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Newsletter August 2019 There are many words to describe flies… however one thing for sure is they are a nuisance at this time of year! In the last few weeks there have been many cases of mastitis about causing not only issues in lactating cattle but also heifers. Mastitis has a knock on effect for both the calf and the cow herself and can cause reduced productivity, increased culling rates (due to lost quarters) and even death if they become systemically infected. There are many different approaches to both prevention and treatment of mastitis in both cattle and sheep. Last but not least we would like to welcome Lucy Thompson to the team. Lucy graduated from Glasgow in June and is taking over from Sarah as she goes on maternity leave.
| Previous Newsletters June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 May 2018 March 2018 Feb 2018 Oct 2017 Sept 2017 August 2017
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Strathbogie Veterinary Centre, 39,Gordon Street Huntly Aberdeenshire AB548EQ Tel: 01466792627 Fax: 01466 794962. |
First of all prevention. As they say prevention is always better than cure! Some cows show little sign of mastitis and do not appear to be ‘clinically ill’. One of the first signs can be an empty or roaring hungry calf. Firstly at calving – hygiene is important! Many bacteria causing mastitis survive well in a dirty calving environment. As you already know clean calving areas are essential for optimising both cow and calf survival reducing incidence of disease in the herd. Fly control can help greatly reducing the incidence of summer mastitis. There are many different products on the market for keeping flies away including; creams, pour ons/spot ons, sprays, ear tags and garlic minerals. By the number of different products available, none of these are 100%! There has been resistance or lack of efficacy regarding the pour ons but at the end of the day some treatment will be much better than none! The main pour ons on the market are synthetic pyrethroids for example deltamethrins, cypermethrins. There are many brands on the market containing these drugs and all with different withdrawal periods. 
On to treatment of mastitis…. This can very much depend on the temperament of the cow! Treatment of the cow also depends on how sick the animal is and if there is a temperature present. Intra-mammary preparations are available – containing antibiotics. It is important to strip out the affected quarter(s) as much as possible to get the infected milk out of the cow. After doing this clean the teat well (alcohol wipes can be provided) to ensure the teat is not contaminated from the outside as it is inserted into the teat. Animals not showing clinical signs could be treated with injectable antibiotics such as broad spectrum penicillins or oxytetracyclines. It is important to ensure that treatment is given as recommended (ie Betamox lasts for 2 days and can be repeated, Synulox/noroclav requires daily injections for several days as does pen strep). Animals showing clinical signs (ie lameness, swollen udder, or dour/letheragic) can be given an anti-inflammatory/painkiller (inflacam/Metacam/loxicom) as well as an antibiotic. Drugs such as Draxxin and Micotil (which we can only inject) may be the drug of choice here. But please PHONE TO SPEAK TO A VET! The cow/heifer will commonly lose the affected quarter, so consideration should be made to see if she should be kept in the herd or culled. Mastitic milk can also affect the calf in a few ways; scour and not drinking/thriving being the main things. Toxic mastitis (which is more frequently seen in dairy cattle) can kill quickly, therefor prompt treatment should be sought – we would recommend a vet visit in this case! The udder may change colour, the animal will be sick, down, often sunken eyed and not eating.