Preventing and Treating Doe Mastitis

1 Symptoms

The doe’s gland is red and swollen, she refuses to nurse, and temperature rises. There are three types by severity: ordinary, suppurative and defect-type.

Ordinary: red swollen gland, black nipples, rough coat, warm skin; she can still nurse, only briefly.

Suppurative: pus-forming bacteria leave small black-bean-sized lumps under the skin; the skin darkens and abscesses form, burst and drain, and usually self-heal.

Defect-type: early just red swelling, then turns purple-black and spreads across the belly; the doe is dull, feverish, inactive and stops eating. This is the deadliest, killing in 4 to 6 days.

2 Prevention and Control

Keep the cage and nest clean and disinfect; before birth reduce concentrate to avoid oversupply.

Ordinary: early, express the trapped milk, clean the gland, then make a paste of roasted wheat-gluten powder mixed with vinegar and apply it once daily for 2 to 3 days.

Early stage: cold compress, later warm compresses; then intramuscularly inject 800,000 IU penicillin, 10 ml of a supportive injectable solution and 1 ml dexamethasone, twice daily for 3 days.

Defect-type: local injection of the same drugs plus fish-oil ointment on the wound. Severe cases: open and clean the abscess, wipe with sterile gauze, dust with antibiotic powder, and give systemic antibiotics.

Prevent doe mastitis, especially in nursing does.