Dealing With Mastitis (Dr. Trish, Medicine Woman)

One thing you've got to watch for with cows in milk is mastitis.  The system that we normally follow has been a good one in that we've not had any problems with mastitis.  That system is: We separate the cow and calf at night and we take all of the morning milk.  The cow and calf are put back together in the morning after we milk, and the calf nurses hard all day, emptying the udder.

LuLu calved last time in the middle of a drought giving birth to a little bull named Nicky.  She was heat stressed and didn't produce a lot of milk.  As a result, we let the calf have all of the milk.  Then, one of LuLu's teats got cut and she wouldn't let the little bull nurse on that quarter because it hurt her.  She'd kick him off of it when he'd try.  It was a few days before we caught it, and by then, mastitis set in the front left quarter.  We tried and tried to clear it, but were unsuccessful.

A month ago, after LuLu calved Betsy, we tested and the teat that was injured last time still tested for subclinical mastitis.  That's a condition where the milk shows no visible signs of infection and the udder is not red, hot or sore.  The good thing is the udder is separated into four quarters and they are self-contained.  So for the past three weeks, we milk the 3 good quarters for our use and let Betsy clean up the quarter we didn't milk as well as the rest that we did.  She does a good job of emptying all the quarters.

But we've got to get the affected quarter cleaned up.  Here's what we did: Tricia contacted Synergy Animal Products in Pennsylvania.  They offer organic udder care products.  We used a protocol called "A Farmer's Secret."  We mix 10cc Yellow Jacket, 10cc Excell 7000 and 10cc Cellex.  These are products that Synergy sells.  Those three products are mixed and put into a syringe fitted with a teat infusion cannula.  The contents are then injected into the affected quarter by means of going up the teat.  Here is Tricia getting it done.

We make sure LuLu is distracted while eating sweet feed and alfalfa.  She didn't seem bothered by it at all.

Almost done!

This is done three milkings in a row after the udder is empty and then we keep the calf off of her between milkings.  The second part of the protocol is rubbing SCUM on the affected quarter.  SCUM is Super Cow Udder Mint and it smells great!  

You rub the SCUM all over the bag, working it in real good.

We also gave an oral dose of Ex-Cell 7000.  15cc's of this is put into a syringe and I held up her head and gave it to her.  It must taste good as she didn't object and swallowed it all.  

This was repeated for three milkings in a row and then we waited a week.  Once the week was up, we tested for mastitis using the California Mastitis Test (CMT).  We did this just this morning at 6AM.  To do this you squirt milk from each teat into a paddle and squirt a solution into the milk and swirl it around.  If it thickens, it shows you have mastitis.  The amount of thickness indicates the level of the somatic cell count of mastitis in each quarter.  Time for the moment of truth!  We applied the solution an swirled and.... (drum roll)

NO THICKENING.  The subclinical mastitis was cleared up!  Success.  It's so nice to see positive results!

Instead of milking out three quarters, we'll be milking out all four.  We'll be happy.  Betsy?  Not so much!

Treating LuLu's Mastitis

One morning we went out to milk LuLu and when we started to milk, something wasn't quite right.  LuLu is normally a gentle milker, but she kicked and kicked.  Tricia noticed that she was kicking when Nicky tried to nurse.  He's rough with her.  In a few days, she wasn't as sensitive, but she allowed Nicky to suckle.  The next time we went to milk her, we could tell that the left front teat was hard.  When we started to milk, it was difficult to get the milk to flow properly.  It was as if there was something messed up in the teat.  We assume that somehow Nicky, LuLu's bull calf, did something in nursing that messed it up.  

Due to the fact that the teat was damaged by Nicky, she didn't allow him to completely empty it out and LuLu got subclinical  mastitis in that front teat.  Tricia did the California Mastitis Test and confirmed that she had a slight case, even though there was no visible sign of mastitis in the milk from that teat.  The other teats were clear, so we've continued milking those for us.  We're leaving the affected teat for Nicky to clean up.  In a few days, the teat didn't appear to have the same difficulty in milking, but a trace of mastitis was still there.  

