Post by maggiesherd on Jan 14, 2008 14:08:00 GMT -5
I just got off of the phone with a very nice Vet at the Dairy cow department of the large animal hospital at Auburn University.
She took over a half an hour to talk to me. I understand more but also have more questions.
She said it sounds like Rosie has Staph Aureus based on the fact that she still has symptoms of mastitis and the culture is clear. She said that Staph A is shed intermittently and you can miss it in a culture. At first she said that it could be a coliform (sp?) bacteria but it more likely is Staph A. She mentioned the look of the milk being watery or syrupy looking with one of them and I can't remember which it was. Do you know?
The other three quarters seem fine. She was very supportive of my milking a cow but encouraged me greatly to pasteurize my milk. Although she did say I seem to be doing everything right and am making the right decisions in my attempts to keep my milk safe. And, suggested that if we do drink it raw that I culture it from time to time using the CMT as a screener. She said that the CMT can show slimy for other reasons though such as a drop in production because of the dilution factor. She said she would pasteurize the milk and supplement with whatever the heat killed off. I don't think you can do that on all the beneficial things...can you?
I LOVE ROSIE!!!!!! I don't want to get rid of her. I am going to wait until there are clear signs of mastitis and get it cultured again. There is still the chance that it's not Staph A, though small.
What would you do? I have the option of milking the good quarters and dumping the bad one. I guess I could do that indefinitely unless she showed signs of Staph A in the other quarters.
I'll be asking lots more questions I'm sure. But, if any of you think of anything beneficial please post for me.
If this quarter stays infected and the others stay clear, I would probably dry off the bad quarter when it's time to dry her off for calving and accept her as a 3/4 cow. I would rather do that than get rid of her as long as the other 3/4s stay healthy.
Thanks,
Carol
She took over a half an hour to talk to me. I understand more but also have more questions.
She said it sounds like Rosie has Staph Aureus based on the fact that she still has symptoms of mastitis and the culture is clear. She said that Staph A is shed intermittently and you can miss it in a culture. At first she said that it could be a coliform (sp?) bacteria but it more likely is Staph A. She mentioned the look of the milk being watery or syrupy looking with one of them and I can't remember which it was. Do you know?
The other three quarters seem fine. She was very supportive of my milking a cow but encouraged me greatly to pasteurize my milk. Although she did say I seem to be doing everything right and am making the right decisions in my attempts to keep my milk safe. And, suggested that if we do drink it raw that I culture it from time to time using the CMT as a screener. She said that the CMT can show slimy for other reasons though such as a drop in production because of the dilution factor. She said she would pasteurize the milk and supplement with whatever the heat killed off. I don't think you can do that on all the beneficial things...can you?
I LOVE ROSIE!!!!!! I don't want to get rid of her. I am going to wait until there are clear signs of mastitis and get it cultured again. There is still the chance that it's not Staph A, though small.
What would you do? I have the option of milking the good quarters and dumping the bad one. I guess I could do that indefinitely unless she showed signs of Staph A in the other quarters.
I'll be asking lots more questions I'm sure. But, if any of you think of anything beneficial please post for me.
If this quarter stays infected and the others stay clear, I would probably dry off the bad quarter when it's time to dry her off for calving and accept her as a 3/4 cow. I would rather do that than get rid of her as long as the other 3/4s stay healthy.
Thanks,
Carol