Packed jaw in fawn

Antlershed · Jun 23, 2014

I noticed a huge jaw on one of my mother raised fawns. It's 5 weeks old and seems in perfect health and by some miracle, I was able to catch. Upon inspection, I noticed he was just about 102 degrees, mild fever. I thought the swelling was exterior, so I made a relief cut with my scalpel, but nothing but blood. Then I put my finger in his mouth, he has a hole under his tongue, and it goes down into his gums. There was a bad breath odor, and white secretions. I squeezed some out. I wasn't prepared tonight, but I did flush with water and iodine, I also gave him an IV of 500 ml of lactated ringers in six different injection sites for the fever. I gave him 3/4 cc of draxxin also.

What can I do about him? With this large hole I fear he will keep getting re infected until he eventually dies from it. In all honesty, would it be best to put him down and save him the miserable suffering from inevitable infection again and again, or is there anything at all I can do? I hope there is someone who can help. I am so bummed to see this, I feel bad for the little guy.

Bluff Country Whitetails · Jun 23, 2014

I had a similar situation a week ago. More than likely fuso. I gave 1.5cc nuflor and .2cc draxxin. I repeated the same treatment 4 days later and now after a week she is just fine. Good luck with your fawn.

Antlershed · Jun 24, 2014

Ok thank you. I will work with him, that big hole just seemed so hopeless to me, but I am glad you had good luck. I can try and catch him every day or every other day and give shots, he's with the momma but he likes to lay in my unfinished handling barn so that makes him easier to corner.

RyanR · Jun 24, 2014

Is it near where a molar could be coming in? Around that age I see fawns begin to teeth and can cause abscesses, but fuso is also likely. I always give a couple nice shots of penicillin and it clears up. Ryan

zmcgill · Jun 24, 2014

Antlershed,

I think I have a similar problem here on a 5 week old.

I pulled her on Sunday night because the mother has a rear hoof problem, and I don't think she has been feeding her for about a week, or a little more. She hasn't graphed to another mother. I have seen her feeding on grass and leaves, but she was crying for moma all last week. and every time she or her brother get close she will walk away from them. I have seen the buck fawn steal milk from other mothers. He is sneaky about it, and when the other mothers realize it is him, they run him off. I'm not sure If i could catch him, he seems extremely quick. I think I will leave him in the pen, at least until I think he is not getting fed, and i can catch him.

That lump is pretty hard, and I can't squeeze anything from it. If it was impaction I would think that when I squeezed it it something would come out somewhere on the inside. I put her in the barn and in about 2-1/2 hours tried to feed her some redcap, and she took about 4 oz. That was on Sunday night, now she takes about 8 oz at a time.

Bell · Jun 24, 2014

Zane

Fusobacterium will cause both foot rot and lumpy jaw.

Saturate the doe's sore foot with kopertox and give her 2cc of Draxxin Sq and also give her 3cc of Reflor in the muscle and it will clear up

Antlershead

Your fawn likely had an abscess rupture causing the hole. This is also likely the result of a fusobacterium infection. I would give him guessing he is approximately 15 lbs 1/2 cc of Resflor 3 times over 10 days. If possible confine the doe and fawn where the fawn can be captured daily to clean the jaw of impacted grain/grass. The hole will close if he is treated carefully. If not his teeth will began to fall out and his jaw will fracture if the bacteria doesn't also go to his lungs and kill him quickly with bacterial pneumonia.

Antlershed · Jun 24, 2014

Thank you guys. Zane my fawn looks similar except his swelling is more under the jaw. I will keep working at it and pray for the best.

Bell · Jun 24, 2014

Antlershead

The Draxxin you gave will probably do the job. It is important to catch lumpy jaw early and treat it. The little abscess in the skin of the cheek will pop and heal most of the time w/o intervention. When swelling is outside the little knot in the corner of the skin of the cheek the fuso- infection is generally deeper in the tissue and bone. This must be treated. This hard swelling in the side of the jaw and underneath is lumpy jaw. Zane's is the classic look.

Antlershed · Jun 24, 2014

Bell, thank you. I was spying on the little bugger tonight. He was out with a group of does feeding on a bale of alfalfa I threw in. He was really munching away on the alfalfa. He looked so much better tonight. His swelling was down 80%, he had a giant appetite! and he was playing with his twin brother bouncing around all over the pen. So I didn't bother to interfere tonight.

Bell, do you think I should catch him again tomorrow and check out his abscess and possibly give more draxxin.? Should I try reflour tomorrow? I know draxxin usually is in their system for a while so I don't want to overload, I actually went a little heavy on it yesterday when I gave him 3/4cc, but I did that intentionally because of his mild fever. He was so happy tonight, despite me wanting to catch him to do a check up I opted to let him alone tonight. He really did look well.

Bell · Jun 24, 2014

Catch him tomorrow give him 1/4 cc of banimine in the muscle. Have someone help you hold him and check his cheek for impacted food. Flush it out like you did before. After four days from his first shot of Draxxin catch him again clean and flush his cheek. Give him 1/2cc of Draxxin SQ. Don't give the banimine again. From then I would watch him and pray.

Best of luck!

