Mastitis review
As far as mastitis is concerned, the typical 70% prevalence of a season's cases in early lactation (i.e. around calving mastitis) will have occurred.
Once again, most early cases of mastitis have been caused by the usual culprit, Strep uberis. Overall, cure rates have been good, but there have been the usual exceptions of repeat offenders which can be a challenge to cure. We have also seen some ‘black mastitis' around calving, with very swollen, painful udders, the quarter(s) going blue and in most cases, the cow becoming very sick. ‘Black mastitis' requires very rapid intervention, using both systemic and intramammary antibiotics, plus anti-inflammatory and often fluids just to salvage the cow.
Those who used TeatsealTM in heifers before calving have mostly reported excellent response with a reduction in heifer mastitis. Combination dry-cow antibiotic and TeatsealTM in mixed-age cows has also provided some good results. If your herd has been affected by mastitis in heifers and/or MA cows around calving, Totally Vets can identify likely problem areas. Once the problems have been recognised, and all that can be done is prioritised and implemented, mastitis ceases to be a major problem in your herd.
From now on ...
Environmental mastitis will still be present, but the risk of spreading infection during milking time becomes an additional concern. The SAMM plan has stood the test of time, so putting it into practice should be second nature to you. From now on, contagious bacteria, such as Staph aureus, are likely to be involved in more cases of mastitis.
Important measures to help prevent new infections are:
Effective and prompt identification of infected cows and separation from main herd.
Effective teat-spraying to reduce cross-contamination. This is achieved by having the spray mix at the correct concentration with added emollient AND applying it to the whole teat. Observe carefully - if not all teats are adequately covered at all times, revise teatspray technique.
Adequately functioning milking machines and best practice milking management. Keep liners in prime condition, ensure the pulsation ratio is correct, quarters are being milked out, there's no cup slippage and that there is a minimum number of teat lesions caused by milking.
Where possible, collect and freeze mastitis samples before treatment for later culture and sensitivity-testing if required. We can't go back in time to collect samples and knowing the cause of mastitis in your herd reveals a lot about the ‘why'.
Select the correct antibiotic to deal with the mastitis-causing organism. Laboratory testing is the gold standard for finding the most appropriate treatment. The stage of lactation, age of the animal, whether she is a repeat offender and clinical signs are only broad guides to best treatment options.
Milk quality is a big and expensive issue and can only be maintained with constant vigilance.
