beef cow with mastitis....what can i do for her today?

[raykour]

I have a beef cow that seems to have mastitis. She calved on Thursday. She has general malaise and walks like her udder might hurt and kicks at it every once in awhile. She allows the calf to nurse all 4 quarters but one quarter looks larger and harder than the others and she just lays down while the calf is trying to nurse too. Her appetite isn't great but it is there. What can I do for her today? Being a beef producer I don't typically keep around the mastitis infusions....I keep around Draxxin, banamine, etc. Guess I will from now on. All vet supply stores are closed today.

 

[hillsdown]

I have a beef cow that seems to have mastitis. She calved on Thursday. She has general malaise and walks like her udder might hurt and kicks at it every once in awhile. She allows the calf to nurse all 4 quarters but one quarter looks larger and harder than the others and she just lays down while the calf is trying to nurse too. Her appetite isn't great but it is there. What can I do for her today? Being a beef producer I don't typically keep around the mastitis infusions....I keep around Draxxin, banamine, etc. Guess I will from now on. All vet supply stores are closed today.

Have you tried to strip out the quarter , it is red inflamed and hot to the touch ?

A shot of draxxin and banamine isn't going to hurt her so go ahead and give her that . Also take a temp. If is is indeed mastitis you can get a product form your vet that goes right into the teat , I always used Special Formula , you strip the quarter twice a day and each time infuse it with the product as well as treating her with meds .

 

[raykour]

The quarter isn't red but it is larger and dripping milk. The calf doesn't seem interested in sucking it too long despite the fact it is full....maybe 2 sucks then he moves on.

I gave her the injectables tonight and will get the infusions for her udder tomorrow I suppose.

 

[hillsdown]

The quarter isn't red but it is larger and dripping milk. The calf doesn't seem interested in sucking it too long despite the fact it is full....maybe 2 sucks then he moves on.

I gave her the injectables tonight and will get the infusions for her udder tomorrow I suppose.

If you can strip them out tomorrow it will be better for her,

Good luck !

 

[boondocks]

I have a related question about mastitis. (We haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure we will at some point, so I'd like to be prepared).

Our (Angus) cows are never milked; in fact, I have no clue how to strip out a teat if the cow has mastitis. Our great vet is just down the road, luckily, and would be the first call I make. But will antibiotics alone cure it if you can't get her in the chute to strip it a couple times a day (or ever)? We do have a good chute but the cows don't exactly walk in on their own accord. It usually takes a bit of doing, and requires several people--no way could I get one in the chute 2x/day, even if I knew how to strip it. Without stripping the affected teat, would we be likely to (at a minimum) lose the quarter (assuming we inject antibiotics per the vet's recommendation)?

Thanks! Trying to pre-panic; it lessens the actual panic later... ;-)

 

[Bez__]

I have a related question about mastitis. (We haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure we will at some point, so I'd like to be prepared).

Our (Angus) cows are never milked; in fact, I have no clue how to strip out a teat if the cow has mastitis. Our great vet is just down the road, luckily, and would be the first call I make. But will antibiotics alone cure it if you can't get her in the chute to strip it a couple times a day (or ever)? We do have a good chute but the cows don't exactly walk in on their own accord. It usually takes a bit of doing, and requires several people--no way could I get one in the chute 2x/day, even if I knew how to strip it. Without stripping the affected teat, would we be likely to (at a minimum) lose the quarter (assuming we inject antibiotics per the vet's recommendation)?

Thanks! Trying to pre-panic; it lessens the actual panic later... ;-)

Hint:

Build your cattle handling system so the cattle have to go through it to get to water - you will always be able to catch them up that way. There are several ways to do this but in the end they can go without feed for a long time - they always have to drink.

Makes catching easy

My best

Bez__

 

[TexasBred]

The quarter isn't red but it is larger and dripping milk. The calf doesn't seem interested in sucking it too long despite the fact it is full....maybe 2 sucks then he moves on.

