How to Treat Caseous Lymphadenitis in Goats
Caseous lymphadenitis, commonly referred to as CL, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that occurs in goats throughout the world. The bacterium enters your goat's body through breaks in the skin--usually from cuts or abrasions--and when your goat ingests pus from a ruptured abscess. CL frequently takes months to produce visible symptoms, most notably large, pus-filled abscesses on your goat's body, usually where lymph glands are located (particularly those around your goat's head and neck area). Although CL cannot be cured, you can and should treat the abscesses that result from this infection to minimize the spread of CL to your other goats.
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Things You'll Need
- Isolation pen
- Milking stand/restraint post
- Disposable rubber gloves
- Disposable scalpel
- Paper towels or napkins
- Disposable syringes (at least 2)
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Iodine
- Bleach
Instructions
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Isolate the infected goat from the rest of the herd immediately. Since caseous lymphadenitis is so contagious, you need to minimize your other goats' chances of contracting an infection from the abscesses. Put the infected animal in a separate location, ensuring that it does not share a fence line with your other goats and has its own individual feed and water containers, as well.
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Locate CL abscesses on your goat's body. Restrain the goat in a milking stand or by clipping its collar to a sturdy post. Have a partner hold the rear half of the goat still while you check for abscesses. Put on rubber gloves and start checking at the goat's head, carefully palpating around the goat's head, neck and jaw area to check for the distinctive raised bumps. Slowly work your way toward the rear of the goat, paying careful attention to the shoulders and rear flanks as well as between the goat's legs (in the udder region). If an abscess doesn't have hair on it, then it is about to rupture on its own, so touch it gently to minimize chances of rupture.
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3
Open and drain the first CL abscess. Use a disposable scalpel to carefully slice through the surface of the abscess. Gently push on the sides of the abscess with your fingers to make all of the pus drain out, collecting all of it in paper towels or napkins before it drips to the ground. The pus is usually the consistency of toothpaste.
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Cleanse and flush the abscess. Fill a disposable syringe with hydrogen peroxide and spray it gently into the abscess cavity. Repeat this process until the area appears clean and all pus is washed away. Fill another disposable syringe with iodine and spray it into the abscess cavity, coating the entire surface of the abscess.
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Repeat this cleansing process (open, drain and flush) for each CL abscess on your goat's body, making sure you have finished each abscess completely before moving on to the next one. Return your goat to his isolation pen.
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Sanitize the treatment area with a strong cleanser such as bleach to prevent environmental contamination and further infection of other goats. Burn the gloves, scalpel, syringes and any other disposable materials you used.
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Keep the animal isolated until the abscesses have healed completely. Continue to check all of your goats for CL abscesses regularly so you can conduct prompt treatment and minimize transmission.
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Tips & Warnings
Lance the abscesses in a location that has a concrete floor in order to maximize your ability to thoroughly sanitize the area after treatment.
Once a goat develops CL, she is a lifetime carrier of the bacteria and may develop additional abscesses at any time. Consider permanent isolation or culling (selling for slaughter) as the most effective ways of preventing transmission to your other goats.
