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matrix111 Profile
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VG86

Registered: 08-2010
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Gangrenous mastitis


I recently sent a cow to UW Vet Hospital with a severe case of gangrenous mastitis. She managed to survive the worst part of it, but now I am dealing with the ugly part as the dead tissue detaches and falls off. She is generally in good health now, eating very well, and is still milking (about 60 lbs/day) from three quarters at this point.

Has anyone else dealt with this? My main concern now is what I can do, if anything, to protect the healthy mammary tissue as the dead part separates from it. This whole process is quite an education, albeit one I could do without. Any advice on the subject is much appreciated, thanks.
22/5/2011, 3:40 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


I assume this is the same as we would commonly call black mastitis here.

Rarely does a cow survive so she is indeed lucky, the only advice I could give is to massage the quarter as much as possible to help the dead tissue come away quicker. I am wondering whether increasing circulation with Uddermint (or one of those peppermint heat products for the udder) would help as it would help increase circulation for healing.

How we used to cure chronic mastitis cases in young cows was to actually put 3 or 4 rather large and healthy calves on the cow and throw them in a spare paddock - there is nothing better for an udder than to be milked out a lot and the headbutting of the calf helps clear the quarter too. This is probably not an option for you though. Never had a cow survive black mastitis long enough to try this out.

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23/5/2011, 3:26 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


quote:

matrix111 wrote:

I recently sent a cow to UW Vet Hospital with a severe case of gangrenous mastitis. She managed to survive the worst part of it, but now I am dealing with the ugly part as the dead tissue detaches and falls off. She is generally in good health now, eating very well, and is still milking (about 60 lbs/day) from three quarters at this point.

Has anyone else dealt with this? My main concern now is what I can do, if anything, to protect the healthy mammary tissue as the dead part separates from it. This whole process is quite an education, albeit one I could do without. Any advice on the subject is much appreciated, thanks.



I have found and been instructed by vet before, that penicillin based mastitis tubes, plus IM penicillin will help. An anti imflammatory is a must. Make sure you consult your vet. Oxytocin and every few hours strip it out. You have to keep that quarter stripped out, and medicated. The trouble is once you know what you are dealing with, it is too late to save the quarter. It seems like we see one of these every 5 years. I haven't had the quarter fall off.

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Buckeye seems like a one man wrecking crew out to rid the world of injustice. ----- Mayjay
24/5/2011, 13:11 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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VG89

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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


We had a cow with the exact same problem last spring. We quickly realized her mastitis was getting worse fast even while we were treating her. At the point you realize it's black mastitis, there isn't much hope in trying to save the quarter, but you can save the cow if you are on to it, as with your cow! We put her on a course of Tylan to prevent her going septic, also used an anti-inflammatory, and the udder mint cream.

At the stage your cow is at there is not much that can be done. Just keep it well disinfected before and after milking. The dead tissue will start peeling away from the rest of the udder and will look quite disgusting. Our vet advised us not to pull any loose tissue off as it's like picking a scab and you don't want to start any bleeding. Eventually it will fall off and heal over by itself. If you are coming into summer you will need to keep it disinfected to keep flies off, even spray a fly repellent or something.

Hope this helps. Our cow is a great 3/4 cow now and isn't fazed at all. Still a high producing happy cow!
25/5/2011, 3:56 Link to this post PM via Forum
 
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VG86

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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


When Abyann arrived at the university she was going into shock. This was about 24 hours after I found the mastitis. They quickly amputated the RF teat. She didn't have a good outlook but managed to pull through. A week later I brought her home. She was on pen G and ceftiofur sodium for 3 weeks and treated in the remaining three quarters also. I have been rinsing her udder with warm water after each milking to keep it clean and applying a dippable dry cow sealant on the other teats to help protect them from anything that comes out of the dead area. The dead tissue of her right front quarter is not hanging on by much now. (The sooner the better as her smell is making some people that work at the farm complain.) emoticon

I am hoping, like your cow MBurgess, that she heals over nicely and continues her life a a great 3/4 cow!
28/5/2011, 20:18 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


How is she going?

---
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8/6/2011, 0:48 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


Thanks for asking! The dead part fell off this week. We are both glad to be rid of that stinky thing. emoticon Seven weeks after she contracted the mastitis. She is doing quite well, and gave 75 lbs. for the milk tester! Her somatic cell count is a little high, around 300,000, but I am hoping to put her milk into the tank soon. Her udder is healing slowly, and she is eating well too. Her feet are still pretty sore from the laminitis so I keep her separate from the other cows as I'm sure they would beat her up a bit. I'm happy with her progress, hopefully I can find some time to post a couple pictures of her ordeal.
8/6/2011, 16:36 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


I wouldn't worry too hard about the high cell count unless there are sure signs of mastitis, her immune system is probably still in shock so I would hazard a guess that its going to come good over time. I would suggest a slightly extended dry period would do her a world of good as well.

Glad to hear she is doing well.

---
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9/6/2011, 0:35 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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VG86

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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


Here are a couple pictures of Abyann's udder so far.

Image

Image
10/6/2011, 2:45 Link to this post PM via Email   PM via Forum
 
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VG89

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Re: Gangrenous mastitis


Yep, looks exactly like our cow! Same quarter too!
10/6/2011, 2:47 Link to this post PM via Forum
 


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