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Got Milk?
Mastitis? Or something else? (Dairy)
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<blockquote data-quote="milkmaid" data-source="post: 212627" data-attributes="member: 852"><p>OK- yes this does sound like mastitis. Let's make sure we have something understood right now. ;-) A lot of folks are advocates for no antibiotics and just leaving it be, or they think that a hard, hot quarter can be helped by massaging or compresses, etc. Not that it's a bad thing to <em>use </em>the latter approach, but plain and simple there's a raging infection inside the quarter and external stuff isn't going to do a thing to control what's going on inside. Either the cow's immune system has to bring the infection under control on her own, or she has to be helped by use of antibiotics.</p><p></p><p>I'm in favor of the latter. Cows can't always get the infection under control on their own and can turn into 3-quarter cows almost overnight with a severe infection. Depending on how bad it is the quarter will be killed by the infection and no longer produce milk. Or the cow will be able to clear most of the infection but not all of it, and you'll have a chronic, lingering infection that shows up as a few clots at the beginning of stripping.</p><p></p><p>So, yes the cow has an infection. Watery liquid is really bad - I'll be honest with you. When it gets to that point and/or solid clots or bloody clots, the quarter is on its way down. In other words you may lose it. (More specifically, <u>she </u>may lose it.)</p><p></p><p>Do you have <u><em>any </em></u>drugs on hand? Literally, anything? penicillin G? What would be best would be to get that treated...well, NOW. </p><p></p><p>If not, I'd go to the vet clinic and see what they've got. My first guess might be ecoli - it sometimes takes out a quarter like that. (For that matter, some strains of ecoli can kill the cow overnight too.) I'd probably go with Spectramast LC if they have it on hand. Excenel RTU (or Naxcel) is the same thing and if they have a fresh bottle and you have a sterile needle/syringe you can take it direct from the bottle and infuse it into the quarter. Vet should be able to get you some infusion tips for a syringe.</p><p></p><p>Next choice might be straight penicillin from the bottle. Again, needs to be sterile. Pen G procaine...or Twin Pen which is Pen G procaine AND benzathine. (Longer lasting stuff.) I am certain any vet would have this on hand, or you could get it from almost any farm/ranch store that stocks drugs. It's not a prescription drug.</p><p></p><p>Use ToDAY or Cefa-Lak if there's nothing else available. Shucks, use what ever you can get your hands on, for that matter!</p><p></p><p>(Remember to take a sample and put it in your freezer - not 'fridge, <em>freezer </em>- just in case you can find a place that will run a culture for you. It's hard to act without knowing WHAT you're dealing with. A small-animal vet could probably order in the plates (McConkie -sp- & blood...blood agar, I think) without too much trouble. Maybe they could put the milk samples on the plates for you... and send them to the hospital! :idea: My vet runs quite a few tests over there, believe it or not. He is a "doctor"...of animals. LOL. If you could do THAT and then take pictures of the plates afterwards I've seen several and I think I can help you read them.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's where the quarter is "milked out". No matter how much you milk a cow, you can always get a little bit more. Once the teat is no longer "full" as you're milking it, you're getting towards "empty". Reach up and touch the side of her udder above that respective quarter. If she's not extremely swollen with edema, you'll be able to press in a little bit to a lot, depending on the udder/cow. That's "empty".</p><p></p><p>Sure wish I could show you this stuff...it's a whole lot easier to show than to try to type over the internet and explain. Tell you what. I'll find the batteries for my camera and I'll take pictures tomorrow morning of udders. Before and after milking. Fresh cows and mid-lactation. Visual isn't near as good as getting your hands on the udder, but it's close. Hopefully it'll help you.</p><p></p><p>Oh...and feel free to strip ALL four quarters. Even "the calf's" quarter. It'll make that calf nurse off the other quarters if her's is empty. ;-)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="milkmaid, post: 212627, member: 852"] OK- yes this does sound like mastitis. Let's make sure we have something understood right now. ;-) A lot of folks are advocates for no antibiotics and just leaving it be, or they think that a hard, hot quarter can be helped by massaging or compresses, etc. Not that it's a bad thing to [i]use [/i]the latter approach, but plain and simple there's a raging infection inside the quarter and external stuff isn't going to do a thing to control what's going on inside. Either the cow's immune system has to bring the infection under control on her own, or she has to be helped by use of antibiotics. I'm in favor of the latter. Cows can't always get the infection under control on their own and can turn into 3-quarter cows almost overnight with a severe infection. Depending on how bad it is the quarter will be killed by the infection and no longer produce milk. Or the cow will be able to clear most of the infection but not all of it, and you'll have a chronic, lingering infection that shows up as a few clots at the beginning of stripping. So, yes the cow has an infection. Watery liquid is really bad - I'll be honest with you. When it gets to that point and/or solid clots or bloody clots, the quarter is on its way down. In other words you may lose it. (More specifically, [u]she [/u]may lose it.) Do you have [u][i]any [/i][/u]drugs on hand? Literally, anything? penicillin G? What would be best would be to get that treated...well, NOW. If not, I'd go to the vet clinic and see what they've got. My first guess might be ecoli - it sometimes takes out a quarter like that. (For that matter, some strains of ecoli can kill the cow overnight too.) I'd probably go with Spectramast LC if they have it on hand. Excenel RTU (or Naxcel) is the same thing and if they have a fresh bottle and you have a sterile needle/syringe you can take it direct from the bottle and infuse it into the quarter. Vet should be able to get you some infusion tips for a syringe. Next choice might be straight penicillin from the bottle. Again, needs to be sterile. Pen G procaine...or Twin Pen which is Pen G procaine AND benzathine. (Longer lasting stuff.) I am certain any vet would have this on hand, or you could get it from almost any farm/ranch store that stocks drugs. It's not a prescription drug. Use ToDAY or Cefa-Lak if there's nothing else available. Shucks, use what ever you can get your hands on, for that matter! (Remember to take a sample and put it in your freezer - not 'fridge, [i]freezer [/i]- just in case you can find a place that will run a culture for you. It's hard to act without knowing WHAT you're dealing with. A small-animal vet could probably order in the plates (McConkie -sp- & blood...blood agar, I think) without too much trouble. Maybe they could put the milk samples on the plates for you... and send them to the hospital! :idea: My vet runs quite a few tests over there, believe it or not. He is a "doctor"...of animals. LOL. If you could do THAT and then take pictures of the plates afterwards I've seen several and I think I can help you read them.) That's where the quarter is "milked out". No matter how much you milk a cow, you can always get a little bit more. Once the teat is no longer "full" as you're milking it, you're getting towards "empty". Reach up and touch the side of her udder above that respective quarter. If she's not extremely swollen with edema, you'll be able to press in a little bit to a lot, depending on the udder/cow. That's "empty". Sure wish I could show you this stuff...it's a whole lot easier to show than to try to type over the internet and explain. Tell you what. I'll find the batteries for my camera and I'll take pictures tomorrow morning of udders. Before and after milking. Fresh cows and mid-lactation. Visual isn't near as good as getting your hands on the udder, but it's close. Hopefully it'll help you. Oh...and feel free to strip ALL four quarters. Even "the calf's" quarter. It'll make that calf nurse off the other quarters if her's is empty. ;-) [/QUOTE]
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