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Oh no, Mastitis!!!!

Englarged Teat

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T O P I C R E V I E W
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 06 2018 : 6:04:03 PM My jersey has one teat (just the nipple part) that is larger than the rest, and feels a bit airish when you touch it. She doesn't want me milking it, she will kick at me if I try. You can touch it - just doesn't want me to try and milk it. The others are fine. Does anyone have any advice? Is this something we should seek vet help on? She has her calf on her still, and we take a milking once a day.
17 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 09 2018 : 08:38:47 AM Wonderful, thank you so much for the expert advice. I really appreciate it!
maryjane	Posted - Jan 09 2018 : 08:16:43 AM Also, I should point out that when you use a post disinfectant dip, the disinfectant is pulled up into the teat orifice and helps protect her during the day. I start separating/managing calf nursing early on, at about two weeks, eventually giving the two of them scheduled visits twice/day. It makes weaning a breeze when the time comes and it helps protect the health of momma's udder. I've observed that calves as they grow latch on more than is necessary for food purposes but rather out of boredom. On demand nursing is hard on momma.
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 09 2018 : 07:34:48 AM Perfect, thanks!
maryjane	Posted - Jan 09 2018 : 06:43:56 AM The 6th video down on this series shows the CMT in action: https://www.heritagejersey.org/chatroom/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31209
maryjane	Posted - Jan 09 2018 : 06:13:50 AM It looks like the same thing to me. If you're buying teat dip from Hamby Dairy Supply, see if they have CMT.
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 09 2018 : 04:02:37 AM I can only get Ester C in Canada - they won't ship the California Mastitis Kit to Canada. I found this one in Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Cmt-Mastits-Kit-Part-7900/dp/B007T9T11E/ref=pd_sim_79_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WE60PY0JQAFPHXBBTP04 Would it work?
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 5:16:28 PM I will be rush shipping these both! Hoping Ester C will clear and we don’t have to worry about antibiotics.
maryjane	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 4:11:16 PM More great news! Ideally, you want to get on top of a bacterial infection before you see yellow clots or blood in the milk. Do you check her udder health using a California Mastitis Test? I use it every day to check my girls before milking. https://smile.amazon.com/039018-California-Mastitis-Test-Kit/dp/B007T9T11E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515456266&sr=8-1&keywords=california+mastitis+test When I start to see gelling (a squirt of milk mixed with a liquid purple indicator) in any of the quarters, I dose my girls with Vit. C and it almost always clears it up, either the next day or sometimes it takes a couple of days. That happened last week with Anna. It gelled so strongly that we dumped all the milk from that quarter and then gave her a 1/4 cup of Vit. C on her Chaffhaye. I wasn't sure it could be turned around with Vit. C so I put together a cooler and filled out a WADDL form and planned to take a sample to WSU the next morning. Guess what? No more gelling. I swear by Ester C for udder health, but it's too expensive to administer every day, so only when needed and you have to catch mastitis in its beginning stages. https://smile.amazon.com/Wholistic-Pet-Organics-Ester-C-Supplement/dp/B002U4HF4I/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1515456754&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=ester+c+one+pouond
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 2:54:03 PM I got her milked. I warmed a bowl with warm water, soaked her utter, made sure my hands were warm (it's -30C here right now) and then tried to slowly and carefully milked her. First I just touched the teat...she was fine. Then I started to slowly hand milk her, and she kicked a little, but slowly slowly she stopped kicking so I could milk. I don't see anything like mastitis in the milk - it's clear, with no clots, watery spots or pinkish. What do you think, and what should my next step be?
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 11:04:28 AM OK! Great. I will keep tabs on how much she drinks. It looks like she emptied it, from what I can tell. Will check again how things are progressing in a few hours.
maryjane	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 10:47:42 AM No, that's a good thing if momma will let her empty it. Great news!!!
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 10:26:53 AM Just went to the barn, and Buttercup was on that teat drinking it. Is this ok? Or should I separate her?
maryjane	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 09:40:11 AM If you can get that part of it figured out to the extent you can do it a few more times (continue it during treatment), let me know as soon as possible so that I can help you with the next step.
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 09:29:51 AM Thanks MaryJane! Will do this wth hubby when he gets home from work. Thank you for all the advice. I really appreciate it.
maryjane	Posted - Jan 08 2018 : 08:59:56 AM Joyce, here's a link to how I train my cows to accept a flank rope and hobbles. http://www.heritagejersey.org/chatroom/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=29123 In the videos, you can see we didn't need the hobbles nor did we tighten the flank rope because all we were doing was milking her. The reason I have a side rail, hobbles, and flank rope ready is for vet care. You need a way to figure out a way to get that teat milked out and treated or I fear you'll end up with what is commonly referred to as a three-quarter or two-quarter cow (one quarter is permanently ruined because of mastitis that goes untreated and you see them for sale in the Internet). Or worse, she sickens and dies. Those infections can go systemic. If you have a lead rope and perhaps a metal gate that someone can hold against one of her sides, the flank rope itself will allow her to fuss with her feet, but she won't be able to get a strong kick in because her muscles are immobilized. For that reason, you want to use a flank rope in conjunction with some way to keep her upright because when you tighten a flank rope tight enough to keep her from kicking, it disorients her and she might start to tip over. If her head is in a head-lock that would be a disaster. If you can figure out a way to get that quarter milked out, I can walk you through what to do next. The problem with treating before sending off a sample is it might not be the treatment you should be using and because there is a 72 hour milk withdrawal, you stack those days on top of being able to address the mastitis because now you'd have to wait for the treatment to clear because the bacteria won't grow in a petri dish. Also, I thought to mention that when my cow Fanci developed what's called dry mastitis, her teat had that air feeling you described. It felt like I was squeezing a small balloon. It was my first case of mastitis so I hauled her to the vet and they put her in a squeeze chute to get her milked out (tied her foot up) and treated it. All in all, Fanci taught me a lot about mastitis.
GinghamGirl	Posted - Jan 07 2018 : 1:18:31 PM Thanks MaryJane. She's had an enlarged teat for a while, but hasn't showed any other signs of discomfort, until the other day. We don't have a vet nearby, and I won't be able to get a milk sample as she refuses to let me strip it - I can only touch it. I've been looking to see if her calf will go on it, or if she'll allow her.
maryjane	Posted - Jan 06 2018 : 7:11:07 PM It sounds like she has mastitis. Do you have a vet nearby? You might have to administer antibiotics, but it's always wise to send a milk sample off so you know what kind of bacteria it is before treating. If you think you can clean the teat real good and then get a milk sample (about 1/4 cup) in a sterile container, I can tell you where to send it. It's a fairly quick turn-around. I can walk you through it if you don't have a vet lined up. Hang in there!