We knew that we needed to treat that front teat.  Tricia uses Synergy Animal Products product called Superior Cow Cream to put on the udder and Ex-Cell Countdown 7000 to treat up the affected teat into the quarter.  We got LuLu and Nicky together and let him completely empty her out.

We filled a syringe with 30 ml of product with a teat infusion cannula on the end.  We make sure we keep everything sterile.  We wash the teat with an alcohol swab.

The syringe is inserted into the affected teat.  You would have thought that she would kick, but she didn't.  She is used to standing there, without kicking, while we milk her.

The product was slowly injected.

And soon was emptied into the quarter.

We keep the the calf, Nicky, away from LuLu all day long.  Twelve hours later, we let him nurse and repeated with a second dose.  We separated them.  The next morning, we put them together, let him nurse, and then finished up with the third and final dose.  By the time the third dose was inserted, she kicked a little, letting us know that she was not happy with the treatments.

We'll now wait for seven days and then do another California Mastitis test on that teat to see if she is clear.  If it isn't, there are other products that we can try to resolve it.  In the meantime, we'll continue milking the other 3 quarters.  We'll see how the results from the test turn out and how we'll proceed in a week.

Not For The Squeamish or Faint of Heart

Rosie is the matriarch of our little herd of Jersey cows.  She's the oldest, the leader, the bell cow.  Her breed, Jersey, tells you she is from the Island of Jersey, which sits in the English Channel right off France.  The temperatures are much nicer there.  Rosie is not real keen on the tropical climate in south Louisiana.  She gets very hot.  She pants.  Her tongue hangs out.  Often, we'll spray her down with water. 

She has a spot that she likes to sit in.  It is on the east side of our barn under a roof.  It is shady and cool.  Here is a photo of Rosie's shady oasis, where she seeks respite from the heat.

Rosie is mom to LuLu.  LuLu is two months old, so Rosie is very much in milk.  She has a nice big udder.  Well, here is the uncomfortable story of Rosie's latest adventure.  Rosie sits in the mud to stay cool.  Her body is sprawled out to get cool.  When Rosie went to stand up, she stood with her sharp hooves ON HER TEAT!  Ouch!  When she lifted herself, there was a big problem.  She continued to rise while standing on her teat.  Something had to give.  Rosie's sharp hooves sheared off a portion of her teat.

When Tricia and I went to the barn for evening chores, Tricia noticed that one of Rosie's quarters had not been emptied out by LuLu.  We looked and thought that there was mud on the teat.  I told Tricia, "Well, that's why LuLu won't nurse on that quarter.  I'll go spray it off."  So I took her outside, turned on the water hose, set the nozzle to the "jet" setting and began to spray off the 'mud.'  Rosie began kicking violently.  The 'mud' would not come off.  I quickly discovered that it wasn't mud - it was a big scab.

We tried to milk the quarter out, but Rosie was some kind of mad.  No success.  If you can't get the milk out, mastitis will set in.  Tricia visited our vet and got some antibiotic.  We gave Rosie a subcutaneous injection last night.  

Today, however, we needed to give it another try.  We don't have a head gate or a squeeze chute.  Using redneck engineering, we did the best we could, tying Rosie to a post and used two swinging gates to sandwich her between.  Note the purple lead rope that pulls the two gates together.

Then, we used a dog leash to hobble Rosie's leg.  This is crucial to keep her from kicking.  If you don't do this, she will kick you into next week.

Here is where I brag on my wife.  I can butcher chickens with reckless abandon.  It doesn't bother me.  However, an injured animal, bleeding and hurting really bothers me.  Tricia is strong.  Once Rosie was in our homemade squeeze chute and hobbled, Tricia tried to milk out the quarter, but no dice.  The scab covered the opening to the teat.  She then began the uncomfortable task of peeling the scab off of the teat.  Let's just say Rosie was not pleased with this medical procedure.  It is interesting that Tricia and I are different.  The things she's good at, I am not.  And vice versa.  We complement each other.  I am proud of Dr. Tricia's excellent work on Rosie.

