Etiology, treatment, and prevention of mastitis in livestock animals and pets

Symptoms and treatment regimen for mastitis in small pets

In bitches and cats, the disease most often occurs in catarrhal or purulent-catarrhal forms. The affected quarters of the mammary gland noticeably increase in size, become firm, hot to the touch, and severely painful. The animal appears depressed, and body temperature rises, which requires immediate veterinary assistance.

Therapy is based on a comprehensive approach: the affected quarters of the gland are frequently milked out to reduce internal pressure and remove pathological secretion. To relieve pain and improve tissue nutrition, a supramammary novocaine block is used. Systemic antibiotic therapy and physiotherapy are prescribed in parallel.

• Novocaine dosage — 5–20 ml
• Novocaine concentration — 0.25–0.5%
• Udder massage time — 30–40 s
• Preparation for milking — 1–2 min
• Subclinical mastitis control — once a month

Prevention of mastitis in cows and milking technologies

The basis for mastitis prevention in cattle is adequate feeding, which eliminates metabolic disorders, feed intoxications, and gastrointestinal disturbances. Strict hygiene is maintained in cow barns: daily exercise is organized, overcrowding and udder injuries are prevented, and clean, dry bedding is used. Animals with purulent discharge are immediately isolated, and premises are regularly disinfected.

Proper "drying off" of cows is performed 50–60 days before calving. When daily milk yield is less than 3–4 kg, milking is stopped immediately, reducing the supply of succulent and concentrated feed by 50%. High-productivity animals are dried off gradually: they switch from three-time milking to twice-a-day, after 5–6 days to once-a-day, then they are milked every other day, and the process is stopped completely when the yield drops to 2 kg. For cows that are difficult to dry off, concentrates and succulent feed are completely removed from the ration, and swill is restricted. 7–10 days after drying off, the udder is checked with trial milking, and 10–20 days before calving, the animals are moved to the maternity ward.

For machine milking, cows with tub-shaped or cup-shaped udders and medium-sized teats positioned at a right angle are selected. Manual milking is performed using the "fist" method, or the "pinching" method for short teats. Before attaching the machine, cows are mandatory checked for mastitis.

1. 1–2 minutes before milking, wash the udder with running warm water from a hose with a sprayer and wipe it with a disposable paper or cotton towel soaked in a 1% chloramine solution.
2. Perform udder massage, gently kneading and stroking it with palms for 30–40 s.
3. Milk out the first streams of milk into a separate container and start milking. If the room temperature is below 10 °C, the teat cups are pre-warmed in water at 40–45 °C.
4. After milk flow stops, turn off the vacuum and remove the cups by lightly pulling the collector. The total milking time should not exceed 5–6 minutes.
5. Wipe the teats and lubricate them with medical vaseline or a special antiseptic emulsion to protect against cracking.
6. Wash the equipment with warm water (25–30 °C), then with a disinfectant solution (1% sodium hypochlorite solution, 0.5% desmol solution, powder A, B, C, or soda ash), and finally with hot water.

At least once a month, the entire herd of dairy cows is checked for subclinical mastitis. Infected animals are milked last and only by hand, strictly observing disinfection of hands and equipment to prevent the spread of infection throughout the herd.