A Holistic Veterinarian
 |  |
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT OF UDDER HEALTH
Almost everyone is aware of the basic management practices that are the
foundation of animal health in general and udder health in particular. In this
article I would like to explore several often overlooked principles and
procedures that have a strong influence on udder health.
CARE OF THE NON-LACTATING UDDER
Drying-off is a critical time for udder health and any extra care given at
this time will pay big dividends throughout the next lactation. Prepare the cow
for the stressful transition from lactating to non-lactating by using your
favorite herbs, homeopathy preparation, colostrum products, acupuncture, or
others to boost her immune system and help relieve stress.
After this period of preparation, just quit milking her. She must have a tight
udder for about five days for her hormonal system to get the message to quit
producing milk. Milking her out to relieve the pressure and discomfort before
this time is up only prolongs the process.
After about five or six days, when the udder swelling begins to recede,
sanitize the teats and milk out some milk. Normal appearing milk indicates a
healthy udder. If this is the case, completely milk-out the udder, sanitize the
teats and rejoice in the knowledge that for now at least the udder is healthy.
Occasionally at this time the milk will show abnormalities such as chunks, clots,
watery, slimy, bloody streaks or anything that does not look like normal milk.
In that event, milk out the udder, begin your treatment of choice and rejoice
that you have discovered the problem before it gets worse. Continue the
treatment, check the milk and strip out the udder every few days for as long
as necessary to clear up the problem. If you let her go completely dry while
she has an infection, she will almost certainly have the same problem when she
freshens.
If drying-off was accomplished successfully, the next critical time for the
udder begins about two weeks before freshening and continues until a week or
so afterwards. When she begins to “bag-up“ and has a tight udder, sanitize
her teats, milk out some milk and examine it. Early in the "bagging-up"
phase, normal secretion will usually resemble a clear amber fluid somewhat like
honey and progress from that to regular milk as she gets closer to calving;.
If normal, be happy.
If the secretion is not normal … chunks, clots stringy, slimy or bloody … milk
her out completely and begin your favorite treatment. Continue to milk her
twice a day until she freshens. This "Pre-milking" procedure will save many
udders that would normally be lost if the infection was allowed to go unchecked
all the way to calving.
Colostrum is produced shortly before calving. Save the milk right before and
after calving and give it to the calf. It will provide all the protection they
need even though the volume will be less.
These procedures provide a way to check the status of the udder at key
periods during the dry period and allow you to begin remedial action if and
when a problem occurs. If you follow these procedures you will know 100
percent more about udder health than those that only infuse with antibiotics at
dry-off and then wait until freshening to see if it worked or not.
INSURE A GOOD 'LET-DOWN"
The best stimulus to the "let-down" reflex mimics the suckling of the
offspring … warmth, moisture, some pressure or massage, and removing milk.
When these stimuli are applied as the cow is prepared for milking, oxytocin is
released. Within a minute, myo-epithelial cells surrounding the alveoli contract,
thus forcing milk out into the duct system. If milking is delayed past one
minute oxytocin begins to clear the system and the let-down reflex does not
proceed to completion. If one does not "prep" adequately and does not begin
milking within one minute, milk yield decreases and "residual milk" increases.
Residual milk makes great food for bacteria. The more you leave in, the higher
the chance for infection. (see Streptococcus below)
EVALUATION OF UDDER HEALTH
One of the best way to evaluate udder health is routine culturing
(bacteriologic examination) of milk from any animal either showing mastitis or
lower than normal milk production. Over time, these reports will allow you to
arrive at a herd profile of the type infection present. Results interpreted on a
herd basis rather than on an individual basis are of great value in managing the
herd for maximum health.
Culture reports will not be meaningful if the samples are contaminated. If the
germ that ends up in the tube comes from your hand or from a teat that was
not properly cleaned, you could be misled into thinking it was the organism
causing your problem. Contaminated samples are worse than no sample at all.
Results of culturing must always be correlated with symptoms. If an animal has
been treated with antibiotics in the previous 10 to 14 days as the results will
usually be negative.
CULTURE INTERPRETATION
Almost any bacteria can cause mastitis under certain circumstances, but most
mastitis is caused by Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli and
Enterobacter (Aerobacter) aerogenes. It is not known why at times these
bacteria become virulent but stress is certainly a factor. If a high percentage
of samples reveal the same pathogen, this is presumptive evidence of a cause
and effect relationship between the pathogen and a specific environmental
influence. These relationships are not absolute but they do provide clues about
where to look first for answers. The following guidelines may help you match
your problem to it’s cause.
