mastitis

[johc]

Hello all I got a jersey cow about four months ago got her bred last month she now has mastitis I have never had to treat mastitis before as she is our first cow. I treated her with a product called Today for lactating cows she no longer has any "heat" in her udder but she still has lumps in her milk my question is how long does it take before the lumps are no longer in her milk. I know that is probably a stupid question but I don't have a clue if that is normal for a while after treatment or not or should I call a Vet and have her looked at.
thanks

[fnfredux]

are you sure those "lumps" aren't pus?
Is there any pink in the milk?
I would keep milking, but I don't think I wopuld use the milk til it was clear.
Do you have a feed store that carries penicillin ? Talk to the guys there, most have livestock themselves and can give you answers.
I've had goats with mastitis and I always give three days of penicillin.
Had a dog once too, she had oral penicillin as per vet prescription.
Calling a vet to get her thoroughly check out might be good. Make sure she is always milked on time, sound like she might have a problem.

[johc]

no there is no pink of any kind what they look like is clotted milk with some green or yellow in it and sometimes it comes out kind of stringy. no we are not using the milk but milking her out every day the clots or lumps are getting less and less each day and like I said her udder is no longer hot and it is only effecting one chamber of her udder. I can get her penicillin what I gave her was penicillin based antibiotic but if penicillin is better I can get that with no problem. She is due to be Vet checked next month because she will be about 2 months along with her calf by then and should be checked anyway just wanted to make sure I am doing the right thing for her.

[fnfredux]

no there is no pink of any kind *what they look like *is clotted milk with some green or yellow in it and sometimes it comes out kind of stringy. *no we are not using the milk but milking her out every day the clots or lumps are getting less and less each day and like I said her udder is no longer hot and it is only effecting one chamber of her udder. I can get her penicillin what I gave her was penicillin based antibiotic but if penicillin is better I can get that with no problem. She is due to be Vet checked next month because *she will be about 2 months along with her calf by then and should be checked anyway just wanted to make sure I am doing the right thing for her.

Green and yellow could indicate infection. What antibiotic have you given her. For the most part oral antibiotics are not given to ruminants as it affects their digestive system.
this is for sheep, but it should apply to cows too

Disinfect the teat end with alcohol and infuse a tube of mastitis antibiotic through the teat canal.
Give the ewe an injection of a combination of penicillin, dihydrostreptomycin, dexamethasone and an antihistamine. The antibiotics should affect the microorganisms and the dexamethasone and antihistamine should help the tissue heal and reduce inflammation.http://www.case-agworld.com/cAw.LUmast.html
and http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vetext/INF-DA/INF-DA_MASTITIS101.HTML

[DaleK]

How many times did you give her the Today? If it was done right (and it was the right treatment for the bug she has) the lumps should all have been gone by the time you finished the course of treatment.

We have different drugs available here that are similar to Today, I usually use Cefa-Lak with cows that just have chunks in their milk. If a cow has a hard swollen quarter as well I'll give her Trivetrin or Borgal as well for a few days. Keep that quarter well stripped out.

[johc]

I have given her two treatments in the teat canal she was cleaned and I did use alcohol to clean the end of the teat before I gave the treatment. Today says it will stay in her milk for 4 days after treatment.Her udder is no longer hot, swollen or hard, just the clots in her milk.She milks out easily the clots come right out with no problem.

[DaleK]

It would have to be a pretty minor case for only two treatments to do any good. Haven't used Today but any treatment I've ever used needs at least 5-6 treatments in a case like you're describing. I'd treat that quarter morning and night for at least 3 days, keep it stripped out and the milk should be cleared up before you stop treating her.

[johc]

Thank you all for your answers I will give her more of the Today . on the box it says one day treatment is all that is needed . It was pretty bad when I first gave it to her or at least I think it was having never dealt with mastitis before and it does seem to be getting better .

[Anon001]

I have to jump in here as well. I have been around cattle for many years... We keep up to 80 cow/calf pairs at times...... sometimes fewer. I have also had many Jerseys for milk cows over the years. When it comes to mastititis, don't consume the milk. Also, in addition to the Today, you should get some penicillin in her for three days. Make certain you milk her twice each day and not just once. Just because there is no heat doesn't meant the infection is cleared up. One other thing. It is best to treat all four quarters because the mastititis CAN spread to the other quarters. Anytime mastitis is not treated quickly enough in a cow, you stand the risk of losing that quarter/s....

Good luck with it. For someone with their first cow, I would recommend calling the vet. Those of us that have spent our lives around livestock usually can do most of our own vet work but you should have her checked by a vet and treated using his recommendations.

Keep in mind that Jerseys are also prone to milk fever. That usually occurs soon after she freshens if it occurs at all.

Paul

[lsg]

Have you tried a product called Mastoblast? You give it orally twice a day for ten days. No milk withdrawal. I noticed some clumps on my milk filter during those horribly cold days. You can also use an udder rub on consisting of lard, cayene pepper and tea tree oil. This stimulates blood flow to the udder.