Frustration with infections

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I am being driven slowly insane with infections in my Jersey cow. I have had her

since December '08, when she came to me with a high staph count in her Left Hind

and a totally empty Right Hind. The right hind had not resolved even with Abx,

so the dairy had left it to dry off. During her dry off prior to calving, she

was infused with an Abx that the staph was sensitive to, and that totally

cleared up any infection. I was very happy. I choose to test all 4 quarters

monthly for a paper trail and to assure my shareholders that the milk is clean

and safe.

April(calved March29th), and May she was clean. June showed a very mild staph

species in her Right teats, front and hind. Had not yet showed up as mastitis

because it was caught very early- I could smell the milk was not right. Used

Abx. July showed staph species in her Left front and Right hind, again a mild

infection and caught early. Abx again. Spent a long time on the phone with the

Vet Tech to discuss cleanliness and the only suggestion was to teat dip prior to

milking. So I have been doing that faithfully- yet today I am told her Right

hind(AGAIN!) now has a Klebsiella pneumoniae. AHHHHH! This time I have said I

want to talk with the vet and ask him what the heck I can do differently.

My cow is on pasture, gets grain at milking and hay to supplement if she is

hungry. She drinks well water. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?

Milking time;

I catch her, tie her up, she eats. I am washing her whole udder down with a dish

soap(not antibacterial) and vinager solution, then drying her off. I use clean,

bleached cloths to wash and dry with. I teat dip her, then use a separate and

new piece of paper towel to wipe each teat. I sit down, with a small amount of

Bag Balm for lube and commence milking. When I am done, she is teat dipped again

and then let out into the field. Am I missing something?

Please let me say I hate Abx,(and I am a nurse!) and loathe using them yet

again. I dump during treatment, then the box says for another 4 days and well, I

have seen residual up to a few days after that. So in total, I dump my milk for

10 days just to be sure. I let all my shareholders know what is going on, so

they know I am up front and honest about their milk supply. But it really is

driving me insane! I just want a clean, happy cow grazing on pasture and giving

clean, pure milk I can share with others.

If anyone has anything to share that my cow and I can benefit from, please let

me know. I struggle with keeping up this program when I cannot deliver a

predictably clean milk supply. Thank you!

[Guest guest]

Their is a type of Staph that is next to impossible to cure. It will wall its self off from antibiotics then show clear on the test then months later return. Most commercial dairy's will test all fresh cows and cull anything that tests positiver for staph or myco. it will spread from quarter to quarter and cow to cow through milkers hands and equipment. only treatment that has shown some results was Mycotil but the withholding time was over 80 days and it is special lable from the vet.Subject: Re: Frustration with infectionsTo: RawDairy Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 10:46 AM

Ok,I have goats, not a cow, but a couple of things come to mind. Perhaps you might want to have your well water tested. If there are contaminants in you water, it might be passing through to your cow. The only other thing that I can think of is not using the bag balm when your milking. My understanding is that bag balm will seal in any bacteria that's on the teats/udder.

My routine when milking the goats is they come into the milk room, jump up on the stanchion, their udder is washed with udder wash, then dried with a clean paper towel. After milking, their teats are dipped with an iodine based teat dip, and they stand on the milking stanchion until their grain is finished. From there they go back to their pen and munch on some hay, or back out to the pasture. The goal is to keep them standing for 5 minutes after milking, so that the orifices of their teats close back up, which will help to prevent infection.

Don't know if that helps or not, best of luck to you!

Jonell

>

> Hello everyone,

> I am being driven slowly insane with infections in my Jersey cow. I have had her since December '08, when she came to me with a high staph count in her Left Hind and a totally empty Right Hind. The right hind had not resolved even with Abx, so the dairy had left it to dry off. During her dry off prior to calving, she was infused with an Abx that the staph was sensitive to, and that totally cleared up any infection. I was very happy. I choose to test all 4 quarters monthly for a paper trail and to assure my shareholders that the milk is clean and safe.

>

> April(calved March29th), and May she was clean. June showed a very mild staph species in her Right teats, front and hind. Had not yet showed up as mastitis because it was caught very early- I could smell the milk was not right. Used Abx. July showed staph species in her Left front and Right hind, again a mild infection and caught early. Abx again. Spent a long time on the phone with the Vet Tech to discuss cleanliness and the only suggestion was to teat dip prior to milking. So I have been doing that faithfully- yet today I am told her Right hind(AGAIN!) now has a Klebsiella pneumoniae. AHHHHH! This time I have said I want to talk with the vet and ask him what the heck I can do differently.