STAPHYLOCOCCUS
Staphylococcus bacteria have the ability to invade living tissue. Any physical
damage, however slight, to body tissues opens the door for Staph infection. Of
all the bacteria, Staph seems to have the greatest ability to quickly become
resistant to antibiotics. Confirmation of this lies in the high incidence of post-
surgical, antibiotic resistant, staph infections in humans. This condition is even
known as ”a hospital staph infection”.
In dairy situations, two common causes of injured tissue that may lead to a
Staph infection are improperly adjusted milking equipment and the use of
irritating teat dips. Frostbite, stepped-on teats and other injuries may also
be predisposing factors. Don’t overlook the possibility of trauma just because
you milk by hand. Hard stripping or milking entirely by stripping with wet
hands can also damage the teat lining and open the door for Staph infection.
If you have an ongoing problem with Staph infection, look for anything that
causes injury to the teats or udder.
STREPTOCOCCUS
Streptococci are not generally invasive but live on the surface of the udder
tissue and in residual milk that is always present in varying amounts in the
udder. Strep infection is generally seen when good milking techniques are
lacking. It can also be associated with stray voltage or any other problem that
interferes with milk let-down.
If you have an ongoing problem with Strep infection, look first for anything
that interferes with “let-down”, “milk–out” or anything else that increases
residual milk.
ESCHERICHIA
Escherichia coli … known as the manure bacteria … is found in all feces.
Thus, mastitis caused by this bacteria is usually associated with unsanitary
conditions. Some observations seem to indicate a higher incidence of E. coli
when the ration contains excess protein, high levels of nitrates in feed or water
or the addition of urea or other NPN’s to the ration.
If you have an ongoing problem with E. coli infection, look for anything that
causes unsanitary conditions and check the water for nitrates and the feed for
nitrates or excess protein.
ENTEROBACTER
Enterobacter (formerly Aerobacter) aerogenes is often related to
contaminated drinking water especially if animals have access to unsanitary
water tanks, ponds, streams or puddles in the barnyard.
If you have an ongoing problem with this infection, first check for the
possibility of a contaminated water supply.
Some laboratories report E. Coli, Enterobacter and other Gram-negative
simply as “coliforms”. If a culture report lists any of these, I would strongly
suggest culturing the water if you have not already done so. If the water is
contaminated, remedial action should be taken at once.
Corynebacterium mastitis is sometimes seen in herds that have a problem with
abscesses.
MASTITIS: TREAT THE CAUSE, NOT THE EFFECT.
After spending so much time on bacteria, I should point that it is a mistake
to approach mastitis strictly as a bacterial problem. There is no question that
bacteria are part of the problem, but I believe their role to be more of an
effect rather than the actual cause.
Simplistic medical thought encourages us to treat the bacterial infection …the
effect, while holistic principles would have us zero in on the cause, which is
usually a stress induced immuno-suppression.
I question whether anything should ever be infused into the udder, except
possibly as a last resort. Even under the most sanitary conditions, the risk of
introducing pathogens into the udder far outweighs any anticipated benefit. If
one must infuse the udder, use a blunt infusion cannula and only insert it about
one-fourth inch (just past the teat sphincter). Inserting the cannula to the
full depth … almost an inch in some cases … is known to cause internal damage
to the teat lining. Never use an injection needle.
Also consider this, any foreign substance (honey, egg-whites, lactobacillus
cultures, other folk remedies and antibiotics) introduced into the udder will act
as an irritant and cause a non-specific inflammatory response (NSIP), with a
concurrent increase in white blood cells. The common result is that the
NSIP will sweep away any mild mastitis infections along with the foreign
substance that originated the NSIP. I believe it is a mistake to speak of
these irritants as “cures” when actually the relief from the symptoms of
mastitis is a secondary effect of the body ridding itself of the foreign
substance. This is not to say that these therapies are not often effective, but
I believe it is helpful to know the actual mode of action and the great risk of
causing a more severe infection.
One of the best ways to treat mastitis is to strip out the affected udder as
often as you can … even as often as every 15 to 30 minutes if possible. This
has the effect of removing bacteria and their toxins, reducing swellings and
improving blood supply. You can augment this procedure with your favorite
alternative immuno-stimulant such as homeopathy, herbs, acupuncture, refined
colostrum antibodies, massage with warming liniments, hot or cold compresses,
etc.
Whatever the nature of the treatment used, it will usually be unsuccessful
until the adverse predisposing factors are removed. When that is accomplished
the incidence of clinical mastitis and the need for treatment diminishes
dramatically.
