[Mazeltine]

My doe has a large cut running from the top to nearly the bottom of her teat. I believe it if from barbed wire. It is deep, through the skin and into a layer of whitish fat, but not leaking any milk. The cut happened yesterday, has already stopped bleeding by the time we noticed it. We have been cleaning it and treating it with a herbal soak and herbal disinfectant spray and bandaging it twice daily.

She seems fine, the wound is not showing any sign of infection. It does not seem to bother her for us to touch it. She is in milk and her kids are nursing without trouble over the bandage we put on it, keeping the udder with not much milk in it. She does not seem bothered by their nursing, either.

I am wondering whether I should have her seen by a vet. Should the wound be stitched up? Is it possible to stitch it days after the wound occurred? Does anyone else have experience treating wounds like this with natural remedies?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[ksalvagno]

Probably too late to stitch but I would consult a vet.

 

[Goats Rock]

Make sure her tetanus shots are up to date.

 

[Suzanne_Tyler]

I'd also boost her immune system with garlic and probiotics and apply vitamin e gel to the cut.

 

[happybleats]

good advice...and yes, please give tetanus antitoxin shot ( not cd&t or the tetanus toxoid...need the antitoxin) ..4 cc sub q asap..if you vaccinate, you will need to update her cd&t in ten days after the tetanus..

should also watch for signs of mastitis although from the sounds of it, the cut is not deel enough to leak milk so not deep enough for bacteria to enter, but do keep an eye on it.

 

[Mazeltine]

Thanks

Hi all,

Thanks for the information and suggestions!

She seems to be doing great, no sign of infection and the wound looks to be healing quite quickly. I have been feeding her garlic as well as treating the wound with a garlic, comfrey & rosemary solution. I've been taking her temperature and keeping penicillin on hand just in case anything seems to be going south, but she remains in the normal temperature range.

She has not had a tetanus booster in the last year, so I am considering the tetanus antitoxin shot. Although, it seems that tetanus is not generally a concern with wounds that are wide open and have been cleaned with an antibacterial agent. From what I have read, it seems more of a concern when the wound is very deep and can not be cleaned or has gone unnoticed. Any ideas? Any reason not to give the antitoxin?

I have been milking her on her wounded side twice daily, since she has become a little reluctant to let the kids on there, and no signs of mastitis.

Thanks again for all of your help,
M

 

[mariella]

The only reason not to give antitoxin is because it's very "toxic" to the animal. We don't vaccinate our animals and have never had any problems. Just recently one of our does cut her teat open(with barbed wire) to the point it was gushing milk and it healed fine with herbs. Just make sure it's clean and as long as she says it's fine your good.
I have pictures of the teat(with a scab) if you want to see?

 

[happybleats]

We don't vaccinate either...but had a baby donkey get tetanus...we were able to save him, it was along haul for him and us.. but it has taught me not to mess with tetanus...its a horrid disease...with that said..I think the cleaning you are doing to prevent infection is good and yes, puncture wounds are most susceptible..but so are rusty dirty wires...IMO I feel we protect now and detox later.

 

[toth boer goats]

All really good advice.

I do vaccinate CD&T