G-4 trying to dry off, mastitis won't go away

[lindseyryan]

Hey everyone, I could sure use your help with this one. Our cow Cher is due Feb. 21 and we are getting ready to dry her off. About two weeks ago she was milking 2 gallons/day, give or take a quart, so we decided to drop down to milking once a day for two or so weeks before we stopped milking. I thought that this would be enough time that if a case of mastitis did develop, we would have time to deal with it. Sure enough, two days after switching to OAD the milk started filtering slowly and the milk from the front left quarter tested high in somatic cells and tasted salty. She's had mastitis before, and this was not as bad, the milk didn't look weird or have any noticeable clumps, but it definitely tastes salty and filters slow. So, not wanting to milk more than OAD, i started treating with peppermint oil and doing lots of massage at milking time. After 4 days of this, the mastitis was not gone. It had not gotten any worse, but it was still there, salty milk and all. So, knowing that it's very important not to dry off with mastitis present, I decided to increase to 3 milking/day, while continuing the extra massage and topical peppermint oil application. Now I've been at this plan for 4 days, and still no change. The quarter isn't hot or hard, maybe a bit meatier than the other three, but not too bad, and there is still plenty of milk in it, but it does taste a little salty, and it filters slowly and leaves a yellow film on the filter, again, no clumps or stringiness, but definite saltiness. I have read many of the posts about mastitis in the knowledge tree, and I'm wondering what action I need to take before drying her off. I am reluctant to use antibiotics, but I realize that doing it now and making sure there is no mastitis is much better than having her freshen with a nasty case. I've read some posts about "Today" and "Tomorrow" and I'm wondering if someone could explain those to me and help me figure out what the best course of action would be. Our cow is scheduled to dry off one week from today. Please help. Thanks again, this forum has been extremely helpful whenever I need advice.

[Claire]

I would try Today at this point. Basically, you milk her out completely, infuse the quarter with one tube of today, let it sit in her udder for 8-12 hours, milk her out again, infuse with the second and final tube, and let that final dose sit for 8-12 hours. The milk should start clearing up the milking after the first infusion, though it may not be entirely clear until a milking or two after the final infusion.

[lindseyryan]

So if I use Today and the mastitis clears up within a few milkings, how long should I wait to make sure that it's gone before we stop milking? Should I basically milk for a couple more days to make sure it's gone and then dry up? I'm just thinking that every time I milk is another chance to contract mastitis, so would it be best to quit while we're ahead, so to speak and hope she doesn't come back with mastitis? Also, if I use the CMT before she dries up and she seems clear, can I avoid using Tomorrow? I just hate the thought of the calf getting a dose of antibiotics with it's first drink. Thanks for your advice, I'll call the vet right now.

[Claire]

I would milk a few more days after she clears, then infuse with Tomorrow (I would advocate all 4 quarter in case there are any bacteria lurking about) and stop milking cold turkey.

[lindseyryan]

I was researching ToMorrow online and found that the manufacturer says that the first six milkings post calving are to be discarded. Does this mean that the first milk that the calf drinks contains antibiotics?

[suzorse]

I would not worry about the calf it means you can not drink the milk for that long , I would not dry her off with out using tomarrow if she has mastitis at dry off, I would not treat with today I would just use the tomarrow and quit milking as you said the milk looked normal ( I have had salty tasting milk from certain kinds of feed )
just my opinion Suzanne