I have a hostein jersey cross whose milk started tasting sour about a week ago. We treated all four quarters with cephapirin sodium because we thought she may have mastitis. It is worse today, the milk is now lumpy. I remember seeing a remedy in an old issue using tide but I can't find it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Terri

-- Terri from Central TX (tnorskie@dashlink.com), August 23, 2001

Answers

We rarely see mastitis cured with just the use of mastitis infusions. It depends upon which bacteria is causing your mastitis as to which infusion medication works. So you either picked the wrong drug, or she needs systemic antibiotics to penetrate into the tissue of the udder. Any woman who has ever breast fed is cringing at even the thought that you would contemplate putting something as caustic as tide in your cows udder. A milk sample sent into the lab costs about 25$, you now have at least 20$ a day spent in 4 or 8 infusions, done for the 3 days............that's 60$ plus, and now she is worse. You may end up losing all production in the cow. Send a milk sample in yourself to your state lab, bypass the expense of your vet doing this for you, in the mean time keep her udder empty, the test results will come back with which infusion drugs and antibiotics to use, if perscription you will then have no choice but to take this to the vet to use. The results may not have amounts of durgs to use, so make sure your vet is versed in dairy cattle, otherwise find yourself someone who does know. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 23, 2001.

I second what Vicki said. Also, one of the best things you can do for mastitis is to keep the affected quarters milked out as much as possible. The problem with mastitis is not the bacteria so much as it is the toxins they produce. So if you keep the quarter milked out as often as you can (several times per day, even hourly if you get a chance) you keep the toxins at a low level and the cow has more going on her side. Don't worry about it if you can't do this, but when you milk her twice a day, at the very least be sure that you get as complete a milk out as you can get. Don't leave milk in the cow because you don't think you want to drink it, make cheese with it, etc.

At this point, having treated her and got no response, I'd get a vet in to look at her if you can. Otherwise, just keep after her and keep her cleaned out. Good luck.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), August 23, 2001.

Sounds like you tried using "Today" in your cow. I get pretty good results from it, but don't go by the instructions. "Today" is effective on about all types of infection so I forgo any Lab. work these days. It waste too much time when it will go for most all types. What I do is infuse 2 tubes after milking out all I can from the troubled quarter. Then drop back to one after milking until I use three or four more. Then for a little added power wait a day then use a couple of tubes of Galimicin over a 24 hr peroid to help finish off any offending organisims. The Gal. will clear out before the "Today" and I think helps. The overdose of Today, in my lab test findings does not linger in the system anylonger than using the dose on the box. I have tested a bunch of cows treated in this manner and have no positive for antibiotics results after the recommended 4 day after the last treatment discard period. This is what I have the most favored results with, and I have tried a few things over the past 15 yrs. Don

-- Don (dairyagri@yahoo.com), August 23, 2001.