Lumps in Teats Blocking Orifices in Ewe

[mysunwolf]

The Long Background Story: My ewe Dora had a very bad form of mastitis last year that she developed just before she lambed. We caught it very early and she was able to produce enough milk to raise her lamb by herself. However, the vet warned that she could have problems in the future. We were willing to give her one more chance, so we bred her last fall.

She did fine with lambing and had twins. Her milk production is small, but enough for the babies who are healthy and always have full bellies. They did get soremouth at only a few days old, but it has gone away quickly.

However, I went out today, the babies seem a little hungry, and the orifices in her teats are completely blocked by huge lumps. No milk is coming out, and her teats are hot and chapped, I think from lambs chewing on them trying to get milk. My first guess is that this is scar tissue from her mastitis last year that has descended into the teat area. Her udder is not hot and only full, not hard.

I've got some sheeps milk from last year thawing for the lambs (who are 1.5 weeks) and some goats milk on the way. Just hoping I can get lambs this old to take to the bottle... and remember how to take care of bottle babies.

I have a call in to the vet, but they haven't gotten back to me. The Question: Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I plan to treat with Banamine for pain and swelling, and Oxytet for infection, but otherwise I am clueless. I can't even get any milk out to save for a culture.

Update: Just went out to give Banamine and Oxytet and we watched the babies nurse multiple times! Flipped her and checked the udder and teats, udder is certainly harder with odd hard lumps in it but not hot at all. Teats have weird lumps in and on them, here is a bad photo.

I was able to milk out a little bit of milk so I think the babies are definitely getting some. Hopefully the banamine will help with any swelling/pain and Dora will continue to produce milk for the babies. But I think Dora is going to be on the list for freezer camp this spring.

UPDATE TO ADMIN: this is not an emergency anymore, just general sheep stuff.

 

[Latestarter]

Hope you get it sorted out. Sorry you're dealing with additional issues.

 

[mysunwolf]

Hope you get it sorted out. Sorry you're dealing with additional issues.

Thanks Latestarter. Guess I should've known that we're never out of the woods when sheep are involved.

Good news is the babies have both sipped from the Pritchard nipple. I used milk from the other ewes, though the babies are keeping everyone milked out very well right now. We'll see what happens with Dora. Right now her milk production is way down (as you can see from the photo, this is 1.5 weeks into lactation) and her udder is lumpy. But the babies seem okay. I think I'm going to just start supplementing with bottles 2x a day just in case.

 

[Sheepshape]

It's a blessing that the lambs are taking bottles....it's a bit of a nightmare to try to train older lambs to take a bottle when they have only taken from mum.

It does look like she has mastitis, but not very severe.

Over here,I'd give her Metacam (?similar to Banamine) and a course of penicillin and streptomycin or stronger antibiotics from the vets.

Her lambs need to still try to get off the milk . If she won't let them suckle, then it important to milk her. If the milk obtained is not heavily bloodstained, feed any milk back to her lambs from the bottle.

Good Luck.

 

[mysunwolf]

Thank you @Sheepshape! Her milk looks normal, no blood at all, no fever at all. I have given her Banamine but it didn't seem to make much difference. I've watched the lambs nurse her now multiple times, she only rejects them about 50% of the time. They are big bellied and very active still. I've put out creep feed for everyone and stopped offering anyone a bottle, and Dora's lambs were the first to figure out the feeder.

My vet thinks that this may be severe scarring and/or dead tissue from her mastitis issue last year, but that it is not actually mastitis this year. The other possibility she listed was a virus or OPP (even though they have all tested negative). Neither of us is sure. I don't want to do extensive blood work right now and possibly come up with nothing. I think we'll see how the lambs grow and do more blood work and culling in the late summer/fall like we usually do.