Mastitis Question

Hio;

I was looking around on the internet to find out whether or not I should be concerned for my does.  They are due to kid in February (if they're even preggers at all) and I am very worrisome that this mastitis from the cow could be passed on to them.  We will be moving the does from the pen very soon, but I am fearful it's already too late.

After some conversing on the phone with a person who bought his other cow (and their cousin who bought the half sister to my cow) and there is great concern that their strain of mastitis is a 99% resistant strain of Strep.

Can this be passed on to the goats?

Thanks

I can't answer your question, Sweets, but I feel for you. The is is not the way it should be for you.

I dont believe it should be an issue.

Thank you.

My cow's half sister, her calf (that just had a calf), the jersey he sold and my cow ALL have the same condition. Perpetual and persistent cases of mastitis that does not respond to treatment. I've done er...methryn.. 36, not sure how to spell it. The lady with the jersey has done the same, plus several other treatments including triple dose courses of antibiotics. Her cousin (who owns the half sister) has done the same with no luck at all.

The lady with the jersey has the vet coming to do a preg check and full diagnosis of the mastitis.

My first question to you is - what was the condition of his corrals? How did the staph enter the teats to begin with?
If your corrals are fairly clean and the cow/goats dont lay in mud and muck and feces - they should be fine. I havent had a case of mastitis yet in the does - and I seem to have been lucky enough to have had everything else!
Im still thinking you should be ok Sweetened!

We keep their corral area well bedded and, when it's not frozen and can't be pulled up, I clear the mess off to the side away from where they spend time.

His corral yard was also clean, but it was snowed over, so I can't be sure. The barn in which he milked was... dilapitated. The whole situation is just insane. I guess he told the lady with the jersey that she had had mastitis once before, but after laying in a swampy part of their property to "get away from the mosquitos". She said she was thick with mastitis the day she got her home, like ours, but that he argued that it was just 'old milk' and that she didn't acutally have mastitis. She's been the same way since the first week of December when they bought her, despite all the medication pumped into her.

yep the swampy part of the property would do it - yikes - sounds like his husbandry may have been the issue.
Im still pretty sure you will be ok

Thanks Karaandblue.

If he doesn't reply to my letter, I'll have her butchered, just in case. Minimize what I can I suppose.

The biggest thing to remember when you have an animal with mastitis is to not spread it around. So don't milk the cow then handle the goats udders. And DO NOT EVER milk directly onto the ground.
I was told that most animals, humans included, have a general amount of Staph on them anyways but it is important to wash the udders before and after milking, dip the teats after milking as well to stop any spread into small cuts or abbrasions from milking from becoming vectors of infection.
We have our old Jersey here, she has had mastitis for many years, we just manage it, do not drink her milk for ourselves, and keep her separated from the other cows when she has nurse calves (so they are not sucking her and then moving on to a different cow). We find giving her apple cider vinegar in her grain helps a lot to control it. Also like Kara says clean environment goes a long way to keeping things from spreading around.

It is completely up to you on the butchering but if she is pregnant I would wait till she freshens so you are not killing 2 animals. You can feed the calf powdered colostrum and then bottle it if you don't want the cow around.

ALso to add to the good advice given if he was using a machine to milk ( I am pretty sure you said he was) perhaps it was not completely emptying her and allowing the bacteria to build. LOts of factors can come into play. Did anyone get a culture and sensitivity yet? You can get your vet to submit a milk sample to find out what exactly your dealing with. There are certain strains of staph and strep that are normal flora on the skin but can take over to cause disease. If she was in yucky conditions you could be dealing with maybe ecoli on top of it.

I think everyone is right that if you are not handling the goats and her and they are in a clean environment they should be ok. If she shares an area with them maybe a spray with virkon or bleach solution even on frozen bedding will help. And if the goat kids do their job they should be keeping the udders healthy just by nursing.

I personally had mastitis 3 times with my son. He was only nursing part time and I was pumping as well. Just incomplete drainage and the pumping allowed bacteria to get wicked in. It sucked, it hurt and was awful. I had never been s sick in my life!

