Cow with mastitis

our cow contracted mastitis within the first 36 hours of calving. The vet came out and treated the cow with Today and I followed up with three more treatments at 12 hour intervals. The quarter cleared up right away but the milk from that quarter was discarded for 96 hours after the last treatment. The milk in that quarter looked good for about three days then it started getting thick again. I did not retreat immediately but rather milked the quarter out by hand at each 12 hour cycle of milkings. The calf is also on the momma 24/7. This morning the milk looked quit thick so I milked it out and retreated with Today which I will do an additional three times every 12 hours.. My biggest concern is will the calf spread the mastitis to the other quarters. Any knowledgeable advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

The calf won't spread the mastitis. If anything, the calf will stop the mastitis. I wouldn't have done any sort of treatment on the cow after calving, just let the calf do it's thing and the mastitis would go away fairly quick.

Another fun trick for really getting rid of mastitis after calving is to keep the calf separate from the momma for a while then when you introduce the hunger calf, just allow the calf to nurse on the infected teat only. This is easily done by pushing the calf's nose away from the other quarters and then holding the calf's mouth and teat together. Usually takes about 20 mins of this a couple times a day. Works like a charm.

Maryann Schnur wrote:our cow contracted mastitis within the first 36 hours of calving. The vet came out and treated the cow with Today and I followed up with three more treatments at 12 hour intervals. The quarter cleared up right away but the milk from that quarter was discarded for 96 hours after the last treatment. The milk in that quarter looked good for about three days then it started getting thick again. I did not retreat immediately but rather milked the quarter out by hand at each 12 hour cycle of milkings. The calf is also on the momma 24/7. This morning the milk looked quit thick so I milked it out and retreated with Today which I will do an additional three times every 12 hours.. My biggest concern is will the calf spread the mastitis to the other quarters. Any knowledgeable advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

i cant prove it 100%, but we saw mastitis jump quarters while the calf was on the momma cow.
we were being extremely careful, as we knew she had mastitis, but the calf would not take a bottle, so we decided to allow calf to nurse momma.

when we got the test results back, we found that the mastitis has jumped quarters

it possible it is something i did, but we were being VERY careful during the time the mastitis jumped quarters.

imo, if you can get the calf to take a bottle, it might be worth bottle feeding for a few days while you fight this mastitis.

The calf is still on the mama 24/7 and we are still fighting mastitis. I haven't seen the mastitis jump quarters yet but I have noticed the cow stomping when I strip her teat before milking. I'm just keeping an eye on things. I sure wish we could get rid of this mastitis.

Maryann Schnur wrote: I sure wish we could get rid of this mastitis.

if at all possible, i would get the milk cultured to see what bug you are fighting. some bugs are fightable, some are not (Staph A). some mastitis, the calf can help solve, some mastitis, the calf can spread.(Staph A)

just trying to help.