mastitis blindness in calf

[tallarook]

Is it possible for a claf to go blind in the mother has mastitis?
Murray grey steer 3months old, not sure if mum has mastitis or not just calling vet now. How do you tell? We had a quarter horse mare with mastitis and her foal was temporarily blind. Any help much appreciated.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Never heard of this. Cannot see any connection. Let us know what the vet says.

 

[dun]

Never heard of this. Cannot see any connection. Let us know what the vet says.

I gave this some thought and the only connection I could see is the possibility of the infected milk being expressed when it butts the udder and the stuff getting in it's eyes. But I don;t suspect a correlation between drinking mastitis milk and the blindness, scours maybe, but not blindness

dun

 

[Texas Gal]

I've never heard of such but would love to know what the vet has to say about it. The only affect in the calves that I've seen is scours from the antibiotic treatment their mommas got.

 

[Tom Underwood]

I had a calf that went blind after a dam had mastitis. Actually, the eyes glazed over and became milky white.

This was a couple of years ago, and like you, I called the vet. He knew about it, said it was rare, and gave my assistant some antibiotics and oitment for the calf. He also said the odds of survival were slim. The vets' name is Pat Comyn at 540-948-5238 if you or your vet needs to contact him.

After a few weeks, the glazed-over part peeled off, the calf gradually recovered, and she became a healthy, normal yearling and cow.

Sorry that I don't remember the details, but I have had an instance similar to yours, and the blindness likely will clear up if the calf lives.

Good luck.