Almost everyone is aware of the basic management practices that are the
foundation of animal health in general and udder health in particular. In this
article I would like to explore several often overlooked principles and
procedures that have a strong influence on udder health.
CARE OF THE NON-LACTATING UDDER
Drying-off is a critical time for udder health and any extra care given at
this time will pay big dividends throughout the next lactation. Prepare the cow
for the stressful transition from lactating to non-lactating by using your
favorite herbs, homeopathy preparation, colostrum products, acupuncture, or
others to boost her immune system and help relieve stress.
After this period of preparation, just quit milking her. She must have a tight
udder for about five days for her hormonal system to get the message to quit
producing milk. Milking her out to relieve the pressure and discomfort before
this time is up only prolongs the process.
After about five or six days, when the udder swelling begins to recede,
sanitize the teats and milk out some milk. Normal appearing milk indicates a
healthy udder. If this is the case, completely milk-out the udder, sanitize the
teats and rejoice in the knowledge that for now at least the udder is healthy.
Occasionally at this time the milk will show abnormalities such as chunks, clots,
watery, slimy, bloody streaks or anything that does not look like normal milk.
In that event, milk out the udder, begin your treatment of choice and rejoice
that you have discovered the problem before it gets worse. Continue the
treatment, check the milk and strip out the udder every few days for as long
as necessary to clear up the problem. If you let her go completely dry while
she has an infection, she will almost certainly have the same problem when she
freshens.
If drying-off was accomplished successfully, the next critical time for the
udder begins about two weeks before freshening and continues until a week or
so afterwards. When she begins to “bag-up“ and has a tight udder, sanitize
her teats, milk out some milk and examine it. Early in the "bagging-up"
phase, normal secretion will usually resemble a clear amber fluid somewhat like
honey and progress from that to regular milk as she gets closer to calving;.
If normal, be happy.
If the secretion is not normal … chunks, clots stringy, slimy or bloody … milk
her out completely and begin your favorite treatment. Continue to milk her
twice a day until she freshens. This "Pre-milking" procedure will save many
udders that would normally be lost if the infection was allowed to go unchecked
all the way to calving.
Colostrum is produced shortly before calving. Save the milk right before and
after calving and give it to the calf. It will provide all the protection they
need even though the volume will be less.
These procedures provide a way to check the status of the udder at key
periods during the dry period and allow you to begin remedial action if and
when a problem occurs. If you follow these procedures you will know 100
percent more about udder health than those that only infuse with antibiotics at
dry-off and then wait until freshening to see if it worked or not.
INSURE A GOOD 'LET-DOWN"
The best stimulus to the "let-down" reflex mimics the suckling of the
offspring … warmth, moisture, some pressure or massage, and removing milk.
When these stimuli are applied as the cow is prepared for milking, oxytocin is
released. Within a minute, myo-epithelial cells surrounding the alveoli contract,
thus forcing milk out into the duct system. If milking is delayed past one
minute oxytocin begins to clear the system and the let-down reflex does not
proceed to completion. If one does not "prep" adequately and does not begin
milking within one minute, milk yield decreases and "residual milk" increases.
Residual milk makes great food for bacteria. The more you leave in, the higher
the chance for infection. (see Streptococcus below)
EVALUATION OF UDDER HEALTH
One of the best way to evaluate udder health is routine culturing
(bacteriologic examination) of milk from any animal either showing mastitis or
lower than normal milk production. Over time, these reports will allow you to
arrive at a herd profile of the type infection present. Results interpreted on a
herd basis rather than on an individual basis are of great value in managing the
herd for maximum health.
Culture reports will not be meaningful if the samples are contaminated. If the
germ that ends up in the tube comes from your hand or from a teat that was
not properly cleaned, you could be misled into thinking it was the organism
causing your problem. Contaminated samples are worse than no sample at all.
Results of culturing must always be correlated with symptoms. If an animal has
been treated with antibiotics in the previous 10 to 14 days as the results will
usually be negative.
CULTURE INTERPRETATION
Almost any bacteria can cause mastitis under certain circumstances, but most
mastitis is caused by Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli and
Enterobacter (Aerobacter) aerogenes. It is not known why at times these
bacteria become virulent but stress is certainly a factor. If a high percentage
of samples reveal the same pathogen, this is presumptive evidence of a cause
and effect relationship between the pathogen and a specific environmental
influence. These relationships are not absolute but they do provide clues about
where to look first for answers. The following guidelines may help you match
your problem to it’s cause.
