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Mastitis
inflamed mammary glands
A bacterial infection of the mammary glands in a nursing doe. The glands become hot, hard and painful and, in severe cases, turn bluish; both the doe and her kits can die. It is often linked to a dirty nest, sharp wire and badly managed weaning.
When to call a vet
See a vet
A vet chooses the treatment — don’t give medicines yourself. Until then, give first aid.
Call a vet the same day if a gland is hard, hot or bluish or the doe stops eating — treatment needs prescription medicine
Symptoms
- Swollen, hot, hard and red mammary glands
- In severe cases the glands turn blue-purple
- The doe will not let her kits nurse
- Fever, refusing food and water, and dullness
- Hungry kits with sunken bellies and wrinkled skin
What to do
- 1 Separate the doe from other does and handle her with gloves
- 2 Check the kits daily: well-fed kits have round bellies and smooth skin
- 3 Kits that suckled infected glands may carry the infection, so decide with a vet whether to foster them to another doe
- Call a vet the same day if a gland is hard, hot or bluish or the doe stops eating — treatment needs prescription medicine
What not to do
- Do not cut into the glands or squeeze out pus yourself
When it strikes
No clear season; nursing does are at risk throughout lactation, most of all when milk builds up — around kindling, when the litter is small or sick, and when kits are weaned abruptly.
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Prevention
- Keep the nest box and cage clean and dry and change bedding regularly
- Remove sharp wire ends from the cage
- Check the teats after kindling and at weaning
- Wean gradually and cut back grain feed a little before weaning
- Tend to a sick doe last and wash your hands afterwards
Causes
- Bacteria, most often staphylococci, Pasteurella or streptococci
- A dirty, damp nest box and cage
- Wounds on the teats from sharp wire or kit teeth
- Milk building up when there are few kits, the kits die, or they are weaned abruptly
- Infection carried on hands from one doe to another