Mastitus? Help

[Anonymous]

I have a simmental cow that freshened about 3 weeks ago. The calf is doing fine - feeding off the cow several times a day. The cow has one teat that is quite a bit bigger that the other 3 - swollen. My neigbor used to raise holsteins and said it has mastitus. Can someone tell me exactly what mastitus is? How can I treat it? I just bought this particular cow (along with 2 others that have not freshened yet)and she has not gotten used to going into the barn yet so I am having a hard time getting it into a stanchion - my other cattle use the barn without a problem. She is eating and drinking plenty and appears to be quite healthy. What am I looking at for a worst case senario? Any help would be appreciated.

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[Anonymous]

Mastitis is basically an infection of the mammary gland. Can affect one or more quarters. To tell if it is mastitis you will need to restrain the cow ans extract milk from that quarter. Milk with thick chunks or if it is pink is an indicator of mastitis. If that quarter is hot or feels hard it's a good bet that it is infected. Common preactice is to milk out the qaurter and infuse it with a mastitis treatment, a good large animal vet can tell you what is the common treatment in your area. This treatment needs to be done usually for several days, milk it out, infuse it. The directions for use will be on the packaging. Worst case would most likely be restricted to the lose of that quarter. But, it is still an infection and should be treated. I doubt the cow would die from untreated mastitis although their are dairyman around here that maintain the have lost cows from mastitis. I have always tended to think there were other problems afoot and the mastitis is what they saw.

dunmovin farms

> I have a simmental cow that
> freshened about 3 weeks ago. The
> calf is doing fine - feeding off
> the cow several times a day. The
> cow has one teat that is quite a
> bit bigger that the other 3 -
> swollen. My neigbor used to raise
> holsteins and said it has
> mastitus. Can someone tell me
> exactly what mastitus is? How can
> I treat it? I just bought this
> particular cow (along with 2
> others that have not freshened
> yet)and she has not gotten used to
> going into the barn yet so I am
> having a hard time getting it into
> a stanchion - my other cattle use
> the barn without a problem. She is
> eating and drinking plenty and
> appears to be quite healthy. What
> am I looking at for a worst case
> senario? Any help would be
> appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

We have one heavy milking older cow that we were concerned about when she calved for us the first time. One haf of her udder got bigger and bigger and the teats realy swelled. Turned out, her calf didn't need anymore milk then what it got from the two quarters on the right side. A she grew, took about a week or two, and she started sucking from all four. Her udder evened out and never a problem, she has her third calf now, same deal, except this calf uses the right front and left rear. Go figure.

dunmovin farms

> Mastitis is basically an infection
> of the mammary gland. Can affect
> one or more quarters. To tell if
> it is mastitis you will need to
> restrain the cow ans extract milk
> from that quarter. Milk with thick
> chunks or if it is pink is an
> indicator of mastitis. If that
> quarter is hot or feels hard it's
> a good bet that it is infected.
> Common preactice is to milk out
> the qaurter and infuse it with a
> mastitis treatment, a good large
> animal vet can tell you what is
> the common treatment in your area.
> This treatment needs to be done
> usually for several days, milk it
> out, infuse it. The directions for
> use will be on the packaging.
> Worst case would most likely be
> restricted to the lose of that
> quarter. But, it is still an
> infection and should be treated. I
> doubt the cow would die from
> untreated mastitis although their
> are dairyman around here that
> maintain the have lost cows from
> mastitis. I have always tended to
> think there were other problems
> afoot and the mastitis is what
> they saw.

> dunmovin farms

 

[Anonymous]

You mentioned in the previous response that she may loose that quarter. I do plan to treat the infection but I am unsure how long it will take her to get comfortable with the barn/stanchion. If it comes down to losing a quarter, what will happen exactly? Will she still function properly? I think they will use the barn tonight as the temp is supposed to drop down to around zero tonight - I have my fingers crossed.

Thank you very much! Jon

> We have one heavy milking older
> cow that we were concerned about
> when she calved for us the first
> time. One haf of her udder got
> bigger and bigger and the teats
> realy swelled. Turned out, her
> calf didn't need anymore milk then
> what it got from the two quarters
> on the right side. A she grew,
> took about a week or two, and she
> started sucking from all four. Her
> udder evened out and never a
> problem, she has her third calf
> now, same deal, except this calf
> uses the right front and left
> rear. Go figure.

> dunmovin farms

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

There are a few different scenarios.

1) She'll get gangrenous mastitis and it will literally fall off. If she lives, the area will eventually heal, but be really horrible while it heals. Not common but possible.

2) Her quarter will get very hard, hot and little or no milk will come out. She may or may not continue to eat. Without proper treatment, the quarter could abscess out OR will dry up and never produce milk again. Common.

3) The quarter is not infected, there is adequate milk on the other quarters and this one just has a larger teat which is too large for the calf at this age.....it will decrease in production until the calf starts nursing from it. Common.

4) She will get sick from the mastitis and die. Unfortunately this does indeed happen, depending on which bug is causing the mastitis in the first place. Unfortunately, fairly common.

I'd rope her if I had to to check the quarter...and I'd get the vet out to tell you exactly what's happening if you're not sure!

Good Luck! V