Mastitis in dairy cattle and buffalo
Spotting mastitis early, treating it correctly, and the milk withdrawal you must observe afterwards.
Mastitis is inflammation of the udder, almost always caused by bacteria entering through the teat canal. It is the single most costly disease in Pakistani dairy herds, and most of that cost is discarded milk and lost yield rather than the medicine.
What to look for
- Clots, flakes or watery consistency in the first strips of milk
- A quarter that is hot, hard or swollen
- The animal flinching when the quarter is handled
- A sudden fall in yield from one quarter
- In severe cases: fever, loss of appetite, and a dull, dehydrated animal
Strip the first few squirts from each quarter onto a dark surface before every milking. It takes seconds and catches most cases days earlier than waiting for a visible swelling.
Treating it
Clinical mastitis needs an intramammary antibiotic, and severe cases need systemic treatment as well. Which antibiotic depends on the organism, which is why a milk sample and a veterinarian's judgement matter more here than a general recommendation. Anti-inflammatory treatment alongside the antibiotic reduces udder damage and gets the animal eating again sooner.
Complete the full course. Stopping when the milk looks normal is the most common reason mastitis returns in the same quarter a fortnight later, usually harder to treat.
Milk withdrawal
Every intramammary and systemic antibiotic has a milk withdrawal period, typically 3 to 5 days. Milk from a treated animal must be discarded for that whole period, from every quarter, not just the treated one. Selling it is unlawful and it is how antibiotic residues reach people.
Mark treated animals clearly - a leg band works - so nobody milks them into the bulk tank by mistake.
Preventing the next case
- Dip or spray teats after every milking
- Wash and dry hands and cloths between animals; use one cloth per animal
- Keep animals standing for 30 minutes after milking so the teat canal closes before they lie down
- Clean, dry bedding - most infections are picked up lying down
- Dry-cow therapy at the end of lactation, on veterinary advice
- Milk known-infected animals last