PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF MAMMITIS IN DAIRY COWS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1, 21 January 1929, Page 27

PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF MAMMITIS IN DAIRY COWS.

Live-stock Division. Contagious mammitis causes much loss to dairy-farmers every season, and in order to minimize it as much as possible it is necessary that the greatest care be exercised in observing all precautionary and preventive measures, and also in applying proper treatment when cases have arisen.

It must always be kept in mind that the udder of the cow is madeup of extremely delicate tissues, and, especially when in full milk, isextremely sensitive to any deleterious influences to which it may be subjected. When a cow is living under natural conditions, suckling her own calf, the milk is drawn by the calf in moderate quantities at frequent intervals, and the udder is not subjected to the process of alternate distension and complete emptying-out which occur immediately before and at the end of ■ each milking under necessary dairy-farm conditions, and which in themselves increase its sensitiveness and its liability to trouble when subjected or exposed to any injurious influences. Among such influences may be enumerated the following :

(1) Direct infection by the streptococcus of contagious mammitis. (2) Temporary ill-health of the animal due to digestive or other trouble. (3) Improper operation of the milking-machine, such as running it at too high pressure, leaving on after the udder has been milked out, uncleanliness, &c. (4) Severe chills, which may be incurred in various ways, as, for instance, washing the udder with cold water on a cold day and not drying it immediately with gentle friction ; contact of a portion of the udder, when large and pendulous, with cold wet ground, -or with a frosted ground surface, when the animal is lying down. (5) Temporary overstocking of the udder. (6) Uncleanly conditions in and about milking-shed and yards. (7) Allowing dogs to hurry cows to the milking-shed. ‘ Dairy-farmers should use every effort to prevent their cows being subjected to any of these influences. They cannot, of course, help weather conditions, and temporary ill health may occur in spite of the

best attention, but by the exercise of all possible care in the handling of the cows, in the use of milking-machines, and in the maintenance of cleanliness, many cases can be avoided.

PREVENTION.

Much time and much scientific effort have been devoted to the endeavour to find a thoroughly reliable preventive treatment for mammitis in the form of a vaccine or a serum, and if such a preparation could be found it would be a great boon to dairy-farmers. But so far no vaccine has been discovered which can be relied upon as being effective. Vaccine treatment has been given an extensive trial in New Zealand, but it has failed to give the results which had been claimed for it. This is in accordance with the experience of scientists dealing with both human and animal disease, who have found that, as regards diseases associated with infection of the type found in mammitis, vaccine treatment has not proved reliable, though endeavours to produce reliable vaccines have been in progress in all civilized countries for several years past. Nevertheless, research in this direction is still in progress, not only abroad but in New Zealand also.

It must be realized, therefore, that < the utmost importance is attached to all possible precautionary measures which can be carried out by the farmer himself. These may be briefly summarized as follows :

(i) Practise rigid cleanliness in all things. Pay particular attention to milking-machines and teat-cups. Keep leg-ropes as clean as possible.

(2) See that the machines are running at the proper pressure and not too high ; that they are not left on too long ; and that all parts are kept thoroughly clean.

(3) Every cow affected with mammitis must be regarded as a possible centre from which infection may be spread to other cows in the herd. Therefore, any cow known or suspected to have anything wrong with its udder must be kept back until all the others have been milked, and then be milked carefully by hand, the milker's hands being well disinfected immediately after handling of the cow has ceased.

(4) Never strip an affected quarter on to the ground —always into a receptacle containing disinfectant.

(5) The early detection of mammitis cases is of the utmost importance, both from the preventive and curative points of view. This is best done by taking a strip or two of the fore milk from each quarter before putting the machines on. Take these strips into a bucket the, top of which is covered with fine wire gauze. Any small clots in the fore milk are then immediately detected, and a cow whose milk contains them must be regarded as a case of mammitis and treated accordingly.

(6) When a cow has apparently recovered from an attack, do not at once put the machines on her. Continue to milk by hand for two or three weeks, so that any possible remaining infection may not have an opportunity of being spread to other cows by the agency of the machine cups. In such cases it is a wise precaution to take samples of the milk from the quarters involved,, send them to the Wallaceville Veterinary Laboratory for examination, and obtain a report before commencing the use of the machine.

TREATMENT.

When mammitis occurs, a great deal of benefit and a number of recoveries can be brought about by relatively simple methods of treatment, if carefully and properly carried out. They involve the expenditure of some time and trouble, but they are well worth adoption.

A good practice is at once to give the affected cow a dose of laxative medicine. A useful mixture to give is 10 oz. of Epsom salts, 2 drams of powdered nitre, and 2 drams of powdered carraway-seeds, administered in pints of warm water or, preferably, very thin gruel. In severe cases, after the laxative effect of this drench has passed off, the cow can be given 4 oz. of Epsom salts dissolved in | pint of warm water or thin warm gruel, once daily, for three or four days.

Apart from this medicinal treatment, the following measures should be adopted :

(1) Stripping : A most, important feature of treatment is frequent stripping. This reduces the invading army of germs, and also removes the tissue-damaging substances which they produce; moreover, by keeping the affected quarter as empty of milk as possible the germs will be deprived of much of their food-supply. Stripping should be done at frequent intervalsthe oftener the better. Even if stripping could be done every two hours it would not be too often—in fact, it would be ' very advantageous.

(2) Massage : This should be done thoroughly but gently, from above downwards towards the teat. Do it after stripping. Olive-oil, or some simple harmless lubricant, must be used to prevent chafing the skin when massaging. It is a good plan to mix liquid extract of belladonna with the oil in the proportion of one part to four parts of oil. When this is done, again strip out the milk that massaging has brought into the milk-cistern. .

(3) Fomentation : This .is particularly helpful in severe cases, especially in the early stages. It is best done by applying a flannel wrung out in hot water, keeping the water hot throughout. Not less than half an hour should be spent in doing this. Afterwards rub in some olive-oil, preferably with one part of liquid extract of belladonna added to each four parts of oil. This will counteract the effects of cold after the fomentation (which is very important). In severe cases avoid turning the cow out if the weather is bad or there is no sheltered place to put her in. Foment thrice daily while the quarter is hot and swollen.

Ivon Treatment for Bush Sickness. — In a recent report Mr. C. M. Wright, Country Analyst under the mineral content of pastures investigation, relates a settler’s experience as follows : “A farmer on the coastal pumice lands (Bay of Plenty) who is milking 130 cows on 200 acres was recently visited. He told me that his neighbours over the fence were farming on the same lines as himself, except that he put the iron-ammonium citrate as recommended in the drinkingwater for his cows. He states that his cows average 8 lb. of butterfat per month more than his neighbours, and he is sure that the result is from the use of the citrate. He also feeds the drug in skim-milk to his calves, and now rears good ones, whereas before using it he had difficulty in doing so. One of the paddocks is on the reclaimed swamp, but the rest of the farm can only be a few feet above it.