Recognizing Chest Wall Infection early
crucial to survivability By Ashley Hassebrook
Jenifer Keys wasn’t expecting to lose her buck Harmony Hill Gunslinger to a chest wall callus infection. At first she didn’t even know what it was. She expected it to be an easy fix – Betadine, flyspray, topical penicillin – the usual trio. Keys thought she had it handled.
But it wasn’t nearly that simple.
She was at Nationals when she got the call that Gunslinger was down with a temperature of 105. The usual vet was out of town and the stand-in oncall wasn’t sure how to do an IV on a goat and was only able to get him started on oral electrolytes and antibiotics. When Keys returned home after nationals she and their usual vet, with the help of an IV drip, were able to nurse Gunslinger back to some semblance of health – but they still weren’t sure what was wrong with him.
“I’m not sure why we as an industry aren’t talking about this,” Keys said, “I think it might be because this happens to people and they think they’re an isolated incident, that this condition is pretty rare. But it’s something that we should be talking about.” With Gunslinger back to normal, Keys took another feel at where the infection had been – only to find a pocket. The infection had turned the tissue in the area necrotic. They made arrangements with the vet to have surgery done. During the surgery Gunslinger seized and died. Afterwards, during a post-mortem autopsy, the vet discovered that the infection had wrecked havoc on his lungs – leaving only 20 percent of his lung tissue functional. “Even if he had survived the surgery, he wouldn’t have been able to survive our summer, when it’s so hot and humid,” Keys said.
“At first we thought it might be pneumonia or laminitis,” Keys explained, “The person we had watching our animals while we were at nationals noticed that he was having trouble breathing and favoring his front feet.”
Keys isn’t the first to lose a high-profile buck, Ruger Reloaded also succumbed to a chest wall callus infection.
So Keys palpated her way up both of his front legs, until she saw him wince when she got near his armpits.
While Keys admits she is not a expert in chest wall callus infections she has learned a lot from Gunslingers’ ordeal. According to Keys and what she’s learned recently from other breeders is that the infection often starts out small and more common in hot, wet areas of the country where things stay muggy for a good portion of the year.
“When I pulled my hand away it was covered in blood and puss,” Keys said. So Keys and their vet went to work with another IV of electrolytes and antibiotics. After a few weeks Gunslinger was acting normally again, Keys explained. That’s when she started posting to Facebook about Gunslinger’s condition, and that’s when the comments started pouring in. Comments from people with similar experiences – all wondering why they hadn’t heard of this condition before. 28 - The Boer Goat
So what should you know about chest wall callus infections?
These infections are also more common in bucks than does, and they are usually large, heavy animals, not light-weight junior animals, generally. “If you see a pink spot [on their chest] that’s when you should start treating for the infection,” Keys explained, “Then it’s still treatable. Don’t underestimate its severity. You don’t want the infection to go systemic.”