder as it did, although from what I have read, this would have progressed as it did, with or without intervention.