Post by frogHOLR on Jun 5, 2010 11:54:54 GMT -5
I am so sad right now. I sent in a milk culture on both of my cows earlier this week and I just got the report back saying that both have klebsiella mastitis. I feel like I could throw-up. I don't know what to do, and of course my cow vet is off until Monday. The stand-in vet tells me that there is an infusion that we can use to try to treat it, but they will have to special order it. He's going to consult with my regular vet on Monday. I did some research on-line and it seems like maybe Monday might be too late to help my girls. One site said that coliform bacteria reproduce every 20 minutes . . . there are a LOT of 20 minutes between now and Monday.
Here's the strange part - I ran these tests just 'to see' not because anything is going wrong. As of last night, both cows are eating, drinking, milking, and acting normal. Both are fairly newly fresh (one calved 4/18 and the other 5/28) and we do have wood bedding in their loafing stall (evidently klebsiella like wood bedding). I pick up poo at least twice/day and really try to keep this area super clean. (I wouldn't hesitate to lay down in it if I had to.) This has been a VERY wet spring for us, but I try to keep the sawdust in this area dry and fluffy. My cows never have clumps of poo on them like I see at most of these commercial dairies around here. When I wipe down their udders to milk, all I generally get is some sawdust and maybe some soil from out in their pasture. It is rare that I end up with a green cloth (poo) after wiping them. The pasture (~5 acres) that they are on is clean in that there were no cows on it all winter and I put Cow #1 out there about a month ago. When the tests were taken, Cow #2 hadn't been out there yet - she was still in my kids' play yard because she had just calved.
I'm very confused. Is it only a matter of time before both of my cows are very sick? Could this simply be a contamination issue (I was very careful when taking the samples, so I doubt it)? Do I have time to re-culture another milk sample on Monday to see if it's getting worse? Should I assume it's correct and hunt down some type of medication to start them on right away? After everything I've dealt with over the last couple of months here on the farm, I don't think I can handle treating two cows that are trying to slough their udders and die.
This question is rhetorical: WHY ME? Of all the critters that I care for, these cows are the most spoiled, pampered animals here. I fret/worry over every little thing that happens to them. I think my brain will explode if this gets ugly. I don't see how I could have kept them any cleaner and if this is a case of poor sanitation, I feel like I'm done milking cows. I can't imagine how I could have prevented this by being more careful with their environment.
Here's my plan of attack for the time being, any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated:
I'm going to start them on Vit E (2,000 IU) and Vit C (7,000 mg) which I will put in their feed. Abbey already is getting Apis Mell 30C and UdderMint or UdderComfort on her udder 2x/day for her edema. I took her temperature yesterday and it was 102.2*. I machine milk them 2x/day and then let their calves strip them out afterwards before putting them back out on pasture with a pan of mash to keep them standing for a while. Once they are on pasture, they are nearly impossible to get to come BACK in for more frequent milkings (milking 4x/day is probably not an option in this scenario). I hate to lock them in where they are more likely to lay on the wood bedding - the cleaner grass outside seems like the better option for them to rest in. Also, they will soil this area something fierce if they are both locked in 24/7. We use it more as a calving shed during calving time and a loafing shed in the dry, summer months. It's also where the milking machine is set up so they are inside 2x/day during that time.
What should I do? Any experience with klebsiella out there in KFC-land?
Here's the strange part - I ran these tests just 'to see' not because anything is going wrong. As of last night, both cows are eating, drinking, milking, and acting normal. Both are fairly newly fresh (one calved 4/18 and the other 5/28) and we do have wood bedding in their loafing stall (evidently klebsiella like wood bedding). I pick up poo at least twice/day and really try to keep this area super clean. (I wouldn't hesitate to lay down in it if I had to.) This has been a VERY wet spring for us, but I try to keep the sawdust in this area dry and fluffy. My cows never have clumps of poo on them like I see at most of these commercial dairies around here. When I wipe down their udders to milk, all I generally get is some sawdust and maybe some soil from out in their pasture. It is rare that I end up with a green cloth (poo) after wiping them. The pasture (~5 acres) that they are on is clean in that there were no cows on it all winter and I put Cow #1 out there about a month ago. When the tests were taken, Cow #2 hadn't been out there yet - she was still in my kids' play yard because she had just calved.
I'm very confused. Is it only a matter of time before both of my cows are very sick? Could this simply be a contamination issue (I was very careful when taking the samples, so I doubt it)? Do I have time to re-culture another milk sample on Monday to see if it's getting worse? Should I assume it's correct and hunt down some type of medication to start them on right away? After everything I've dealt with over the last couple of months here on the farm, I don't think I can handle treating two cows that are trying to slough their udders and die.
This question is rhetorical: WHY ME? Of all the critters that I care for, these cows are the most spoiled, pampered animals here. I fret/worry over every little thing that happens to them. I think my brain will explode if this gets ugly. I don't see how I could have kept them any cleaner and if this is a case of poor sanitation, I feel like I'm done milking cows. I can't imagine how I could have prevented this by being more careful with their environment.
Here's my plan of attack for the time being, any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated:
I'm going to start them on Vit E (2,000 IU) and Vit C (7,000 mg) which I will put in their feed. Abbey already is getting Apis Mell 30C and UdderMint or UdderComfort on her udder 2x/day for her edema. I took her temperature yesterday and it was 102.2*. I machine milk them 2x/day and then let their calves strip them out afterwards before putting them back out on pasture with a pan of mash to keep them standing for a while. Once they are on pasture, they are nearly impossible to get to come BACK in for more frequent milkings (milking 4x/day is probably not an option in this scenario). I hate to lock them in where they are more likely to lay on the wood bedding - the cleaner grass outside seems like the better option for them to rest in. Also, they will soil this area something fierce if they are both locked in 24/7. We use it more as a calving shed during calving time and a loafing shed in the dry, summer months. It's also where the milking machine is set up so they are inside 2x/day during that time.
What should I do? Any experience with klebsiella out there in KFC-land?