Dairy Work Experience

On our rounds today the farmer pointed out a cow that had had tetanus previously. This can cause a cow to have lock jaw meaning that they are unable to eat. Cows remove excess methane through their mouths and so without the mouth being able to open the methane cannot be released and this can lead to the methane accumulating, making the cow bloated. In this case the vet performed a operation to remove the methane by going into the cows flank where the rumen is easily accessible. This allowed the methane to slowly be released and although the wound took a long time to close up, it is now only visible by a light line on the cows flank.

On the rounds in the fields we noticed a young heifer that had a very swollen teat. The heifer was herded up and brought into a small bull pen where two of us were able to hold her down by pinning her head back over her shoulder and with her on her side, holding a leg up to her stomach to prevent her kicking to get herself upright. The quarter could now be examined. It was clearly infected and felt slightly hard at the top of the teat. When this teat was squeezed a thick cream fluid emerged. This was followed by a spell of milk and then the thick fluid once more. If blood were to be seen at this point then the quarter will not be able to be used and the heifer would milk on 3 teats. Blood was, at present not seen and so this action was not needed as the symptoms had been spotted early giving maximum time for treatment to take place.
The udder was cleaned with a sterile wipe, specifically the teat showing mastitis. A cream was then applied which acts as a sort of 'deep heat' to lessen the swelling, before Cobactan (a antibiotic) was inserted from a syringe into the teat canal. Cobactan is for the treatment of clinical mastitis in lactating cows. The treatment has a with drawl period of 84 hours or 7 milkings. This means that the cow cannot be milked for this time period, to allow the drugs to clear from the system before the milk could come into contact with humans.
Treatment will proceed as necessary with the heifer being checked on regularly and Cobactan being administered if and when it is needed.
This case has really raised my awareness of mastitis and it is something that I would now like to know more about.