>

> My cow is on pasture, gets grain at milking and hay to supplement if she is hungry. She drinks well water. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?

>

> Milking time;

> I catch her, tie her up, she eats. I am washing her whole udder down with a dish soap(not antibacterial) and vinager solution, then drying her off. I use clean, bleached cloths to wash and dry with. I teat dip her, then use a separate and new piece of paper towel to wipe each teat. I sit down, with a small amount of Bag Balm for lube and commence milking. When I am done, she is teat dipped again and then let out into the field. Am I missing something?

>

> Please let me say I hate Abx,(and I am a nurse!) and loathe using them yet again. I dump during treatment, then the box says for another 4 days and well, I have seen residual up to a few days after that. So in total, I dump my milk for 10 days just to be sure. I let all my shareholders know what is going on, so they know I am up front and honest about their milk supply. But it really is driving me insane! I just want a clean, happy cow grazing on pasture and giving clean, pure milk I can share with others.

>

> If anyone has anything to share that my cow and I can benefit from, please let me know. I struggle with keeping up this program when I cannot deliver a predictably clean milk supply. Thank you!

>

[Guest guest]

Sorry to hear of your continued problems w/staph. I milk goats not cows, but my goats are given a good dose of apple cider vinegar in their morning grain starting midway through their lactation, the dose will be twice a day when they begin drying...seems to help control any mastitis issues. I have an older book on goatkeeping that strongly promotes the use of echinacea in the treatment of stubborn/resistant forms of staph. I use Echinacea purpurea/angustfolia (compound) for the goats as a prevention to problems and have never used it due to an active outbreak of staph. One caplet per 100 lb of weight 2X daily. It will take a bit longer but there is no withdrawl time for your milk. It is a great immune booster at any time of stress...usually 2x daily for 3-5 days. Stress = new additions to the herd, change in weather(sudden) cold or extream damp and

wet, always after freshening for at least 5 days. The combo of apple cider vinegar and the Echinacea is amazing... Best of Luck

Subject: Frustration with infectionsTo: RawDairy Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 2:22 PM

Hello everyone,I am being driven slowly insane with infections in my Jersey cow. I have had her since December '08, when she came to me with a high staph count in her Left Hind and a totally empty Right Hind. The right hind had not resolved even with Abx, so the dairy had left it to dry off.. During her dry off prior to calving, she was infused with an Abx that the staph was sensitive to, and that totally cleared up any infection. I was very happy. I choose to test all 4 quarters monthly for a paper trail and to assure my shareholders that the milk is clean and safe. April(calved March29th), and May she was clean. June showed a very mild staph species in her Right teats, front and hind. Had not yet showed up as mastitis because it was caught very early- I could smell the milk was not right. Used Abx. July showed staph species in her Left front and Right hind, again a mild infection and caught early. Abx again. Spent a long time on the

phone with the Vet Tech to discuss cleanliness and the only suggestion was to teat dip prior to milking. So I have been doing that faithfully- yet today I am told her Right hind(AGAIN!) now has a Klebsiella pneumoniae. AHHHHH! This time I have said I want to talk with the vet and ask him what the heck I can do differently. My cow is on pasture, gets grain at milking and hay to supplement if she is hungry. She drinks well water. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?Milking time; I catch her, tie her up, she eats. I am washing her whole udder down with a dish soap(not antibacterial) and vinager solution, then drying her off. I use clean, bleached cloths to wash and dry with. I teat dip her, then use a separate and new piece of paper towel to wipe each teat. I sit down, with a small amount of Bag Balm for lube and commence milking. When I am done, she is teat dipped again and then let out into the field. Am I missing

something?Please let me say I hate Abx,(and I am a nurse!) and loathe using them yet again. I dump during treatment, then the box says for another 4 days and well, I have seen residual up to a few days after that. So in total, I dump my milk for 10 days just to be sure. I let all my shareholders know what is going on, so they know I am up front and honest about their milk supply. But it really is driving me insane! I just want a clean, happy cow grazing on pasture and giving clean, pure milk I can share with others. If anyone has anything to share that my cow and I can benefit from, please let me know. I struggle with keeping up this program when I cannot deliver a predictably clean milk supply. Thank you!__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Sorry to hear of your continued problems w/staph. I milk goats not cows, but my goats are given a good dose of apple cider vinegar in their morning grain starting midway through their lactation, the dose will be twice a day when they begin drying...seems to help control any mastitis issues. I have an older book on goatkeeping that strongly promotes the use of echinacea in the treatment of stubborn/resistant forms of staph. I use Echinacea purpurea/angustfolia (compound) for the goats as a prevention to problems and have never used it due to an active outbreak of staph. One caplet per 100 lb of weight 2X daily. It will take a bit longer but there is no withdrawl time for your milk. It is a great immune booster at any time of stress...usually 2x daily for 3-5 days. Stress = new additions to the herd, change in weather(sudden) cold or extream damp and

wet, always after freshening for at least 5 days. The combo of apple cider vinegar and the Echinacea is amazing... Best of Luck

