My 6 year old buck has a huge mass on his shoulder. It started in 2 months ago. As he is not a valuable buck I was not to concerned about it.I thought it was just an infection from a gouge he got from his litttle boy. Anyway it continued to grow. After talking to the vet I followed his advice and put him down to give him some antibiotic and to open the shoulder to drain it. After opening I found no puss. It seems to be just a very large solid mass. I have been giving him penicilin but he dosent seem to be getting any better. he does not walk on his leg anymore and doesnt leave the shed. He is still eating good and will stand up for his treats. Has anyone seen anything like this before and can you give me any advice on what to do. As I said he is not very valueable,but he is my sons first pet deer. I would like to try to save him, but Im not going to want to spend a lot of money on him. Thank you.
What is this!!!!!!!
- Thread starter hunter 1997
- Start date
Joined Apr 2009
1,485 Posts | 0+
Vaughn, MT 59487
I can't believe that is not an abscess. Did you use a large needle and check deep inside that growth in many areas? The sides of the growth seem to indicate it's growth is pushing between the rib cage and skin. I had one that had a growth like that and we had to go deep into the area. We did take over two gallons of puss out and he is doing fine now for a year. If that is not an abscess and really is a hard growth it would be a tumor of some kind and require surgery.
I didnt go deep I just made about 3 cuts in different areas and found nothing. I do believe that is between the rib cage and behind the shoulder blade. How did you go deep into the area with yours? If it is not puss in that area and is a tumor I guess my only option would be surgery unless there is some other option. Do you or any one else no of any. Thanks.
Joined Apr 2009
1,485 Posts | 0+
Vaughn, MT 59487
I think you need to use big gauge needles to find the puss by pulling back on the syringe. I found the most floppy area at the lower edge of the puss area and made a quarter size hole and pushed out the puss. I then stitched a plastic tube in the hole to keep it open to continue to drain. I went in about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch when I knew I had puss behind that area. I also felt your bucks puss was between the shoulder and rib cage and was expanding out. I would think you should be able to find puss at the edge as it looks like about two inches thick. I think if it is a tumor your best bet would be to put it down.
How much does a deer have to be worth before you worry about infection
As he is not a valuable buck I was not to concerned about it.I thought it was just an infection from a gouge he got from his litttle boy.
As he is not a valuable buck I was not to concerned about it.I thought it was just an infection from a gouge he got from his litttle boy.
Joined Apr 2009
1,136 Posts | 0+
Bedford, PA
What I meant was I was not to worried because I no how tough Whitetails are, and I was thinking he would be able to recover from the small cut on his own.
Seriously?? As much as we are stewards of our herds, I think that the value of the animal has quite a bit to do with how much we are willing to spend to "save" them.
Well I guess to each his own but i personally dont care if I have a 100.00 dollar deer or a
100,000.00 dollar deer I chose to raise him and Im not going to treat one better because he is worth more.Im not saying spend a fortune on every deer but at least make some attempt, and yes if you check back in the post I have spent 1600.00 dollars on a vet bill last year for a fawn that came home from the vet and died three days later. So no there is no value of a deer that would make its care any better or worse
100,000.00 dollar deer I chose to raise him and Im not going to treat one better because he is worth more.Im not saying spend a fortune on every deer but at least make some attempt, and yes if you check back in the post I have spent 1600.00 dollars on a vet bill last year for a fawn that came home from the vet and died three days later. So no there is no value of a deer that would make its care any better or worse
I believe Hunter wrote because he wanted some advise. It's obvious to me that he does care about the deer. He took the time to call his vet, took pictures of the deer and posted them on here asking for advise.. He also knocked the deer down to try and find the infection. I also think that if someone doesn't have something to say to actually help him and only wants to slam the guy, that they should keep those opinions to themselves. We have enough trouble with people that don't understand deer farming and why we do it. We don't need to get greef from fellow deer farmers. We should be here to help one another.
Hunter, please keep us posted on how your deer is doing. I for one would like to know.
Hunter, please keep us posted on how your deer is doing. I for one would like to know.
Joined Apr 2009
640 Posts | 0+
Mineral Point, MO
Hunter, good luck with your deer and keep us posted.
ekljr,
Most of us raise deer because we love it and would do so even if there was no money to be made. But on the other hand this is also a business and with every business sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on. I do think Hunter wants to do whats best the his buck but knows at some point he has to draw the line.
ekljr,
Most of us raise deer because we love it and would do so even if there was no money to be made. But on the other hand this is also a business and with every business sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on. I do think Hunter wants to do whats best the his buck but knows at some point he has to draw the line.