Antlershed · Jun 24, 2014

Thank you Bell. I will keep you updated. I rigged a trap near his favorite bedding spot. I should be able to catch him even easier than last night. He is one of those naturally docile animals. He has always had very little fear of humans since birth, however after several days of catching I am sure that will change quickly

Antlershed · Jun 25, 2014

Bell I caught him again. He still looks healthy. His mouth was stinky again though, and he had more infection showing. I swabbed it all out, then gave him banamine as you said, also I gave just .2 cc of draxxin just because I saw more white infection. My sister was kind enough to snap a pic for me. This is what I am dealing with, I have his tongue held out of the way. What product can I use to clean the infection out of his mouth. I put a little iodine in there, but I know that is not the best, but it's all I have right now.

Antlershed · Jun 25, 2014

Exterior view.

Bell · Jun 25, 2014

I would love to see Jerri Lee or one of the other DVM's who post on here respond about this. I felt because you started treating him with Draxxin it probably was best not to switch antibiotics midstream while treating him. I don't think you needed to give Draxxin again so soon. You could give him 1/2 cc of Nuflor 3 time over ten days. I would wait 3days before you start this treatment. You have given him a pile of antibiotics. Use an empty syringe to flush the infected area inside his mouth. I would use Dr Tichenors concentrate mouthwash and don't dilute it. Squirt it right on the infected area with the syringe. I would catch him and do this daily if you can. Definitely give him probiotics while giving him the antibiotics. You do not want the infection to hollow out a pocket where food will become packed. I think it is very important to keep the back of his inside cheek flushed out.

Four Seasons Whitetails · Jun 25, 2014

I think you will have to let it heal up on its own as far as the inside hole, He is young so the antibiotics will have time to work before he starts on full time sold foods. That outside pic is not bad really. I have one on the heal that was much worse..minus the hole..and i used Nuflor Gold and Draxin and its on its way out. about a week into treatment i guess.

If he lets you catch him somewhat then i would maybe mess with the inside of his mouth but i had one that popped and she had flies crawling into her mouth from the side and flying back out when she opened her mouth and she healed great. To much catching him may make it worse than just catching him say 1 a week for a shot. We darted our girl once a week in dead heat of summer for 8 weeks straight. They will heal with help!!! Good Luck!

jerrilee cave · Jun 25, 2014

as one of my old profs told us in school the best solution to pollution is dilution.

Antlershed, iodine is one of the wonders of the world and is fine to use in that wound, just dilute it to a tea color with saline or water to flush, your not trying to cauterize. I don't know but if he were mine it might be worth knocking him out and REALLY CLEAN the wound out the best you can and get all of the dead tissue out so what you see is good tissue.

Sometimes they can amaze you at their healing abilities. I had a buck fawn that is now 2 that had an abscess around a rear ankle and claw. knocked him out twice, cleaned REALLY well and packed with furacin ointment and couldn't believe he made it. He is an extra gold son and has no effects from that incident.

Bell · Jun 25, 2014

Antlershed

It was very nice of your sister to help you out. I've got three little girls and another on the way next month. I hope they will help out their Daddy on the farm. My wife's Dad is a diary farmer and he had three girls in a row. I am sure he was praying for a boy to help on the farm. My wife and her sisters all drove tractors, baled hay and climbed the silos for silage. I am very thankful for the little girls God has blessed me with. I wish I had spoken up in my first response of how nice it was of your sis to take that picture of his nasty infection.

Even if he heals if he gets that pocket in his cheek you will fight infections his whole life and it will be very hard to get him to thrive.

Antlershed · Jun 26, 2014

Thanks guys. Bell the thing that concerns me is, like you said, the possibility of this always coming back. It's a big hole under his tongue so he may always have problems with food laying in there. All I can do now is try and see if he can heal up as a fawn, maybe the wound will turn callous or possibly heal shut. I have become fond of this little bucks personality and his will to live, he will be a fighter for sure. Bell, I pray all goes well with your newborn when she comes next month. It sounds like you have a great wife and daughters already, your girls will grow up farm tough, lol, they will learn what it is to work and take care of deer, they will be harder workers than most boys are now a days.

Bell · Jul 10, 2014

Zane and Antlershed

How are your fawns lumpy jaws and Zane how your doe's foot?

Antlershed

I have been really worried you might have given your little guy to much Draxxin.

zmcgill · Jul 10, 2014

The fawn is fine. I gave her a little Nuflor, the lump decreased in size, and the about a week or so later it came to a head, and started to drain on its own. I would give it a squeeze when she was taking the bottle, This went on a few days. Then a couple of nights ago I got ahold of her, and my wife drained what she could, and I gave her some more nuflor, I think it may be done, and is going to heal fine.

The mother with the hoof problem is still pretty bad, The last time i put her out to work on it the infection didn't seem as bad on one part of her hoof, but the other part was worse. I drenched, and wrapped with the Koppertox, and only gave draxxin. She is not responding to anything I have done. I have a call into my vet, to see if she can come over and see if she has any ideas. At this point I don't think the weather has had a negative impact on it. It doesn't look any better to me. but at this point I can't hardly get close to her. I try to get a look at it with binoculars everyday, and it just doesn't look like the swelling is going down at all.

Packed jaw in fawn

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