Subject: Frustration with infectionsTo: RawDairy Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 2:22 PM

Hello everyone,I am being driven slowly insane with infections in my Jersey cow. I have had her since December '08, when she came to me with a high staph count in her Left Hind and a totally empty Right Hind. The right hind had not resolved even with Abx, so the dairy had left it to dry off.. During her dry off prior to calving, she was infused with an Abx that the staph was sensitive to, and that totally cleared up any infection. I was very happy. I choose to test all 4 quarters monthly for a paper trail and to assure my shareholders that the milk is clean and safe. April(calved March29th), and May she was clean. June showed a very mild staph species in her Right teats, front and hind. Had not yet showed up as mastitis because it was caught very early- I could smell the milk was not right. Used Abx. July showed staph species in her Left front and Right hind, again a mild infection and caught early. Abx again. Spent a long time on the

phone with the Vet Tech to discuss cleanliness and the only suggestion was to teat dip prior to milking. So I have been doing that faithfully- yet today I am told her Right hind(AGAIN!) now has a Klebsiella pneumoniae. AHHHHH! This time I have said I want to talk with the vet and ask him what the heck I can do differently. My cow is on pasture, gets grain at milking and hay to supplement if she is hungry. She drinks well water. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?Milking time; I catch her, tie her up, she eats. I am washing her whole udder down with a dish soap(not antibacterial) and vinager solution, then drying her off. I use clean, bleached cloths to wash and dry with. I teat dip her, then use a separate and new piece of paper towel to wipe each teat. I sit down, with a small amount of Bag Balm for lube and commence milking. When I am done, she is teat dipped again and then let out into the field. Am I missing

something?Please let me say I hate Abx,(and I am a nurse!) and loathe using them yet again. I dump during treatment, then the box says for another 4 days and well, I have seen residual up to a few days after that. So in total, I dump my milk for 10 days just to be sure. I let all my shareholders know what is going on, so they know I am up front and honest about their milk supply. But it really is driving me insane! I just want a clean, happy cow grazing on pasture and giving clean, pure milk I can share with others. If anyone has anything to share that my cow and I can benefit from, please let me know. I struggle with keeping up this program when I cannot deliver a predictably clean milk supply. Thank you!__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I would stop with the grainfeeding.A good quality mineral supplement and maybe some kelp at milking time can be substituted for grain.Whenever you use antibiotics,you are starting from the beginning to reestablish the beneficial microbes.Except that now you will have many more antibiotic resistant microbes than before.Giving antibiotics without a follow up and regular doses of probiotics is like plowing,disking and dragging a field without planting anything.The result will be plenty of weeds or antibiotic resistant microbes.If the hay and pasture come from healthy soil ,that will help some to reestablish the right bacteria. http://www.agroforestry.net/overstory/overstory81.html "Overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have

effects on soil organisms that are similar to over-using antibiotics.

When we consider human use of antibiotics, these chemicals seemed a

panacea at first, because they could control disease. But with

continued use, resistant organisms developed, and the organisms that

compete with the disease-causing organisms were lost. We found that

antibiotics couldn't be used willy-nilly, that they must be used only

when necessary, and that some effort must be made to replace the normal

human-digestive system bacteria killed by the antibiotics.

Soils are similar, in that plants grown in soil where competing

organisms have been knocked back with chemicals are more susceptible to

disease-causing organisms. If the numbers of bacteria, fungi, protozoa,

nematodes and arthropods are lower than they should be for a particular

soil type, the soil's "digestive system" doesn't work properly.

Decomposition will be low, nutrients will not be retained in the soil,

and will not be cycled properly. Ultimately, nutrients will be lost

through the groundwater or through erosion because organisms aren't

present to hold the soil together."Subject: Frustration with infectionsTo: RawDairy Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 4:22 PM

Hello everyone,

I am being driven slowly insane with infections in my Jersey cow. I have had her since December '08, when she came to me with a high staph count in her Left Hind and a totally empty Right Hind. The right hind had not resolved even with Abx, so the dairy had left it to dry off. During her dry off prior to calving, she was infused with an Abx that the staph was sensitive to, and that totally cleared up any infection. I was very happy. I choose to test all 4 quarters monthly for a paper trail and to assure my shareholders that the milk is clean and safe.

