Weird Injury, What Could Have Caused It?

[Bad Habit]

So, Tofu, my NZW doe, had a lump on her hip. I was terrified that I had systemic P, because I butchered a doe last winter that seemed to have systemic(her meat was marbled with pus, I didn't even feel safe feeding it to the dog).

Well, I put on my protective gear and arm myself with a nice sharp knife and a big wad of tissues and go in to puncture/express the abscess. I take the knife and puncture it gently, pull the blade away and... Water. The lump drains itself without any assistance, I wipe the water up(which is clear until the very end, then it has a slight pink tinge). Disinfect it, slap some polysporin on it and am ecstatic that it was not pus.

I imagine it was a blister of some kind. The water was clear and completely odourless. Puncturing, cleaning and treating the would brought forth absolutely no response from the doe(Other than mild annoyance that I had stopped petting her.) I cannot imagine how on earth she got it.

Is it likely that it was just some form of blister(perhaps a bug bite, or a nip from her neighbour, or she pinched herself somehow on the cage?) or is there a very rare disease that didn't come up in my internet search that is running though my herd now(although Tofu had but one blister, which is on its way to healing.)

 

[Miss M]

It sounds like a cyst -- basically a membrane-surrounded pocket of fluid. It could have formed as a result of a plugged skin pore or a bug bite or scratch or something.

It could come back, but that's less likely if you removed the skin covering it. The polysporin might be sufficient, but she might lick it off. Most animals won't lick Nu-Stock off, if you have access to that.

If it recurs, you may need to remove the entire cyst, including the membrane surrounding it. I would definitely try to get Nu-Stock for that.

I don't think you've got any contagious issue going on here.

:clover:

 

[akane]

Cysts happen for a lot of internal or external reasons. If it is causing no discomfort and isn't steadily getting larger you don't need to remove it. I actually have a small one on my back that just refills so they said ignore it. If it hurts they can surgically remove it. Some are full of skin oils instead of liquid, sebaceous cysts. Also harmless. There is no contagion or infection so provided it isn't somewhere it gets in the way of movement the only issue is on a show table.