MASTITIS is so cruel.....

Our Anglo-nubian goatling kidded on April 1st; i will not forget it in a hurry! The first kid was coming out backwards so we tried to push it back & turn it but to no avail....it was already dead so had to be pulled out.It was a billy & quite big. The next kid came 15 minutes later & although Kenya needed help the kid was fine & she took to her straight away. After another pause another billy was brought out. Kenya was really tired but she licked the kids & fed them that all important colostrum. The second two kids are very small but very cute! They are a sort of silver colour, quite difficult to explain.
The next day all seemed to be well; mum was looking after the kids really well although she didnt eat a great deal herself, preferring to have just redigrass & some warm molassed water. We treated her homeopathically to make sure her insides repaired themselves. Sunday came & Kenya began to seem unsteady on her feet & look a bit confused so we gave her a calcium injection as the kids can drain their mums reserve & she cannot produce enough to cope herself. This seemed to help & again she seemed ok. Monday morning her udder was like rock on one side so we took the kids off straight away which did not bother her as she felt too ill by this stage. A partition had to be made to seperate these newborns from the bigger kids & a heat lamp set up over them. They were quite happy & took to a bottle straight away which was a relief. Next was to ring the vet & see what we had to do. We went to town & collected some serum to put into the teat to disolve the mastitis & relieve the pain & also an antibiotic injection for 2 days to kill any infection she may have got from the assisted kidding. By lunchtime the udder had turned blue & was really gold; this means it is gangerous & basically dead. We have to keep drawing off any milk/water or mostly blood & be really careful as it is highly contagious to the other goats.
Tuesday morning & i feel thankful she has made it through the night she is so poorly. She will not eat anything offered even her very favourite things. When a goat does not eat it can lead to all sorts of problems within the rumen so we shall have to try & boost it with the correct sort of bacteria. She is also not drinking so we have to give her fluids in the form of electrolytes which replace the salts & sugars which their bodies need to avoid dehydration. She is also having garlic to kill bacteria & we are massaging the udder with a natural deep heat cream. It is so cold to touch & she is in so much pain.She will have more injections tomorrow.....i just hope that they work......

The kids are fine on a good note.