Posted by GoatWorld on January 22, 2001 at 18:52:12:
In Reply to: postpartem doe has swollen labia posted by Janet on January 22, 2001 at 16:48:37:
Hello Janet,
Please bear in mind that I am not a vet so any advice from myself will be based upon experience only.
It sounds as though she may not have passed the placenta and this may be causing an infection of sorts. To be honest, I am not sure how you would check this but I think you might want to feel around inside for anything unusual.
The drug that you mentioned that was given by the vet, if this is the same drug I am thinking of (Depro Medrol) it is given for such things as metritis, mastitis, etc. I really am unaware of its effectiveness or usefulness as it is not listed as being used on goats though it is used on swine, cats, dogs and horses for uterine infections and such. I believe it also contains a steroid.
I'm curious to know as will be others, did you worm the doe prior to kidding and with what? We had a doe that had swollen labia as well though it did go down after about a week. We later determined this to be from worming in late pregnancy.
How was the milk from the enlarged udder? Did it have a normal color or did it show any signs of blood or a stringy consistency? Milking out the udder will help to relieve some of the pressure.
My best advice here would be to watch this doe closely over the next several days. Try to get some advice about the drug that has been prescribed - I honestly do not know if this is the right or wrong choice - I certainly do not want to second guess the vet but some vets are limited in their knowledge of goats and will treat a goat with the same drugs as they would a dog or a horse.
The whole incident may be a simple case of stress even though it appears that everything went smoothly. If the kidding was not observed, there's no telling how long the actual kidding was.
You may also want to try a some Vitamin B as well.
Hopefully some others will respond to your post as well. I hope I have at least been a little helpful.
Please keep us posted.
Best regards,
Gary