Cut Udder On Freshened Cow

[ms-woman]

My Guernsey/Jersey mix freshened last night and I guess she found the biggest blackberry thicket on the place to do it! She has several scratches, an inch long gash on one teat and behind her front right teat the skin is peeled back (1 1/2" x 1" or so) I debrided it and picked out thorns and sprayed it down with iodine, then milked her down as best I could. I called the vet this morning and he told me to get antibiotics and neosporin. He also gave me a shot of Lasixs to take some weight off her bag.

Does anyone have any more advice? I had to dry up the one quarter with the peeled skin on the back because she wouldn't let me grip it. I used the Masti Clear/Dry Cow. How quickly will that work? Is it still in danger of mastitis?It doesn't seem that any of the gashes went into the milk ducts. Anybody have any experience with something like this? She had a beautiful little heifer, and she is nursing well, but she only sucks the teat with the gash, it must not hurt Betsy too bad b/c she lets her.

I'm just sick to my stomach and so mad at myself that I let this happen, I thought she had another few days before freshening and I didn't get her out of the bottom and up to the barn. :'( :'( :'(

If anybody can tell me anything I'd appreciate it a great deal. Thanks.

[AlchemyAcres]

Did the vet actually look at the cow?

If she has wide open gashes and lose skin it should surely be sutured.

Do you plan to milk her or just let the calf nurse?

If she has no problem letting the calf nurse on all 4 teats, that's a good thing.....it may just take the calf some time to demand from all 4.


~Martin

[ms-woman]

The vet did not look at her, and he said it was to late to suture it. No one around here has dairy cows and he hasn't worked on one in a long time. But he said suturing it would only cause more infection.

The skin is mostly just peeled back like a really big scrape. I do milk her but I also let the calf stay on her for a while because she gives almost 2-3 gallons at each milking, plenty for the calf and us. I will take the calf off in a few days. Her teats and bag are just so big that I have trouble getting all the milk for a few days, so I let the calf get all the colostrum it needs for the first three days. Then seperate them at night and milk first thing in the morning.

So far the calf is only nursing the one teat, its the one with a gash. The gash is high on the teat about 1 inch long and 1/8th deep there abouts. It didn't puncture the milk duct. I'm more concerned about the skin peeled off the back of the front right teat. I hand milk and her teats are like champagne glasses its hard to get my hands around them the first couple of days, because her bag is so hard and full. The vet said to go ahead and use the Dry Cow stuff, it won't hurt for me to only milk 3 teats I'm just afraid that this will mess up her bag. I've saved the colostrum and if need be I'll dry her up and bottle feed the calf.

Would it be prudent to slice off that flap of skin that is peeled back? I got some stuff at the coop kinda like neosporin but its a spray that forms a barrier to keep the gnats and stuff off. I also got the penicillan G, vet said to give shots twice daily, can you think of anything else I should be doing?

[AlchemyAcres]

I wouldn't cut off the excess skin unless it's creating a problem.
It'll eventually sloth off.
I could offer better advice if I could actually see her.
Saving the colostrum isn't essential now, unless you're expecting another calf from a different cow......the calf from the cow in question is beyond the need for colostrum.
The best thing you can do, unless there's a major problem, is to continue to milk her so she doesn't get mastitis, drying her off so early in lactation, short of some crisis, is a big mistake IMHO.


~Martin

[ms-woman]

Thanks Martin! I've already used the Dry Cow in one teat, do you mean that I should try to milk that teat? I'm keeping her milked out in the other two teats and the calf is keeping the 4th drained.

I've taken pictures but I CAN NOT figure out how to post them here. Could I email you a pic?

I always save colostrum she gives so much and you can keep it in the freezer for a long time. Better safe than sorry :)

[ms-woman]

The one teat was really getting worse today, fever and hard as a rock. I couldn't get any milk by hand so I cut the end off a tube of Masti Clear (comes in a plastic syringe that you insert into the teat) got my husband to help and we inserted that into the teat. I thoroughly disinfected it! The teat started draining instantly, I was afraid that it wouldn't be long enough but it was. Hubby held it in place for a while and then I went and got a roll of surgical tape and we lightly taped it to the teat to let it drain. She did really well, held real still. It took about an hour because that is a small opening, but it worked! The other wounds look to be healing well, no drainage or infection.

Her calf (we haven't had time to think of a name) is doing great. Very inquisitive and scampering around. Alls well that ends well, I guess.

Thanks Martin for taking the time to answer me.