Ask the Veterinarian/female nipple

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Expert: - 5/20/2011


Question
Hello, my female boxer had five puppies about 4 weeks ago. She has been very good about feeding the puppies. However one of her nipples has gotten very swollen. I have tried to drain her nipple by pressing on it, but I got very little out. I don't know if it might  be infected. What should I do.?

Answer
Squeezing it will only make it sore, because the swelling is in the tissues of the teat, not that it is too full. She has mastitis in this teat and it will abscess if not taken care of quickly.

You need to do warm and cold compresses alternately on the affected nipple. She may even need antibiotics from your vets. Dealing with mastitis can be tricky once it abscesses so try and avoid that at all costs.

Here is an article on mastitis for you to read:
http://www.petplace.com/article-printer-friendly.aspx?id=3882

As you can see, this is pretty serious. So you should get her to the vets tomorrow if you can. If this has been ongoing for a while she might already have started to abscess.

In either case, she need to see the vet right away.  

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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