I gave her the injectables tonight and will get the infusions for her udder tomorrow I suppose.

While at the vet get him to give you a dose of oxytocin. It will make her let her milk down more completely and speed up milking her out faster adn more completely.

 

[regolith]

I have a related question about mastitis. (We haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure we will at some point, so I'd like to be prepared).

Our (Angus) cows are never milked; in fact, I have no clue how to strip out a teat if the cow has mastitis. Our great vet is just down the road, luckily, and would be the first call I make. But will antibiotics alone cure it if you can't get her in the chute to strip it a couple times a day (or ever)? We do have a good chute but the cows don't exactly walk in on their own accord. It usually takes a bit of doing, and requires several people--no way could I get one in the chute 2x/day, even if I knew how to strip it. Without stripping the affected teat, would we be likely to (at a minimum) lose the quarter (assuming we inject antibiotics per the vet's recommendation)?

Thanks! Trying to pre-panic; it lessens the actual panic later... ;-)

You don't use the chute for injections?
Stripping out really helps her chances of a cure - you could do nothing and lose a quarter and the rest of the cow would be fine, that's provided it doesn't go toxic or spread to other quarters.
Try Bez's suggestion and the day you do have to get in there and strip one, tie her leg back first so she doesn't kick you. You'll figure it out once you start milking. (Of course, if you have such placid cows you inject them out in the field you may not have to tie her leg back... or even put her in the chute... to get her milked).

 

[boondocks]

I have a related question about mastitis. (We haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure we will at some point, so I'd like to be prepared).

Our (Angus) cows are never milked; in fact, I have no clue how to strip out a teat if the cow has mastitis. Our great vet is just down the road, luckily, and would be the first call I make. But will antibiotics alone cure it if you can't get her in the chute to strip it a couple times a day (or ever)? We do have a good chute but the cows don't exactly walk in on their own accord. It usually takes a bit of doing, and requires several people--no way could I get one in the chute 2x/day, even if I knew how to strip it. Without stripping the affected teat, would we be likely to (at a minimum) lose the quarter (assuming we inject antibiotics per the vet's recommendation)?

Thanks! Trying to pre-panic; it lessens the actual panic later... ;-)

You don't use the chute for injections?
Stripping out really helps her chances of a cure - you could do nothing and lose a quarter and the rest of the cow would be fine, that's provided it doesn't go toxic or spread to other quarters.
Try Bez's suggestion and the day you do have to get in there and strip one, tie her leg back first so she doesn't kick you. You'll figure it out once you start milking. (Of course, if you have such placid cows you inject them out in the field you may not have to tie her leg back... or even put her in the chute... to get her milked).

We do use the chute for injections, sync/AI, preg checks, and when one is sick. But they don't much like to go thru and it's a bit of a rodeo. The chute is in the barn (due to weather and routing considerations). So we can't really make them go thru to get to water, but maybe we should work on leading them thru it more often/casually, with some cubes as a treat? We often just leave it open with hay at the other end, to see if they'll walk thru (they generally won't); we also put in plenty of light etc and tried to lessen things that would spook them...

At any rate, we could get one with mastitis in the chute to treat with a shot, but catching one and getting her in twice a day for several days (?) to milk out would be near impossible as we're currently set up. But it sounds like that is really the only way to be sure you won't lose the quarter (at a minimum), so I will have to give this some more thought...

Thanks to both you and Bez!

 

[regolith]

*Most* cattle should quickly become accustomed to going through the chute.
If you can't handle the process twice a day, strip when you give the injections. A severe case can quickly get to the point of being not strippable and not treatable if left too long between milking, in which case you will lose the quarter.

I had a bit of a rodeo myself this morning - the entrance to the vetrace/headbail is in a 90 degree corner of the yard and I've decided the herd needs to be trained, never done it because it was difficult but not impossible to coax them in there.
So I'll start by leaving them in the yard with the headbail open a few times, see how that works. They get fresh grass every day so if that's the only way to get to it, I think they'll go.