I agree with Warren and your right pasture prime its obvious he cares. I think if you do like Jack was saying you will be all right and if it is a tumer probaly would just put him down unless you want to spend a lot of money.Keep us posted things like this may help someone else in the future.
Thanks for the kind words Pasture Prime. I do care about this deer very much, but Im also unemployed at the time and money is a big factor for me right now. That is why Im trying to do everything I can by myself. I can touch Him and pet him , which I did yesterday. I cant find any soft spots which might be a puss pocket. Im thinking about putting him down today to open him up again and see what I can find. Im going to try a large needle first. but Im not to sure Ill be able to help him. I will update soon. Thanks.
I see this alot on this forum. Why do people feel they are so much better then anyone else? People come here looking for help but when they ask the get slammed for their actions. My self I like to see all the things farmers have happen so that in the future if it happens to me I might know what to do. If everyone gets slammed do you think anyone will post their problems? let me answer that for you No they will not. So who losses? let me answer that also. Everyone!!! So if your not here to join together with your fellow farmers, do us all a favor and go somewhere else and be your miserable self!
Joined Apr 2009
1,136 Posts | 0+
Bedford, PA
Tundra Ridge Whitetails said:
I don't want to distract from the original intent of this post anymore than I obviously already have, but this post is certainly not helping either! First of all, no one is "slamming" anyone else. And it has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with feeling that I am better than anyone else. The original post of his stating "he is not a valuable buck, so I wasn't too worried about it" didn't start things off on the right foot.
My concern if you must know is how it looks to any outsiders that may visit these forums. We are under attack from the anti's on a constant basis, and they will sink their teeth into anything they can. That as well as the basic responsibility that we all sign up for of caring for our animals in a humane and ethical way are my concerns... PERIOD!
All I would ask is that before you spout off about how we are "slamming" someone or being "miserable", you may want to think for a moment that our motivation actually stems from something positive!
To the OP... I wish you well with your buck. If I can help in any way please let me know.
Hunter 1997, where are you located?? There may be another deer farmer close by that may be willing to come and give you a hand.
Tundra I agree......people come on here asking for advice and God forbid should they word something wrong. Most of us in here have common sense...LETS START USING IT!! It was very obvious Hunter came in here with a question........... yes he may have stated the deer is not valuable and that does NOT mean he doesn't care about the animal......in fact if he didn't care do you think he would even be on this forum asking questions on how to help the animal??? Again, this is where i say USE COMMON SENSE! If we want to be concerned about our opposition we need to be more concerned about how we act with on another and we need to all get along......Lets quit looking for ways to pick each other apart and try lifting each other up for a change.....Here is a good idea.....if you think something was stated wrong then send the person a PRIVATE MESSAGE and discuss it with him there.....then he can actually come on and edit his post or he may not........but doing it this way will make us all look better in the long run!! Hunter let us know how it went....I hope things work out for you......I know we all love our deer or we wouldn't be in this business.......I also know our deer do hold different monetary values and sometimes we need to look at things from that standpoint as well especially if it is an animal that has little or no chance of recovery!! Good luck! Keep us posted!!
Im in Illinois. I did find another deerfarmer close who is going to help me.He is not available till next week though. Im hoping my buck will make it till then. We are going to do some exploritory surgery then and see what we can do. Ill keep everyone informed.
Hunter to you I appologize, I should have contacted you personally and as Dennis wrote
and told you how your post is comming across or at least how it is worded. I do not know you or the kind of person you are and I was WRONG. The rest of you GET OVER IT. Your more worried about my post than his deer. All Im going to say is Hunter I APPOLOGIZE please accept my appologee, and I dont know if I can do anything or even if you want my help but if I can do anything let me know
and told you how your post is comming across or at least how it is worded. I do not know you or the kind of person you are and I was WRONG. The rest of you GET OVER IT. Your more worried about my post than his deer. All Im going to say is Hunter I APPOLOGIZE please accept my appologee, and I dont know if I can do anything or even if you want my help but if I can do anything let me know
EKLJR it takes a big person to apologize and for what its worth you have gained my respect.......Lord knows I have made my mistakes on these posts and I believe I have learned from them......i try to remember we are all together on this same deer farming journey and we all love what we are doing and want what is best for our animals!! I just want to see us all get along......I have opened my mouth plenty of times on here when I shouldn't have and try to be more postive now with my posts.......I held back for a while on this thread but really did feel Hunter was being treated unfairly for a general statement he made not meaing he did not care for his animal. That was pretty cool for you to apologize!! Wish more on here had the courage to do this when it is warranted.