You can see the damage to the teat below.  Eye Yie Yie!  But Tricia successfully opened the teat.

She began milking out Rosie's injured quarter.  You can see the infection from the mastitis she was able to get out.  It is the yellow globs of stuff below that looks like cottage cheese.  It is important that we get this out.

Finally, we emptied the quarter.  Thank you, Lord!  Tomorrow, we will do it again.  Saturday and Sunday we will repeat it numerous times. It was a stressful, painful afternoon.  As if to counteract the ugly task, God gave us a beautiful sunset to insert a little peace and stillness to the afternoon.  

It is good to finally have a peaceful afternoon after a rough go at it.  Rosie seconds that motion.  

Dealing With Annie's Mastitis

Annie, our Nubian goat, has struggled with mastitis for a while.  Milking her has always been a pain - for us and for her.  She kicks like a saddle bronc every time we milk.  She doesn't let her kids nurse for very long.  We normally shy away from antibiotics.  We normally try natural remedies.  Up to this point, we've been unsuccessful in the methods we've experimented with.  We resorted to trying an antibiotic treatment to attempt to finally clear up Annie's mastitis.

Tricia purchased some Today syringes which are to be inserted into the teats in order to inject the meds to fight off the infection.  You can purchase this at your feed store or Tractor Supply Company. Tonight we started the "Today" process.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow.  Ha Ha!

We went out the the barn at night right before supper and used alcohol to wipe down Annie's teats in order to keep things extra clean.

I have cleats on the milking stanchion and we put ropes around Annie's feet and secured them to the cleats.  This will keep her from kicking as we insert the syringe about a quarter inch into each of her two teats and inject the medicine.  We put some dairy ration and alfalfa pellets in her trough to somewhat distract her.

Tricia inserted the syringe into her teat and injected it all in.  It went surprisingly smooth!

She held the teat closed and used her thumb and index finger to push the meds upward into her bag.

Nothing dripped out.  We did the same thing on the other side.  The directions say to use every 12  hours, but only two doses.  Others, including some veterinarians, say to use it until it clears up.  Tricia did the California Mastitis Test after the second dose and she still showed some slight mastitis.  We may give it one more dose and then test again.  If it doesn't clear up, we may have to culture and see exactly which bacteria we're fighting and get the appropriate meds to knock this stuff out.

Kind of discouraging, but we'll keep trying.  Perhaps we'll find the "Annie-biotic" that will work.  I know Annie (and Tricia) will be happy.

Will the Cows Pass the Test?

Cows are lactating animals that sometimes get mastitis.  Mastitis can be a nagging, painful, troublesome ailment.  Some women who nurse get it.  Some cows in milk get it.  It is simply an infection of the breast or udder.  Mastitis has several telltale signs: The cow's udder is tender to the touch and she tries to kick you.  Her udder may be swollen, tight, and hard.  It may be hard to get milk out of the teat.  You may see "strings" of thick "cheese-like" substance on the strainer.

These signs are visible and/or evident.  However, your cow can have mastitis without those symptoms.  It is beneficial to catch mastitis in its early stages so that you can treat your cow or isolate the affected quarters.  So how do you catch mastitis and treat it without seeing symptoms?  A California Mastitits Test! (CMT).  We just ordered one in the mail and received it the other day.

A cow has four distinct quarters.  Just because a cow has mastitis in one of its quarters does not mean the others are affected.  If a cow gets an infection, white blood cells mobilize to fight off the infection.  These white blood cells are called leukocytes.  The California Mastitis Test works in that an ingredient in the test mixes with the leukocytes to form a gel.  The more infection your cow has, the more leukocytes are present which react with the agent in the CMT forming a thick gel.

