Margo May Have Mastitis!

I went out to check Margo last night and one of her udders was swollen and hard. It had a hard lump about the size of a golf ball behind her nipple, with softer swelling around that. Yikes!

I went out this morning and her udder has doubled in size! The hardest part is the size of a hot dog bun in her udder, with a defined ridge on the outside and softer swelling all around and stretching out down her belly from the udder. There is definitely heat present as well. She also has a bit of puffiness/swelling above her eyes. Agrhhh!! Just kill me now!

I called my vet this morning and am waiting to hear back. I looked online (self-diagnosing!) and I think she has Equine Mastitis, which is an infection of the udder.
I found a good pdf on the subject "Udder Problems in Broodmares" Her other udder is soft and deflated as normal. I hope this is what it is, so I can avoid an expensive trip to the vet.

Worry, worry, worry! It's all I ever do! I am just an anxious owner, I guess. But Margo is all I have, and I cannot afford to replace her, so I do what I have to do...
I can't figure out the cause, all the articles I have read say it can be from many different things... I know that just two days ago, I started feeding my new hay (this years hay) so it could be caused by that; also two days ago I turned the donkey out with Margo and Peter for the first time (could be caused by a kick); I also cleaned a bit of smegma from between Margo's udders yesterday (could be caused by that, un-hygienic); Margo is also a big ol' fatty (could be caused by that, an over production of estrogen in an obese mare)... Arghhhh!!!

Here is the only picture I could find online, Margo's swelling is not NEARLY that bad.(Yet) I will update the situation as soon as I hear from my vet. *Fingers Crossed*


See my other post "Comfirmed - Margo Has Mastitis"