Good luck I hope you find the cause!

Thanks everyone.

I want to be clear about something: I'm not happy that I'm considering butchering her while in calf.  But to find out this has been a chronic issue with 3 cows he's sold, plus the offspring from these cows is mastitic since she calved as well has really really scared me.  I am, in no way, interested in losing my goats because they end up with a strain that can't be fought without constant medication.  I want to break that cycle, and I get the cost.

I have a talk with my lawyer Thursday morning, a talk with the lady who bought his Jersey about the results from her vet visit happening the same day, and from there I will call the vet for an appointment, depending on the result.  The vet is going to be almost $400 to have out and I'm really struggling to justify the costs that I am pouring into this animal in order to keep this from turning into an infection that kills her.  She passed blood clots in her milk the other day.  I can't imagine the value of keeping her until she calves in May, only to pay to raise a calf which I now have to hope would be a bull, who may very well carry whatever it is she has and continue the cycle on my property until I butcher him.

When the milker stops pulling milk, I will pull down from the top to the teat on all 4 teats several times to try and get any residual milk.  We try to milk around the same time every day, but with the milker being on again off again, sometimes we are a couple hours on either side.  She will no longer allow me to hand milk without kicking, and the back teat is pointless to even try milking on, it just does not milk by hand.  I have been putting a coconut oil rub on her teats to keep them soft and not cracking, with 3 drops of peppermint oil mixed in to stimulate bloodflow.

These are her back two teats, with and without the milker, the morning she decides to lay in her patty pile before I can cover it with straw.  Are all cows prone to just laying in their own feces? Here's also her from the side and you can see her corral. I cover it every day with another layer of straw and remove what I can.

Sorry you are having so many problems, but you should put an ad on where ever you saw his ad, and warn people away from a farmer ( no names)

that lives in a certain area selling sick cows.  Hopefully it would help someone else.   You are right, just butcher her and get it over with.  Otherwise

you will just be constantly stressing yourself.   I would just hamburger the whole cow.  

Next time you buy a cow or heifer, go to a reputable dairy, that possibly shows their stock.  Ask them exactly what to look for, so that the bad things

you can avoid.    Stay away from dirty places, and really be cautious next time.   This crooked farmer sounds like he saw a lot of you coming.

Good Luck with the lawyer.

She also looks like she has a sloped rump, which can be a sign of a cow that has a hard time calving. You want a nice straight topline.

I personally would dry her up. Keep her on antibiotics and stop the cycle. You cant use the milk anyways so other then her health whats the point? Start cutting the amount you milk so her brain get the message to make less. Every day take less and less. I know this goes against the grain but it might be her best option.

Hi Fuzzy;

I am not arguing, I'm very curious, so please forgive how I preface this, as I know you're well qualified. I was told you CAN'T dry up a cow if she is mastitic?

How would I go about doing so? She's only milked once a day, I work during the afternoon so in this case would I not milk her dry, or do I just milk once at night, then skip until the next (next) morning, skip until the next (next) night and keep going that way?

Just milk a less and less each day. If you take a gallon, take 3/4 and every day take a little less. I would make sure she is still on antibiotics during the process. I know it goes against the grain but it might be the answer. The vets may tell you something different but I dont know??? Worked on my "udders" after my 3rd bout with mastits. I was done and no milk was leaving my body again. I had a few very uncomfortable days but the body got the point quickly and dried up.

I am sorry for your troubles Sweetend. It must be so frustrating! One thing about this forum is it encourages me to research things now and then. I have been learning. I found an article that used plain English (the kind I understand best    ) to explain the various types of mastitis and treatment options. Fascinating stuff. In dogs with this terrible condition we often use cold cabbage compresses...I am skeptical about it's effectiveness but some research indicates that there is a compound in the cabbage that helps...I don't know, I have always thought the cold cabbage would reduce inflammation, making Momma feel better

Here is a link that seemed to make sense to my poor addled brain. I think I might be starting to grasp the fine art of "Copy and Paste"   

http://ansci.illinois.edu/static/ansc438/Mastitis/control.html

He sent me an email this morning saying he'll be picking her and the milker up and that he'll be making arrangements today. "Details to come."

great to hear!