Image Credit

The CMT test kit comes with a "paddle" and some reagent.  Clean and dry the udder and teats.  Squirt out a squirt or two from each teat onto the ground.  Then, get a few squirts of milk from each teat onto the paddle.  It is important to isolate the quarter that may have infection, so it is important to keep the samples identified.  Just keep the handle to the front of the animal and get a squirt or two from each teat into each corresponding cup on the paddle.

Here is the reagent.  It has been mixed according to the directions in the box.

You'll want to tilt the paddle to get equal amounts of milk in each of the four cups.  You want around 1/2 teaspoonfuls in each of the four cups.  Then you squirt approximately 1/2 teaspoons of reagent into each cup.

Gently slosh the paddle so that the reagent has an opportunity to mix completely with the milk.

After mixing for 10 - 15 seconds, if you have infection, you should begin seeing the signs.

How to interpret the test:
If the quarter is free from infection, the milk remains liquid and flows easily,
If the quarter has moderate infection, the milk forms a gel and breaks up into clumps,
If the quarter has a serious infection, the milk forms a thick gel and will not pour.

Here is the table that scores the test:

When we tested Rosie for mastitis, she passed the test.  Milk from each quarter remained liquid and poured easily.  The California Mastitis Test will help us identify problems and treat prior to the infection intensifying.

All Creatures Great and Small (and Medium Sized, too!)

I always have loved the James Herriot book, "All Creatures Great and Small."  I highly recommend it.  It is one of those books that you must read again and again.  James Herriot was a Yorkshire country veterinarian from the 1930's.  His book is funny, interesting, and inciteful.  One of the stories I recall is from Chapter 36 in which Herriot goes to work on the dairy cow of a poor farmer.  The cow has mastitis and is very sick.  Her fever is high and it is clear that things look bleak.  Herriot compassionately tells the farmer that he doesn't think the poor cow is going to make it and that maybe he should put her down so that she doesn't suffer any more.

The farmer told Dr. Herriot that the cow was the most valuable thing he had left and he was not ready to give up on her yet. He told Dr. Herriot to come back in the morning.  The farmer got a bench and sat down and commenced to milking, massaging the swollen, hard infected udder, and stripping the black, clumpy infection out of the cow.  When Dr. Herriot arrived in the morning, he found the farmer had stayed up all night to save his cow.  The farmer was exhausted, but the cow was feeling better and survived!

I tell you that because yesterday afternoon I went to the barn to milk Luna and found this!:

As seen above her two quarters on the left side were super swollen, sensitive and hard as a rock.  This was so bizarre as I had milked her out the day before and all was fine.  Mastitis is serious and things can "go south" quickly.  Here is a front shot of the udder.  If you would touch it, it was hard and tight.  When you touched it, she would kick.  She was not happy and neither were we!  In fact, she wasn't eating her dairy ration.  That is very strange for her.

We took her rectal temperature with a thermometer and found it to be 101.4.  That is fine for a cow.  So perhaps we caught this early.  By this time it was approaching 8 o'clock, so we came in and checked the fridge where we have antibiotics.  All of them were expired except for one.  The one medicine that wasn't expired is not labeled for use in dairy animals.  We had some injections that you inject directly up into the teat, but they were all expired, too.  Not good.

"I'm hot blooded, check it and see..."

We decided to roll the dice.  We'd do what James Herriot's poor farmer did and massage and milk the infection out.  Starting at 9 pm and continuing at 10 and 11, we went out to the barn hourly, milking her out.  We also heated up water and made hot compresses to put on the udder.  We didn't stay up ALL night long, but at 5 am, Tricia was out at the barn again and all through the morning, massaging...

Rubbing and milking...  An odd, opaque liquid came out that wasn't milk.  By the morning, though, the swelling was coming down and she was starting to pick at her food.  Tricia continued to work with her throughout the day, giving her molasses and then let her out of the barn to eat grass.

By the evening, the swelling was done considerably.  Still no fever.  Her appetite wasn't back to normal, but she was eating.  She was still super-sensitive on the front quarter.  After repeated massaging and stripping, we were successful in getting streams of infected material to begin emptying.

