I have a doe that has a pretty bad case of mastitis. I have a bottle of Biomycin 200, the vet sold it to me as LA 200, is this the same as Tylan 200? should it be given at the same dosage, 6 cc per 100#? The bottle has nothing on the label for sheep or goats, only cattle and swine. I could wait til the vet is available again on Monday, but I was hoping to start her on antibiotics tonight is possible.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 25, 2001

Answers

To the top please.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 25, 2001.

LA 200 and Biomycin 200 are both tetracycline with the same strength, 200, of the product in it. Tylan 200 is tylosin. A different drug altogether. Always keep your Jeffers livestock catalog nearby, it has all this information, with discriptions of the drugs and what they are used for. Nothing you will use in goats "that works anyway" will be labled for goats. You can use sheep and cattle drugs because goats are also ruminants but we use very different dosages.

For mastitis your best bet is to take some of the milk and put it in a babyfood jar or something clean with a lid, before you do anything. This way if you start an antibiotic, it will then be in the milk, and it doesn't work, you have a fresh sample without antibitoics in it, in case she gets worse. The first best guess is always to try penicillin with mastitis. 3cc per 50 pounds of any 300,000 unit penicillin, given under the skin, IM if she has a fever, and twice daily if she has a fever. After the initial shots IM or twice a day, because of an ill goat, you then have her blood levels up and you can go to sub q. Never use LA 200, there simply is not a need to use this product. Biomyacin can be used sub q, and doesn't sting or cause the muscle to necrose (shrivel). At the same time as the shots you should use Today if she is in milk, and Tommorrow if she is not. The only difference between the two is one is water soluiable and the other oil soluiable (because it stays in the udder until she freshens again)

Milk the doe out, clean her udder, cleaning her teat last. If you do not have a milk stand or somewhere clean to milk her you would be better off not infusing, than infusing dirt or more bacteria into her udder. A clean shaved udder with a spotlessly sterile teat is a must. Seal the infusion to the end of the teat, you do not have to insert it, and squish the med into the teat. Then sealing off the bottom of the teat with your fingers, strip the meds up into the teat, and udder, massaging the udder. Do not let the doe loose for at least 5 minutes to let the teat close back off. Repeat this morning and night, milking her out each time (and discarding the milk) for 3 days, continue the penicillin for 5 days or until the milk is clear, but no more than 10 days. Actually if in the 5 days the milk isn't clear the bacteria is resistant to penicillin and you will need to use a different drug. The new Erthromyacin infusions are also very popular right now. Albadry Plus.

Does who are defficient in copper have a higher incidence of mastitis. Also obviously unclean milking procedures. And I will blow some of my critics away with this, but I also think most folks go way overboard with their pre and post milking techniques. I mean really, if someone is complaining about chapped and peeling hands because of milking, think about the poor does! A good cleaning with baby wet ones without alcohol is fine, unless your girls are filthy. Milk, and then a thorough (10 sprays a teat here, rotating the teat in your cupped hand) with a horse spray bottle filled with clean water and 3 tablespoons of Chlorox Bleach. Thats it. We of course shave udders, bellies and legs to keep the girls cleaner to start with.

You can't have a mastitis thread without the obvious, how do you know she has mastitis? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 25, 2001.

Rebekah - My bottle of LA-200 is called Liquamycin LA-200 (Oxytetracycline injection) antibiotic. Each lM contains 200 mg of oxytetracycline. It says it is for use in cattle and swine. The vet had me give my sheep 3cc per 100# of body weight. The nice thing about LA-200 (LA stands for long acting)is that it is administered every three days instead of every day like penicillian and other antibiotics. Your info that is with your bottle of biomycin 200 should give you doses for cattle/swine you could use those amounts.

I'm not real familiar with mastitis, only had it in one of my goats several years ago. I went to the farm store and got the medicine designed for cows that you inject directly into the teat opening. It worked, but hard to say if the infection was as bad as yours.

Good luck!

-- Betsy K (betsyk@pathwaynet.com), March 25, 2001.

Betsy, I gave LA200 to a doe last Sunday for pinkeye. I thought it was a just one time dose thing, but the pinkeye has recurred today. How many times do you usually give it for a course? Thanks.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), March 25, 2001.

I'm about 99% certain that she has mastitis. her udder doesn't feel right for one thing, it is knotty and meaty feeling when it is usually soft and pliable. Her teats have little lumps and knots in them. And, she's producing a lot less milk, though she's always been one of my best milkers. It doesn't feel hot and feverish though. This doe is one of several that have udders that have felt this way in the last three or four days. Her case is the worst though. It's been raining and the goat yard is wet and muddy and the barn needs cleaning so that could be a reason. It was soft and milkable about a week ago but now there is hardly enough for her kids.

I was afraid to wait any longer without treating her and our vet hates to be hassled on weekends especially about goats(!) so I went and started her on the biomycin, 7 cc. I looked in the archives to see what you'd written about mastitis Vicki, and so I gave the first shot IM. I've only been giving it once a day, sub Q last night. I don't have any penicillin, only the biomycin. I could get some of the milk cultured now that the vet's office is open again, but it'll be that much longer to wait befor treating her. Then, in the back of my mind here is the nagging thought that maybe, somehow, it could be that my goats have got CAE. It's about time to test them again. Thanks for the help.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 26, 2001.