Clear liquid in four quarters

[Anonymous]

This cow calved 11 days ago and mom and calf were doing fine. A few days ago the calve didn't look 100% so today I put her and the calf in. Calf is gant so I checked the mother for milk and found all four quaters full of clear liquid and no milk. Is this a form of mastitus and could it be in all four quarters. What should I do to her while I bottle feed the calf.



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[Anonymous]

Mastitis is an inflamation of the mammary glands. Could be any time of infection or even injury. I would almost best that there is an infection of some sort. We used to use intermammary infusions and stripped the udder dry several times a day. V the V can answer this a whole lot better.

dunmovin farms

> This cow calved 11 days ago and
> mom and calf were doing fine. A
> few days ago the calve didn't look
> 100% so today I put her and the
> calf in. Calf is gant so I checked
> the mother for milk and found all
> four quaters full of clear liquid
> and no milk. Is this a form of
> mastitus and could it be in all
> four quarters. What should I do to
> her while I bottle feed the calf.

 

[Anonymous]

I just dealt with a case of mastitis 2 weeks ago. Mastitis is the result of bacteria gaining entrance to the mammary gland and causing infection/inflamation. Some types of mastitis will cause a systemic infection causing the cow to become very ill. Other types are confined to the mammary gland, or even just one quarter.

Almost any type of mastitis will cause changes in the milk -- my cow had clear yellow fluid with large yellow globs in it. In my case, I was pretty sure that the cow had mastitis when I bought her -- she had calved not more than 2 days before hand, and her udder was almost dragging the ground and one quarter was hot, but she showed no signs of systemic infection. She came from a commercial dairy and her udder had dropped so low that they could no longer use the commercial equipment on her -- so she hadn't been milked at all since she had calved. For my purposes, even if we'd lost the infected quarter, she would still have been a good deal at 26 cents a pound.

As for treatment, personally I would call in a vet -- our vet wasn't able to come out immediately and had me rig a sling around the udder and pack the infected quarter in ice, as well as milk out the infected quarter hourly. When he did make it out 2 days later, he treated the Jersey with 2 injections of long-acting penicillin (IM), and she was to be milked 4 times a day until all swelling and heat had left the udder. The day following the first antibiotic injection the fluid had been replaced by off-colored milk, and after a week the milk appeared normal and registered normal with a CMT. As of yesterday, I'm using the milk raw and our somatic count is low enough to be imperceptible.

One thing -- be sure to handle your other stock first and to wash and sanitize your hand after handling the cow. You don't want to inadvertently carry the bacteria on your hands to the other animals.

Ann B

> This cow calved 11 days ago and
> mom and calf were doing fine. A
> few days ago the calve didn't look
> 100% so today I put her and the
> calf in. Calf is gant so I checked
> the mother for milk and found all
> four quaters full of clear liquid
> and no milk. Is this a form of
> mastitus and could it be in all
> four quarters. What should I do to
> her while I bottle feed the calf.

 

[Anonymous]

Could she be drying up seeing all four quarters are the same clear liquid with no sign of puss. If she is drying up can I give her anything to bring her milk back.

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[Anonymous]

I agree with most if not all of what Ann wrote. Frankly, without seeing the milk, the cow and the calf I'm shooting in the dark. Yes, a cow can get mastitis in all 4 quarters at once, but it could also be caused by a systemic infection spreading to the mammary system, so a thorough exam is necessary. (by a vet)

Milking the liquid out of each quarter is indicated, and do it with massage and frequency--hourly or every 2 hours is good...a lot of work but good! Also, I'd culture the quarters to see what infection you're dealing with before treating with antibiotics (we can get the samples to culture and treat immediately then refine our treatment if the culture & sensitivity demand....) Intramammary infusion of antibiotics is also possible, but on a beef cow unless you've got strict aseptic technique, I'd leave it to the vet.

Clear as mud? Good Luck V

 

[Anonymous]

> Could she be drying up seeing all
> four quarters are the same clear
> liquid with no sign of puss. Not likely, but anything is possible

>If she is drying up can I give her
> anything to bring her milk back.

Proper nutrition with good protein levels and balanced minerals. The best thing to bring back milk is being nursed. If she has a gaunt calf, there is either something wrong with her milk or with the calf. A vet will help you discover which it is.