Doe with swollen lip... :/

[cmjust0]

So, my wife just called and said that one of our doe's upper lip was swollen on one side. Dunno what it is, but we suspect she may have pulled a Christmas Story on a pipegate or frozen water bucket..

Think "flagpole."

Yeah...that little trick.

But with the inside of her upper lip.

We dunno that for sure, and the poor gal wasn't cooperating well enough for my wife to get a good look.. It's obviously hurting her pretty good, though. What sucks is that it's sooooooo cold and she's not really eating very well. Wife said she was trying to eat but it was obviously difficult.. An empty rumen = a chilly goat.

I'll check it out more when I get home. If there's some sort of abrasion or lacerated ( or mascerated? ) looking soft tissue on the inside of her lip, she'll get a shot of banamine for pain and swelling.

Weird.

 

[ksalvagno]

Hopefully it will be something simple and heal quickly.

 

[cmjust0]

It was swollen pretty good last night, and looked like there was a little raw spot right on the bottom of her lip.. If it were summer time, I'd think it was a bite or sting.. The 'peachfuzz' was gone around it, though, so I'm sorta leaning toward it being a flagpole + 15* temp thing. We'll keep an eye on it.

She's fine otherwise, but clearly taking it easy on the lip.. She went around to the side of the hay feeder where she wouldn't have to worry much about competition or eating too fast. Very deliberate in picking up and chewing her hay. Thought about a shot of banamine for pain and swelling, but I hate using banamine...it's hard on the innards.. Unless they really need it, I try to avoid using it. She didn't reeeeally need it, I don't think.

Anyway...guess we'll just keep an eye on her.

 

[ksalvagno]

One shot of Banamine wouldn't be that hard on the innards. At least it would probably help with the swelling and pain. If it is cold, I'd rather make sure they are eating plenty of hay.

 

[cmjust0]

If she were pretty bad off, I'd have given it.. I've been giving her and two others extra grain to put a little more condition on them, and she ran right over for that.. Then straight from there to the hay feeder...she's just eating more slowly's all.

If it's still swollen tonight, I'll probably hit her with Banamine. If it's still swollen tomorrow...I'm calling the vet.

 

[cmjust0]

Okay...last night, the sore spot was leaking.

She got a round of tetracycline. I'm nearing the end of that bottle of Bio-Mycin, and it was oxidized. Must have really hurt...she was already squirming halfway through the shot and bolted away when I was done.. Started picking her front leg up, stomping the ground, etc.. Not even an IM shot, either.. I'd have given Banamine too, but the oxytet made her mad enough to go stand in a corner instead of eating. I figured it was best to leave her be.

If I don't see improvement tonight, she may well go to the vet tomorrow for an exam and possibly a culture, just so we know we've got the right antibiotic.

I'm thinking now that it must have been a thorn stick or something but...on the lip? Seems really odd. I've seen them bury their heads in thorny hedgeapples and they LOVE eating thistle in the summer...would think their lips are fairly impervious.

 

[ksalvagno]

Hopefully nothing too serious but obviously it is starting to abscess. At least you saw it and gave her some antibiotics.

 

[cmjust0]

Yeah, and ya wanna hear something really cool that I just realized?

I gave a shot of oxytet to an early bred doe without even THINKING about it.. Isn't that just super?!?!?



I know some folks do it routinely and there's some debate about the issues it may cause, but dang...not giving tetracyclines to a bred doe is goat 101.

Feeling like an idiot right now.

ETA...it's not like I forgot about the issue...I just didn't think about her being bred! How pathetic is that?!?

These are the days when you just wanna say...screw it...I'm not raising goats anymore.

 

[ksalvagno]

Well, I'm sure one shot won't hurt her. You can always switch over to the Excenel. That is safe for pregnant females. It happens. You get busy and want to take care of things and just forget.

 

[cmjust0]

So, I just called the vet to get a pro's opinion on two things...

First, on how bad I screwed up by giving tetracycline to an early-bred doe.. I've read where some people say they'll abort, some say the kids get weird bone-related birth defects, etc...and then others say the danger is vastly overstated and really no biggie at all. I've never done it before so I have no first-hand experience...but...like...I'm picturing skeletor with long ears or something.. That's what's in my head when I think of bone-related birth defects.



Second thing was, I wanted an opinion on what antibiotic he thought I should switch to. I figured for sure he'd say Penicillin, which would suck, because she'd need about 9.5ml, 2x/day for 10-14 days.. I don't personally like to put more than 6ml of any med in one spot unless it's critical, so that means 2 jabs at a lick, twice a day. And since Pen G is a suspension with big particles, an 18ga needle is more or less required.. Ugh. Four stovepipe jabs a day is NOT cool..

His tech called me back and goes "He said it wasn't a big deal. Sometimes the kids come out with yellow teeth, but that's all."

I was like...oh, well, that's not so bad...whew... And just as I was about to ask what to switch her to, the tech said "So, yeah, you can use it."

I was like..."Um...wait....so, he said I could just continue her on the tetracycline?"

"Yep."



Allllllllllllrighty then. I mean, he brought up stained yellow teeth...specifically mentioned it...so I know it's not like he's just totally unaware that there are issues.. And he's been treating large animals for a long, long time.. He's a super vet..

Yet, even after hearing that......I'm still wary of actually taking his advice!

What would you guys do? Would it weird you out, too, or would you be like...sweet!

Part of me thinks it's sweet to give a scant 4.5ml/day for a few days of a broad-spectrum med that works reasonably well on more bugs than Pen G, and get to save her the annoyance of four sticks a day for a looooong time...like, 10 days.. That's *40* jabs..

The other part of me, though.... I can just see a kid coming out looking like elephant man, or smiling at me with a mouth full of bright yellow teeth..