Why does my goat's face look swollen?
One of six, a two year old doe. Soft squishy swelling under the jaw that was obvious this morning and looks smaller this afternoon. She is eating and up and about, no noisy breathing.
I have read enough to be worried and not enough to know what I am looking at. What should I be checking before I ring the vet so the call is actually useful?
@famacha_eyelid · 17m ago · 2 replies
Soft, squishy, fluid-filled under the jaw and bigger in the morning than the afternoon is bottle jaw, and the thing to check before you ring is her lower eyelid. Pull it down gently and look at the colour: healthy is pink-red, pale pink or white suggests anaemia. Goat keepers use the FAMACHA eyelid system for exactly this.
Bottle jaw is usually a sign of anaemia and low blood protein, and the common cause is a heavy burden of blood-sucking stomach worms, barber pole worm in particular.
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@puffy_under_jaw · 11m ago
Eyelid is pale, much paler than the others I just checked. How urgent is this?
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