Post by nchase on Jan 18, 2012 12:17:58 GMT -5
My cow has something going on in one of her quarters, and I'd like some help figuring out what to do about it, please.
Here's the story:
Everything had been going reasonably well with my cow Thistle (6 year old Guernsey) until a few days ago. I'd been separating her from her calf (now 3 months old) at night, milking her in the morning, then letting her and the calf out to pasture together all day.
Then, a few days ago, she came in from pasture with a full udder, as if the calf had not nursed all day. I immediately tried to milk her and she kicked the heck out of me, the bucket, the stool, and everything in reach! Turns out, her calf had bit one of her teats too hard and it was EXTREMELY sore, to the point that she wouldn't let the calf nurse at all.
After several unsuccessful attempts to milk the sore teat by hand as I normally do (and two large, painful bruises from getting kicked), I finally dug out the Udderly EZ milker I had purchased several years ago for collecting colostrum from my sheep. Because it doesn't manipulate the sore teat, I guess it doesn't hurt as much, so she lets me use it. I have been able to get most of the milk out of that teat twice a day since then. The teat is still sore, but seems to be healing.
But there's also a problem with the opposite teat. That first day when she came in I noticed that while the right hind teat was the injured one, the left front quarter had suddenly developed some hard places in it.
I've been massaging it with peppermint lotion or cayenne/tea tree oil/lard at every milking, and I've been adding extra selenium and vitamin C to Thistle's diet as a support/preventative measure. The milk quantity is skimpy from that quarter, but then her milk production in her front quarters has always been very skimpy.
It's been a few days and the hard area in that quarter seems to have gotten larger but less distinct. It's not super hard, but is noticeably harder than normal. The quarter is slightly larger than normal and just in the past 24 hours she has started acting as if it is a little sore when I try to massage it.
However, the quarter is not hot, and the milk that does come out of it seems perfectly normal, with no lumps or strings at all. I did the CMT this morning, and got only the very faintest reaction from that quarter---just the slightest thickening that quickly disappeared.
I bought a carton of the Today mastitis treatment, but now that the CMT didn't really show definitive results, I don't know if I should use it or not. Would it be better to treat the issue aggressively right away, before it gets worse? Or should I keep up the peppermint/tea tree oil/cayenne applications until I get a clear sign to do more?
In addition to milking twice a day, I have been leaving the calf with her, figuring that if mastitis is threatening, it's good to keep the udder milked out more often. Thistle kicks the calf off the injured teat, but now (usually) lets her nurse from the other three. I have mixed feelings about leaving the calf on her, in case the calf injures her again, but honestly I was a little freaked out after getting kicked so badly, and I figured if anyone was going to get kicked, better the calf than me!
Now that the kicking has subsided, do you think I should separate the calf? She's a big girl (300 lbs. at 3 months old!) and I could certainly wean her, if it seems she's doing more harm than good.
Do you think I should treat the lumpy quarter with Today even if the CMT isn't definite?
I'm a cow/milking/mastitis newbie. Any advice is welcome!
Here's the story:
Everything had been going reasonably well with my cow Thistle (6 year old Guernsey) until a few days ago. I'd been separating her from her calf (now 3 months old) at night, milking her in the morning, then letting her and the calf out to pasture together all day.
Then, a few days ago, she came in from pasture with a full udder, as if the calf had not nursed all day. I immediately tried to milk her and she kicked the heck out of me, the bucket, the stool, and everything in reach! Turns out, her calf had bit one of her teats too hard and it was EXTREMELY sore, to the point that she wouldn't let the calf nurse at all.
After several unsuccessful attempts to milk the sore teat by hand as I normally do (and two large, painful bruises from getting kicked), I finally dug out the Udderly EZ milker I had purchased several years ago for collecting colostrum from my sheep. Because it doesn't manipulate the sore teat, I guess it doesn't hurt as much, so she lets me use it. I have been able to get most of the milk out of that teat twice a day since then. The teat is still sore, but seems to be healing.
But there's also a problem with the opposite teat. That first day when she came in I noticed that while the right hind teat was the injured one, the left front quarter had suddenly developed some hard places in it.
I've been massaging it with peppermint lotion or cayenne/tea tree oil/lard at every milking, and I've been adding extra selenium and vitamin C to Thistle's diet as a support/preventative measure. The milk quantity is skimpy from that quarter, but then her milk production in her front quarters has always been very skimpy.
It's been a few days and the hard area in that quarter seems to have gotten larger but less distinct. It's not super hard, but is noticeably harder than normal. The quarter is slightly larger than normal and just in the past 24 hours she has started acting as if it is a little sore when I try to massage it.
However, the quarter is not hot, and the milk that does come out of it seems perfectly normal, with no lumps or strings at all. I did the CMT this morning, and got only the very faintest reaction from that quarter---just the slightest thickening that quickly disappeared.
I bought a carton of the Today mastitis treatment, but now that the CMT didn't really show definitive results, I don't know if I should use it or not. Would it be better to treat the issue aggressively right away, before it gets worse? Or should I keep up the peppermint/tea tree oil/cayenne applications until I get a clear sign to do more?
In addition to milking twice a day, I have been leaving the calf with her, figuring that if mastitis is threatening, it's good to keep the udder milked out more often. Thistle kicks the calf off the injured teat, but now (usually) lets her nurse from the other three. I have mixed feelings about leaving the calf on her, in case the calf injures her again, but honestly I was a little freaked out after getting kicked so badly, and I figured if anyone was going to get kicked, better the calf than me!
Now that the kicking has subsided, do you think I should separate the calf? She's a big girl (300 lbs. at 3 months old!) and I could certainly wean her, if it seems she's doing more harm than good.
Do you think I should treat the lumpy quarter with Today even if the CMT isn't definite?
I'm a cow/milking/mastitis newbie. Any advice is welcome!