Post by Meadow Creek Mama on Aug 11, 2018 13:40:03 GMT -5
Bella calved 1.5 days ago, calf is with her, nursing well. I noticed last night that she's either already starting to hold up for me or she's getting mastitis. There is a hardness and the milk doesn't want to come out. I left her with her calf all night. I milked her in the morning, and two quarters I couldn't get much out of and she's still hard all over her udder. I decided to try oxy since the calf was sleeping and I could tell he wan't going to help me make her let down.
1mL of oxy into the milk vein and viola! Milk comes down. She quickly tightened back up so I couldn't really resolve the hardness, but at least I got it moving and the milk still looks good.
I've now separated her from her calf before a midday milking to keep it flowing and will force the calf onto the quarter I am most concerned about. I will also now be separating the calf for extended periods so he'll help with let down.
I called the vet to let them know my situation. Plus, I've now separated her from her calf before a midday milking to keep it flowing. I will also now be separating the calf for extended periods so he'll help with let down. I asked the vet if I could get some more oxy just in case she continues to hold up throughout the weekend in an attempt to avoid mastitis, I only have 5mL left.
They said no. They said oxy ruins a cow and that if I have to use it any more there is something else wrong with the cow. I said "yeah, she has an attitude problem, that's what is wrong with her. If I don't keep the milk moving she's also going to have mastitis." They said to call back on Monday if things are worse.
I called another vet, one with a better dairy reputation but I have no relationship with them yet. They said they don't think oxy ruins cows but that oxy only works in the first 24 hours so they can't say it will help her. I shared with them the success stories of it I've learned on this forum of oxy and let down, but they said that that is off label use and without a relationship with me that they can't help. It's about $500 for them just to arrive at my farm, and that's not doing anything to the cow yet.
Please pray that I can keep milk flowing on this gal, it doesn't look like I'll be getting much vet help for now. Is the vet right? I really think I have a good idea of what is going on here, but I'm pretty new to oxy.
1mL of oxy into the milk vein and viola! Milk comes down. She quickly tightened back up so I couldn't really resolve the hardness, but at least I got it moving and the milk still looks good.
I've now separated her from her calf before a midday milking to keep it flowing and will force the calf onto the quarter I am most concerned about. I will also now be separating the calf for extended periods so he'll help with let down.
I called the vet to let them know my situation. Plus, I've now separated her from her calf before a midday milking to keep it flowing. I will also now be separating the calf for extended periods so he'll help with let down. I asked the vet if I could get some more oxy just in case she continues to hold up throughout the weekend in an attempt to avoid mastitis, I only have 5mL left.
They said no. They said oxy ruins a cow and that if I have to use it any more there is something else wrong with the cow. I said "yeah, she has an attitude problem, that's what is wrong with her. If I don't keep the milk moving she's also going to have mastitis." They said to call back on Monday if things are worse.
I called another vet, one with a better dairy reputation but I have no relationship with them yet. They said they don't think oxy ruins cows but that oxy only works in the first 24 hours so they can't say it will help her. I shared with them the success stories of it I've learned on this forum of oxy and let down, but they said that that is off label use and without a relationship with me that they can't help. It's about $500 for them just to arrive at my farm, and that's not doing anything to the cow yet.
Please pray that I can keep milk flowing on this gal, it doesn't look like I'll be getting much vet help for now. Is the vet right? I really think I have a good idea of what is going on here, but I'm pretty new to oxy.