There are essentially three stages or three types of mastitis:
→ a) acute,
→ b) sub-acute
→ c) sub-clinical.
Usually appears very suddenly and rapidely, with redness, heat, pain, hardness or swelling, sometimes fever. The general state of well-being is affected with loss of appetite and, of course, of production. The animal is often agitated. At this stage there is no infection yet, thus no lumps in the milk. In order to avoid a worsening of the problem, the correct protocol should be administered at this stage. There are three situations that determine which of the protocols to follow:
→ a) Trauma following a change of habit, stray voltage, transport, a fall, blow or nervous shock.
Give STRESSOL+FLAMESOL, 2 or 3 milkings, then EDEMASOL only, morning and evening, 3 days or until swelling disappears.
End protocol by giving MINSOL 3 milkings in a row. If lumps appears, go on the to 8.2 infectious mastitis.
→ b) Before calving: A predisposition to the repetitive acute, congestive mastitis often is a result of an excess of rapidly digested carbohydrates (metabolic type 1 : Treat as an ordinary mastitis. Correct the ration.
SEPTISOL+FLAMESOL in the morning,
INTOXSOL+EDEMASOL in the evening, until lumps disappears.
EDEMASOL morning and evening for 2 or 3 days.
End protocol with DRAINSOL 3 milkings in a row.
→ c) With a difficult calving due to distocia, there is a predisposition to acute inflammatory mastitis. This is often aggravated by an excess of rapidely digestible energy (metabolic type 1 = acidosis)***.
Correct the ration.
STRESSOL+FLAMESOL morning and
STRESSOL+EDEMASOL evening as long as there are no lumps.
If there are lumps, SEPTISOL+FLAMESOL morning and evening until lumps disappear.
End Protocol with DRAINSOL 3 milkings in a row.
***Treat the chronic causes of b) and c) with
FLAMESOL in the morning and DRAINSOL in the evening, for 5 days, then 1 shot, of each product, once per week, until the cause is corrected.
→ a) Acute mastitis
Pus discharge with lumps and general depression (temperature may be low).
often related to the environment, this infection was the most frequent and the easiest to treat 10 years ago. A massive use of antibiotics has all but wiped it out, helping the spread of staphylococcus aureus, more resistant to antibiotics. With this kind of infection, the somatic cell count can climb abruptly to several million, only to come down rapidly one or two months later, we call it the ‘’steeple’’ cell count .
Beside the environmental factors, a cow that is overloaded with an excess of protein (soluble nitrogen, metabolic type no 5), which stresses the major organs, becomes more fragile to infections.
The main product for acute infectious mastitis is SEPTISOL. If there is inflammation it is combined with FLAMESOL:
FLAMESOL+ SEPTISOL morning and
INTOXSOL+ EDEMASOL evening,
for 2 or 3 days, then as soon as there is improvement, follow with
EDEMASOL morning and evening for 3 days or until symptoms disappear.
End the treatment with DRAINSOL, 3 milking in a row.
(Evolving to generalized infection or septicaemia)
Observation: Milk becomes yellowish, then watery, like beer; there may be blood in the milk, body temperature is low:
If you do, this will be cleared really quickly!
Other than bacterial contamination due to the environment (wood shavings), through a teat with an open wound, or stuck open (with flowing milk) vulnerability to E. Coli is often a result of a weakness of the immune system before and after calving (somatic cell count under 10.000 in the first month of lactation) caused by an excess of antibiotics at dry off. Also, ruminal instability prevents normal digestion of E.Coli by the cow and makes it aggressive.
Emergency Protocol:
SEPTISOL+INTOXSOL, EVERY HOUR FOR AT LEAST 5 TO 10 hours, and milk out the infected quarter every hour as well, then, when the milk becomes white again, 3 to 4 times a day for 2 or 3 days; carry on with
SEPTISOL+ EDEMASOL+DRAINSOL morning and
STAPHSOL+ EDEMASOL evening for 3 to 5 days.
End with 3 milking of MINSOL.
(mastitis with over infected abscess)
It often appears near forests, in humid season, caused by flies. It particularly affects animals that are not in lactation. It always starts in a very acute, severe way, affecting many quarters. As with E. Coli, milk is watery and yellowish, chronic abscesses are formed in the udder. The abscesses are purulent, producing a liquid thick as cheese and foul smelling. Healing is very slow, and abscesses are repetitive.
SEPTISOL+INTOXSOL morning and evening for 3 days, then
SEPTISOL + EDEMASOL in the morning and
STAPHSOL+EDEMASOL in the evening for 3 days.
End with MINSOL 3 milkings in a row.
Symptoms are generally strange, yogurt-like mastitis, spaghetti; yellow lumps in white milk, mud-like appearance, many descriptions can be given. We can be positive it is really fungus mastitis by veterinary analysis of the milk, or after you’ve tried SEPTISOL, then STAPHSOL, with little or no success.
There may be swelling but not always, there may be fever but not always, the cow may be depressed but not always.
cows that are slightly acidic due to an excess of digestible energy in the ration are more susceptible to funguses that love an acid environment to grow in. Penicillin, which was developed from fungus can also help set up a cow for this kind of mastitis.