I don't know. We'll see. He's a weird one, I'm half afraid he's coming to murder me.

Echo 1 wrote:I am sorry for your troubles Sweetend.  It must be so frustrating! One thing about this forum is it encourages me to research things now and then.  I have been learning.  I found an article that used plain English (the kind I understand best      ) to explain the various types of mastitis and treatment options.  Fascinating stuff. In dogs with this terrible condition we often use cold cabbage compresses...I am skeptical about it's effectiveness but some research indicates that there is a compound in the cabbage that helps...I don't know, I have always thought the cold cabbage would reduce inflammation, making Momma feel better  

Here is a link that seemed to make sense to my poor addled brain.  I think I might be starting to grasp the fine art of "Copy and Paste"   

http://ansci.illinois.edu/static/ansc438/Mastitis/control.html

They(health nurses) tell women to use cabbage leaves on their breasts for ease of discomfort. Your right echo I can't remember what it is either    but it works. It brings the body temp down so its not such high heat. I should state that this is for woman who have had a baby and don't want to breast feed. I would hate to think I just told everybody to run around with cabbage leaves on    .

I am glad to see you got a response sweetened. Keep us updated....
If your uncomfortable make sure someone is there with you.

Ruffledfeathers wrote:

Echo 1 wrote:I am sorry for your troubles Sweetend.  It must be so frustrating! One thing about this forum is it encourages me to research things now and then.  I have been learning.  I found an article that used plain English (the kind I understand best      ) to explain the various types of mastitis and treatment options.  Fascinating stuff. In dogs with this terrible condition we often use cold cabbage compresses...I am skeptical about it's effectiveness but some research indicates that there is a compound in the cabbage that helps...I don't know, I have always thought the cold cabbage would reduce inflammation, making Momma feel better  

Here is a link that seemed to make sense to my poor addled brain.  I think I might be starting to grasp the fine art of "Copy and Paste"   

http://ansci.illinois.edu/static/ansc438/Mastitis/control.html

They(health nurses) tell women to use cabbage leaves on their breasts for ease of discomfort. Your right echo I can't remember what it is either    but it works. It brings the body temp down so its not such high heat. I should state that this is for woman who have had a baby and don't want to breast feed. I would hate to think I just told everybody to run around with cabbage leaves on    .

I am glad to see you got a response sweetened. Keep us updated....
If your uncomfortable make sure someone is there with you.

Someone mentioned Cabbage leaves to me, and I bought a head of cabbage and then said: How am I going to strap a cabbage to a cow in 50 below without freezing her and making matters even WORSE!

Moose will be there with me, and I'll make sure the dogs are out and barking viciously. I'm pretty sure Bull won't take well to him, and I'll let Bull run the end of the leash growling and gnashing to make a point. We'll also keep the .22 in a visible location, methinks. I'm not opposed to letting someone know I'm armed with multiple strategies including a pack of dogs that I've seen take down a coyote like it was a casual walk down the street. He's a skinny guy. I'm pretty sure 6 100lb dogs could handle it.

Still, when I talked with the woman who had his jersey, we both agreed we think he kills people.

Oh Good.
I love big dogs just for that point. Don't F@&* with my stuff. My property my rules.

Serious parents and offspring -- ATTACK!

Instead of vicious dogs and weaponry, may I suggest chatting it up with the local bylaw enforcement officer. I know they are not 'police' but usually are pretty obliging to their residents, have official looking cars and outfits, take a no nonsense attitude,

Our local guy is Ed. He is a lovely man, but has a take no sh!t attitude and would be more than willing to pay a visit if I was going to be having a person at the farm that I did not trust. As a mere presence, he would make me feel secure.

This is a good idea.