# Plugged teat, 3rd freshener



## mountainaire (Apr 8, 2008)

3rd freshener, one teat is plugged. And when I feel the teat, it is kind of gnarly inside, not smooth, like scar tissue, maybe. Can't get any milk down the teat and out. 

First time this has happened for me. What do I do? 

If I don't get the milk flowing through that teat, will that side of the udder blow up and and make her sick?

Mountainaire (Vikkie)


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Well you really need to get it cleaned out maybe even having to infuse with tomarrow or pirsue Sounds like mastitis or scar tissue. have you done warm compresses and flicked the end of the teat real good so as to get the plug out? Massage that teat really good maybe breaking up the deposits in there.


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## mountainaire (Apr 8, 2008)

Okay, I'll work on it some more. 

Here's what I did since posting...

Checked and saw that the milk comes down until the last 1/2 to 3/4 inch before the orifice. Opened the orifice with a smooth wood chop-stick-like thing with Neosporin on it. Opened fine and went up maybe 3/8" Then no further. Attempts to push a little brought blood. So stopped. 

Will try compresses and massage next. 

Thanks.....

(Vikkie)


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2008)

mountainaire said:


> Opened the orifice with a smooth wood chop-stick-like thing with Neosporin on it. Opened fine and went up maybe 3/8" Then no further. Attempts to push a little brought blood. So stopped.


Ahhhhhhhh! OMG, DO NOT stick something sharp and made of WOOD inside the teat!

If you must be so invasive use a tom cat catheter or teat infusion cannula using sterile methods - ie, cleaning the teat end with alcohol as well as the instrument used to infuse the teat.

You are going to be very lucky if you didn't cause even more harm and damage than she already had!

Sara


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## mountainaire (Apr 8, 2008)

Thanks, Sara.... 

I was desparate.

Vikkie


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

BOY do I agree with SARA on this.


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## mountainaire (Apr 8, 2008)

Okay, I know it was desperate and dumb...

But, it wasn't really a sharp end. I looked for one kind of rounded....


Vikkie


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Vikkie 
Doesn't matter what kind of end it has on it. The problem is that you should NEVER EVER stick something NON STERILE or not intended to put in a teat. If your that desperate then it is certainly VET TIME.


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## mountainaire (Apr 8, 2008)

Well, after speaking to the vet, according to him, I did pretty much exactly what needs to be done to get the teat open again. However, you are all right, it should be with very, very sterile technique. He explained I should wash udder well, dowse well with alcohol and let it dry, use a very sterile teat needle (can't remember exactly what he called it) to go up and open the tract again. Eventually, if milked regularly, the tract will fill in with epithelial cells. 

However, I don't have one of those, so he will have to come out tomorrow and do it himself. 

She will probably need antibiotics as well, I am sure. 

Thanks, everyone...

Vikkie


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

They also have wax canullas you need him to bring you that you can cut down, they are made for cattle, that you can keep in this reemed out orifice after milking. It will help it heal open. Do not let him reem her passed her sphincther, or she will forever drip milk. vicki


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## old dominion (Oct 25, 2007)

I am almost positive I know what you are talking about. I don't know what it is but it has happened to me twice in 15 years. What comes out of the teat is like a thick rubber. I thought it was a mix of dry teat and milk, but I don't really know for sure. I work the teat clean. What I mean by that is that I do the hand milking motion with my hand until something comes out. You may need to start with just the teat. Work on it until everything is out of the udder. Sometimes milk will start to come out then what ever that stuff is clogs the teat up again. This may take a long time, I think I worked 40 minutes the last time it happened.

Jolene


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Glad the VET is coming out let us know how it goes.


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## mountainaire (Apr 8, 2008)

Sorry, I've been a little busy to update this. 

Here's the update. Vet came out, used a teat tube (stainless steel) to open up teat and drain all the milk (really full udder half). It was red, but not lumpy, so that was encouraging. Udder was not too hot or edematous, so that was encouragin. Teat, however, was very swollen and edematous. The tube he used was not sharp on the end, but rounded, so it gently busts through or past the scar tissue. He had just told me to use something sharpish if I had to try it myself at home alone. 

We will give her penicillin G procaine for several days. 

However, unfortunately, the teat won't yet stay open and I can't hand milk her. So... the tube has to be re-inserted regularly to drain that side. Not good for infection, but since there are no self-retaining teat tubes available nearby, I had to order one today and it will take a week, so will have to be as clean as possible. So for a week, penicillin and teat tube milkings on that side, unless the teat progresses to staying open for hand milking. 

The vet gave me penicillin G procaine. Anyone have any better suggestion? If so, I will order whatever is best today with the teat tube....

The gist is, if the teat can heal and stay open and the mastitis cured, she could possibly be okay. Of course, I guess it's possible she could always be susceptible to scarring back up in this teat, so it would be "wait and see" throughout this year's lactation if she can be completely productive again. 

If the scar tissue doesn't heal up, my option is to dry up that side and treat for mastitis if necessary until she is well. That would be the most positive outcome, hoping she doesn't get sick from it and not recover. If the udder half can dry up okay, she could be a one-teat goat. 

At least, that's what the vet is telling me. 

Thanks, Vicki, for the tip on not going up too high in the canal, in case I try this myself sometime. 

Mountainaire-Vikkie


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

do you know what type mastitis your dealing with did he take a sample to send in ?? different drugs for different types


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## mountainaire (Apr 8, 2008)

No... I know that's the only way to tell for sure. 

But an older doe had mastitis and was tested before and it turned out to be the regular staph, not the resistant kind, so.... at this point until I can send in a test, I can only surmise it is the same thing she might have picked up from the other, from the environment?

Mountainaire-Vikkie


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