STAPHSOL+FLAMESOL in the morning,
MYCOSOL+ EDEMASOL in the evening, for 2-3 days, followed by
MYCOSOL+EDEMASOL morning and evening for 2 days, followed by
DRAINSOL 3 milking in a row, end with
MINSOL morning + evening for 3 days
about every 3 weeks, no more acute stage, recurring lumps and sometimes swelling, loss of production, less general symptoms.
incomplete treatment of an acute mastitis. Antibiotics may not have completely removed all bacteria from a previous mastitis. May also be a non-acute mastitis caused by demineralization, especially with big producers.
Despite light symptoms, this type of mastitis, left untreated, has a tendency to recur and prepares the way for sub-clinical mastitis (without symptoms) with staphylococcus and high somatic cells count.
SEPTISOL+ EDEMASOL (to drain infection and avoid a relapse) morning and evening for 3 days, then
STAPHSOL in the morning (to prevent a mastitis with staphylococcus and high somatic cells count) and
EDEMASOL in the evening for 3 days or until lumps and swelling have disappeared.
DRAINSOL for 3 milking
Complete with
MINSOL morning and EDEMASOL evening for 3 days to re-mineralize and avoid a chronic lesion to the udder
→a)
No or few general or local symptoms but a high somatic cells count, most of the times caused by staphylococcus. It rises slowly but steadily.
Less frequent 15 years ago, when acute mastitis with streptococcus were easily treated with antibiotics, sub-clinical mastitis with staphylococcus have become a scourge for breeders and the most important nuisance affecting the profitability of dairy farms.
The two most important causes of high somatic cells counts are:
1- the proliferation of a resistant staphylococcus following an excessive use of antibiotics;
2- a weakened immune system in cows overwhelmed by conditions at the limit of their physiology (excess of nitrogen, sugars, toxic overload, insufficient draining, demineralization, over-production, medication, etc.). This puts them in a state of permanent immune struggle and causes a rise in somatic cells. After the cause has been corrected, it could take a long period of time before the counts get back down to the normal healthy level, patience is required! We stimulate the immune system, it tends to overreact before calming down.
The Protocols must be individualized for each subject. If needed, call our specialist, so that we can give you the best way to treat each case efficiently.
Here are few examples of the types of Protocols we recommend. :
For the 1st month:
STAPHSOL+SEPTISOL morning
STAPHSOL+MYCOSOL evening for 3 days, followed by
DRAINSOL 3 milkings, then
STAPHSOL+ EDEMASOL morning
MINSOL + EDEMASOL evening for 5 days
2nd + 3rd months:
STAPHSOL+EDEMASOL morning
SEPTISOL + MINSOL evening for 3 days.
2 days each month until the end of milking.
When we’re faced with antibio-resistance, like after antibiotics at dry-off, or for returning mastitis, solutions are scarce, and in the case of the solution we propose, a little complex, but it works. One can, with the protocols below, weaken the bacteria during lactation, but rarely get rid of it, except during the dry period of dry-off.
First, avoid antibiotics for staph infected cows, most of the time, it’s useless and it could very well strenghten the resistance. Parasites weaken the animal and prepare the way for the bacteria, so deworming is applied, and a feed correction (more dry hay, less pretein and energy).
Finally, when the staph is defenseles, when the udder is dry, apply the protocol below 10 days on, 10 days off. So, 10 days after dry-off, the udder should be dry, give in the mouth, or on the vulva at a few minutes’ interval, :
Day 1 to 5 STAPHSOL and SEPTISOL in the morning
MYCOSOL and EDEMASOL at night
Day 6 to 10 FLAMESOL and EDEMASOL in the morning
STAPHSOL and MINSOL at night.
Do not give anything for 10 days, and give again for 10 days. The cow should then be about 3 weeks before calving, time for drainage*. If you want to be even more sure to be rid of the bug, dry-off the cow 3 weeks earlier, which will give you time for a extra 10 day treatment.
One week after calving, have an analysis done to make sure the the cow is clean.
*We recommand generally to administer a drainage (2 X INTOXSOL-3 X DRAINSOL -2X EDEMASOL in the drinking water) 3 weeks before calving, this will give more appetite. Finally, MINSOL will prevent milk fever for cows with 3 or more lactation, big producers, more at risk, this, 5-10 days, once a day, in the drinking water.
Aftereffects of repeated mastitis affecting the udder (hard lumps, nodules, lesions, hardening, damaged teats, lost quarter, drop of production), nodular thelitis, repeated mastitis.
The animal never completely recovered from acute or sub-acute mastitis; demineralization.
EDEMASOL+MINSOL morning+evening, 5 days the 1st month, 5 days the following months until the udder looks better.
Labo Solidago has been offerering since 1990 solutions to dairy farmers whose cows, sheeps or goats suffer from different ailments like mastitis, acute mastitis or toxic mastitis or chronic mastitis, footrot, different infections, like vaginitis or metritis, pneumonia and bronchitis, arthritis, acidosis and acetonemia, retention of the placenta, with signs like high somatic cell counts (leucocytes), slow growth and diarrhea in calves and cows.