Eliminating this nastiness, like the farmer in Herriot's book, will make Luna feel better and save her.

While she is still not 'out of the woods yet, she is making great strides.  We've contacted our veterinarian and will use penicillin if she takes a turn for the worse, but for now, the regimen described in Herriot's book is working!  Speaking of working, I'm headed back out to the barn now to check on Luna and see if I can get some more infection out of her front quarter. 

Antibiotics For Annie

With milkmaid Tricia being in the hospital, we figured it would be too much to try to keep milking Daisy, our Jersey cow, and Annie, our Nubian goat.  Daisy was making about a gallon of milk a day and very late in lactation, so we stopped milking her and her bag quickly went down.

Annie proved to be another story.  She was late in lactation as well.  I read that in order to dry off a goat, the best thing to do was to cut the feed ration down and then just quit cold turkey.  Well, a couple days afterward, Annie's teats seemed engorged. They weren't hard or hot, but she was having some difficulty walking and just seemed lethargic.  She laid around a lot. Could this be the beginning of mastitis? We're not sure.  To further complicate matters, she had a foot problem that just wouldn't clear up.

We use antibiotics very, very sparingly, but with everything going on, we figured we would just give Annie a dose of penicillin and hopefully it would clear up her problem.  For a 125 pound goat, we were to give her 2 cc's once a day for seven days.

So that is exactly what we are doing.  We draw a little more than 2 cc's out of the jar and then inject it back in the bottle to eliminate air bubbles.

This photo isn't good at all, but what you want to do is give the shot beneath the skin.  To do this you simply pull the skin up on the neck, making a "tent."

Then you inject the antibiotic directly into the "tent" you've made with her skin.  She didn't seem to be bothered by it all all.

We are on day 3 now, so we have 4 more days to go with shots.  Hopefully, Annie will get back to normal quickly with the antibiotics she's on.

Get Well, Annie.

Daisy's "Business" End

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we've been monitoring Daisy since drying her off as she was showing one of the symptoms of mastitis - a small yellowish clump caught in the filter we milk through.  This Publication showed some of the other symptoms of mastitis:

• Hard, swelling, hot, painful udder,  
• A clot in the milk,
• Reduction in milk production,
• Increase in body temperature, 
• Lack of appetite,
• Sunken eyes,
• Diarrhea & dehydration

We have checked Daisy for most of the other symptoms and so far, the only issue is the small clot of yellow 'gunk.'  We want to watch this closely, though, and so we are paying close attention to the other items on the above list.  Up to this point we had no means to take the cows' temperature.  Tricia remedied that situation by purchasing a regular 'human' thermometer with one added option.

A string is tied to the thermometer as a cow's temperature is taken rectally.  You don't want to "lose" the thermometer inside the cow's rectum.  If you did, you could always pull the string and retrieve it. There is another more important reason for tying the string to the thermometer, at least to us: You don't want to confuse the cow thermometer with the human thermometers in our house!!

A looped string attached to the digital cow thermometer

The cow's tail is lifted and the thermometer inserted into the rectum.  Daisy didn't like this, and I don't blame her.  She moved from side to side and tried to swish at us with her tail.  When that didn't work, she pooped.  A 'shade-tree' vet must be vigilant, however, for this type thing and be persistent.

Daisy's business end

The numbers started climbing as we waited patiently...

And it finally settled at 100.5.  This was taken in the morning.

Merck Vet Manual showed that the normal temperature range for a Dairy Cow is highlighted on the table below and runs between 100.4 - 102.8.  So far so good!

We took her temperature again in the evening and it was 101.9.  A little higher, but nothing to be concerned about as it is still within the acceptable range.  Besides, it is best to take the cow's temperature at the same time each day in order to get a more consistent reading in order to set a baseline of her normal temperature.  We will continue to watch Daisy, and I'm sure she's going to be just fine.  She is really in good condition and in two months, if the Good Lord's willing, she'll deliver a healthy calf - hopefully a heifer!