drying up a cow quick!

JR05 · #1 08/14/10, 02:06 PM

Saddly our milk cow must be put down. She has contracted a type of mastitis that is incurable according to the vet. We had the milk tested after trying to cure her twice with the normal procedures. Sent to lab and had a sensitivity test done, no go. So now we have to wait 30 days to make sure she is drug free then send her to the sale barn or to the butcher. I want to dry her up so we don't have to worry about her not being milked at the sale barn if that is were she goes. Want this to be a painless and stress free as possible for her. Should we just stop all grain and milk only half out, will this make it more painful for her? Or is there something you can give her to help dry her up faster? Answers needed.

**gone-a-milkin** · #2 08/14/10, 02:16 PM

I am sorry to hear about your cow.

I would go to once a day milking for a week
and then just stop milking her.

Any of the dry-up treatments that I know of would only prolong your wait to sell her.

willow_girl · #3 08/14/10, 02:48 PM

First of all, what kind of mastitis are we talking about? Is this the toxic or bloody kind, or merely an antibiotic-resistant staph?

If it's the latter, I would quit milking, eliminate the grain, and put a calf on her. The calf will take enough milk off the top to keep her comfortable. Her production will drop gradually to meet the calf's needs. The calf can be weaned at 30 days and raised for meat, or you can send it back to the sale barn with her and make a few bucks on it, hopefully enough to offset the loss of the milk.

You're kind to be concerned about her comfort.

cathleenc · #4 08/14/10, 03:17 PM

I am sorry!

topside1 · #5 08/14/10, 03:48 PM

Butcher shop sounds like the best idea. Sure hate for some poor sole to buy her, breed her, wait nine months only to find out exactly what you already know....It's just the way I see it....Sorry to hear the bad news, your original question was answered by gone a milking in post #2....Topside

JR05 · #6 08/14/10, 05:46 PM

Thank you for your info. We will milk a once daily for a week then stop. Her calf is 4 months old and we bottle fed her on goats milk instead of letting her on mom. We will be keeping her. A friend suggested using sage and parsely in her food to dry her up as they are what humans use, has anyone heard this before? Would it help?

Trisha in WA · #7 08/14/10, 06:47 PM

By chance have you tried using hydrogen peroxide to rid her of the mastitis? I have heard amazing stories about it working on black mastitis even.
Since you have decided to keep her, I thought I would throw that out for consideration.
Good luck to you.
PS I have heard of using sage, but have not heard of parsley and I don't know anyone first hand who has used the sage. Just something I read somewhere.

Valmai · #8 08/15/10, 12:40 AM

I have never heard of a cow having to be put down due to mastitis (other than black mastitis). Can you give me some details please? What type of mastitis, how many quarters? What treatment did the vet give? Sorry to ask so many questions when you are so upset.

Ronney · #9 08/15/10, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valmai

I have never heard of a cow having to be put down due to mastitis (other than black mastitis). Can you give me some details please? What type of mastitis, how many quarters? What treatment did the vet give? Sorry to ask so many questions when you are so upset.

Mmm, I'm of this opinion too, with the exception of Black Mastitis, and would ask the same questions as Valmai. And even Black Mastitis, caught early enough, doesn't have to be a complete loss although I doubt your cow has this because if she did, she would be very ill by now. I would want some good answers from my vet as to why I had to put a mastitis cow on a one way trip to death.

Think twice JR and get some details.

Cheers,
Ronnie

Madsaw · #10 08/15/10, 09:27 AM

What kind of mastitis did the vet say she has? Hydrogen peroxide and vinger are 2 organic means to clear them up. Also is it all 4 quarters? Sometimes the use of bull calves that will later be sold are good methods of knocking it out too.
Bob

**gone-a-milkin** · #11 08/15/10, 09:40 AM

I think it is perfectly acceptable to cull this cow. If she has had an infection in her udder for some time, there will be damage to it. The OP says they have a heifer calf from her and they will be keeping that. They have had the vets opinion and it doesn't sound out of line to me, with the info given, that they would follow that.

Nowhere does it say the animal is about to die from the mastitis, only that they arent getting it healed up. Not everyone has the facilities or desire to keep a nurse cow around for raising calves. Perhaps someone at the salebarn will buy her for such a purpose.

Trisha in WA · #12 08/15/10, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JR05

Thank you for your info. We will milk a once daily for a week then stop. Her calf is 4 months old and we bottle fed her on goats milk instead of letting her on mom. We will be keeping her. A friend suggested using sage and parsely in her food to dry her up as they are what humans use, has anyone heard this before? Would it help?

Did I misunderstand here? I took this to mean you are keeping the cow...did you mean you are keeping the calf? Sorry if I confused things.

JR05 · #13 08/15/10, 06:40 PM

Yes Trish we are keeping the calf not the cow. She had mastitis last year and freshened with it this year, thought we had it cleared up but it came back so we had samples tested and that is where we are now. We do have a two year old daughter and current calf from her but didn't try to milk the two year old as mom has always given us more then enough milk. We have decided to take her to the butcher instead of the sale barn. Thank you for everyones help and info.

Trisha in WA · #14 08/15/10, 07:53 PM

OK sorry for the confusion. Glad you decided not to take her to the sale barn too. A quick end is always better in MY opinion.
Again, I am sorry you are having to go through this too.
Trisha

DJ in WA · #15 08/15/10, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valmai

I have never heard of a cow having to be put down due to mastitis (other than black mastitis). Can you give me some details please? What type of mastitis, how many quarters? What treatment did the vet give? Sorry to ask so many questions when you are so upset.

Perhaps culling would be better phrase than putting down. For my interest I googled to see how many cows are lost to mastitis from culling.

http://www.thedairysite.com/articles...-with-mastitis

Quote:

On most dairy farms, annual culling rates exceed 30-35% of the herd. According to December 1998 DHI summary for Virginia, 36% of all cows enrolled in Virginia's DHI program were culled. The major reasons for culling in these herds were: low production, 11%; dairy, 9%; reproduction, 17%; disease and injury, 24%; mastitis or udder, 15%; feet and legs, 9%; and 15% died. Culling due to mastitis increased only to 18.5% in third and later lactation cows. This is surprising because 29% of the cows had DHI somatic cell count (SCC) scores of 5 and above and 17% were 6 and over. At the same time, an average culling rate of 36% of the herd might be considered excessive since Rogers et al (1988) concluded that the optimum average yearly culling rate was 25.1%, and this rate did not increase until sixth lactation.

Culling is often the most practical means for eliminating chronically infected cows (National Mastitis Council). There is little justification for keeping cows that have consistently high SCC, sporadic mastitis flare-ups, and infections that persist in spite of dry cow treatment. These cows can act as reservoirs of infection which may spread to other cows during the milking process. Cows which are infected with Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), or Mycoplasma spp. present a risk to non-infected cows in the herd. A successful Staphylococcus aureus control program will eliminate existing infections, prevent new infections, and have a system for ongoing monitoring of the infection status of the herd (Leslie and Schukken, 1993). In fact, the culling of chronically infected cows is one of the cornerstone recommendations in the original five-point mastitis control programs published by Philpot (1979). Cows that do not respond favorably to treatment continue to flare-up repeatedly with clinical mastitis and should be culled (Philpot and Nickerson, 1991). Their continued presence in the herd may result in other cows becoming infected.