Goat receives mastectomy at UC Davis

Morgan, a 5-year-old female Alpine goat, was approaching her fourth kidding when mastitis, an infection generally caused by bacteria in the environment or trauma, was discovered on her udder. In Morgan’s case, the infection was severe enough that it caused her pregnancy to become nonviable, and she lost all 4 of her kids.

Morgan’s history

Morgan is a valued breeding and milking doe at a valued seedstock dairy herd located at Shining Moon Ranch, and her last 3 pregnancies resulted in 9 prized kids.1 Members of the herd at Shining Moon Ranch have won awards in both state and national fairs. Besides winning awards with its herd, the ranch also sells goats’ genetics to commercial dairies, hobby farms, and other breeders.

After Morgan's mastitis was first spotted, in the months following, she was treated for it but fell into a cycle of getting better and then relapsing into a worse condition, resulting in Trinity Malmanis, the herd manager at Shining Moon, meeting with the owner to discuss the goat's fate. Malmanis’ family has raised dairy goats since before she was born; she's honed her skills throughout school in 4-H and has raised prized goats. She worked in commercial goat dairy for 10 years after college and has been the Shining Moon herd manager since.

After consideration, the team at Shining Moon decided to seek specialty care for Morgan and brought her to the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), where she is no stranger to the team.

“Morgan was stuck deep inside her dam’s uterus and had her head twisted back, so that I could not get her out,” Malmanis said, sharing a little bit about the night of Morgan’s birth.1 “So, I took her to UC Davis in the middle of the night for a [cesarean] section.”

RELATED: Surgical management of advanced mammary disease in ruminants2

Although the surgery was a success, Morgan’s neck was unable to straighten after being twisted for so long in utero.1 She was cared for and housed by Fauna Smith, DVM, PhD, UC Davis livestock veterinarian and Malmanis’ sister, for the first few weeks of her life.1 During her stay with Smith, Morgan’s neck grew stronger and slowly straightened out.

At UC Davis

Morgan received an initial exam by the livestock medicine and surgery service at UC Davis. Meera Heller, DVM, PhD, DACVIM-LA, performed a mastectomy to remove the infected udder. She did not seem to be severely ill, only a little quiet and lethargic.

“I didn’t appreciate how sick she truly was until the udder was removed and she became a different goat with tons of personality,” Heller said. “I am always amazed at how stoic and tough some of our patients can be.”

Within 1 to 2 days, Morgan was a completely different goat. Malanis said it was clear how much better she felt. Several months after the surgery, Malanis reported that Morgan continues to do great. She gained weight and runs around as if this experience never happened.

“She’s back to being the boss girl on the farm. It makes me so happy that she’s so happy now, because she was so sad for such a long time when she was sick,” Malanis said.

As for Morgan’s future, the plan is for her to begin breeding again this fall.

References

1. Warren R. Mastectomy saves valued breeding goat. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. October 16, 2025. Accessed October 22, 2025. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/mastectomy-saves-valued-breeding-goat
2. McOnie RC. Surgical management of advanced mammary disease in ruminants. dvm360. September 14, 2024. Accessed October 22, 2025. https://www.dvm360.com/view/surgical-management-of-advanced-mammary-disease-in-ruminants