STAPHYLOCOCCUS
Staphylococcus bacteria have the ability to invade living tissue. Any physical
damage, however slight, to body tissues opens the door for Staph infection. Of
all the bacteria, Staph seems to have the greatest ability to quickly become
resistant to antibiotics. Confirmation of this lies in the high incidence of post-
surgical, antibiotic resistant, staph infections in humans. This condition is even
known as ”a hospital staph infection”.
In dairy situations, two common causes of injured tissue that may lead to a
Staph infection are improperly adjusted milking equipment and the use of
irritating teat dips. Frostbite, stepped-on teats and other injuries may also
be predisposing factors. Don’t overlook the possibility of trauma just because
you milk by hand. Hard stripping or milking entirely by stripping with wet
hands can also damage the teat lining and open the door for Staph infection.
If you have an ongoing problem with Staph infection, look for anything that
causes injury to the teats or udder.
STREPTOCOCCUS
Streptococci are not generally invasive but live on the surface of the udder
tissue and in residual milk that is always present in varying amounts in the
udder. Strep infection is generally seen when good milking techniques are
lacking. It can also be associated with stray voltage or any other problem that
interferes with milk let-down.
If you have an ongoing problem with Strep infection, look first for anything
that interferes with “let-down”, “milk–out” or anything else that increases
residual milk.
ESCHERICHIA
Escherichia coli … known as the manure bacteria … is found in all feces.
Thus, mastitis caused by this bacteria is usually associated with unsanitary
conditions. Some observations seem to indicate a higher incidence of E. coli
when the ration contains excess protein, high levels of nitrates in feed or water
or the addition of urea or other NPN’s to the ration.
If you have an ongoing problem with E. coli infection, look for anything that
causes unsanitary conditions and check the water for nitrates and the feed for
nitrates or excess protein.
ENTEROBACTER
Enterobacter (formerly Aerobacter) aerogenes is often related to
contaminated drinking water especially if animals have access to unsanitary
water tanks, ponds, streams or puddles in the barnyard.
If you have an ongoing problem with this infection, first check for the
possibility of a contaminated water supply.
Some laboratories report E. Coli, Enterobacter and other Gram-negative
simply as “coliforms”. If a culture report lists any of these, I would strongly
suggest culturing the water if you have not already done so. If the water is
contaminated, remedial action should be taken at once.
Corynebacterium mastitis is sometimes seen in herds that have a problem with
abscesses.
MASTITIS: TREAT THE CAUSE, NOT THE EFFECT.
After spending so much time on bacteria, I should point that it is a mistake
to approach mastitis strictly as a bacterial problem. There is no question that
bacteria are part of the problem, but I believe their role to be more of an
effect rather than the actual cause.
Simplistic medical thought encourages us to treat the bacterial infection …the
effect, while holistic principles would have us zero in on the cause, which is
usually a stress induced immuno-suppression.
I question whether anything should ever be infused into the udder, except
possibly as a last resort. Even under the most sanitary conditions, the risk of
introducing pathogens into the udder far outweighs any anticipated benefit. If
one must infuse the udder, use a blunt infusion cannula and only insert it about
one-fourth inch (just past the teat sphincter). Inserting the cannula to the
full depth … almost an inch in some cases … is known to cause internal damage
to the teat lining. Never use an injection needle.
Also consider this, any foreign substance (honey, egg-whites, lactobacillus
cultures, other folk remedies and antibiotics) introduced into the udder will act
as an irritant and cause a non-specific inflammatory response (NSIP), with a
concurrent increase in white blood cells. The common result is that the
NSIP will sweep away any mild mastitis infections along with the foreign
substance that originated the NSIP. I believe it is a mistake to speak of
these irritants as “cures” when actually the relief from the symptoms of
mastitis is a secondary effect of the body ridding itself of the foreign
substance. This is not to say that these therapies are not often effective, but
I believe it is helpful to know the actual mode of action and the great risk of
causing a more severe infection.
One of the best ways to treat mastitis is to strip out the affected udder as
often as you can … even as often as every 15 to 30 minutes if possible. This
has the effect of removing bacteria and their toxins, reducing swellings and
improving blood supply. You can augment this procedure with your favorite
alternative immuno-stimulant such as homeopathy, herbs, acupuncture, refined
colostrum antibodies, massage with warming liniments, hot or cold compresses,
etc.
Whatever the nature of the treatment used, it will usually be unsuccessful
until the adverse predisposing factors are removed. When that is accomplished
the incidence of clinical mastitis and the need for treatment diminishes
dramatically.