April(calved March29th), and May she was clean. June showed a very mild staph species in her Right teats, front and hind. Had not yet showed up as mastitis because it was caught very early- I could smell the milk was not right. Used Abx. July showed staph species in her Left front and Right hind, again a mild infection and caught early. Abx again. Spent a long time on the phone with the Vet Tech to discuss cleanliness and the only suggestion was to teat dip prior to milking. So I have been doing that faithfully- yet today I am told her Right hind(AGAIN!) now has a Klebsiella pneumoniae. AHHHHH! This time I have said I want to talk with the vet and ask him what the heck I can do differently.

My cow is on pasture, gets grain at milking and hay to supplement if she is hungry. She drinks well water. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?

Milking time;

I catch her, tie her up, she eats. I am washing her whole udder down with a dish soap(not antibacterial) and vinager solution, then drying her off. I use clean, bleached cloths to wash and dry with. I teat dip her, then use a separate and new piece of paper towel to wipe each teat. I sit down, with a small amount of Bag Balm for lube and commence milking. When I am done, she is teat dipped again and then let out into the field. Am I missing something?

Please let me say I hate Abx,(and I am a nurse!) and loathe using them yet again. I dump during treatment, then the box says for another 4 days and well, I have seen residual up to a few days after that. So in total, I dump my milk for 10 days just to be sure. I let all my shareholders know what is going on, so they know I am up front and honest about their milk supply. But it really is driving me insane! I just want a clean, happy cow grazing on pasture and giving clean, pure milk I can share with others.

If anyone has anything to share that my cow and I can benefit from, please let me know. I struggle with keeping up this program when I cannot deliver a predictably clean milk supply. Thank you!

[Guest guest]

I would stop with the grainfeeding.A good quality mineral supplement and maybe some kelp at milking time can be substituted for grain.Whenever you use antibiotics,you are starting from the beginning to reestablish the beneficial microbes.Except that now you will have many more antibiotic resistant microbes than before.Giving antibiotics without a follow up and regular doses of probiotics is like plowing,disking and dragging a field without planting anything.The result will be plenty of weeds or antibiotic resistant microbes.If the hay and pasture come from healthy soil ,that will help some to reestablish the right bacteria. http://www.agroforestry.net/overstory/overstory81.html "Overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have

effects on soil organisms that are similar to over-using antibiotics.

When we consider human use of antibiotics, these chemicals seemed a

panacea at first, because they could control disease. But with

continued use, resistant organisms developed, and the organisms that

compete with the disease-causing organisms were lost. We found that

antibiotics couldn't be used willy-nilly, that they must be used only

when necessary, and that some effort must be made to replace the normal

human-digestive system bacteria killed by the antibiotics.

Soils are similar, in that plants grown in soil where competing

organisms have been knocked back with chemicals are more susceptible to

disease-causing organisms. If the numbers of bacteria, fungi, protozoa,

nematodes and arthropods are lower than they should be for a particular

soil type, the soil's "digestive system" doesn't work properly.

Decomposition will be low, nutrients will not be retained in the soil,

and will not be cycled properly. Ultimately, nutrients will be lost

through the groundwater or through erosion because organisms aren't

present to hold the soil together."Subject: Frustration with infectionsTo: RawDairy Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 4:22 PM

Hello everyone,

I am being driven slowly insane with infections in my Jersey cow. I have had her since December '08, when she came to me with a high staph count in her Left Hind and a totally empty Right Hind. The right hind had not resolved even with Abx, so the dairy had left it to dry off. During her dry off prior to calving, she was infused with an Abx that the staph was sensitive to, and that totally cleared up any infection. I was very happy. I choose to test all 4 quarters monthly for a paper trail and to assure my shareholders that the milk is clean and safe.

April(calved March29th), and May she was clean. June showed a very mild staph species in her Right teats, front and hind. Had not yet showed up as mastitis because it was caught very early- I could smell the milk was not right. Used Abx. July showed staph species in her Left front and Right hind, again a mild infection and caught early. Abx again. Spent a long time on the phone with the Vet Tech to discuss cleanliness and the only suggestion was to teat dip prior to milking. So I have been doing that faithfully- yet today I am told her Right hind(AGAIN!) now has a Klebsiella pneumoniae. AHHHHH! This time I have said I want to talk with the vet and ask him what the heck I can do differently.

My cow is on pasture, gets grain at milking and hay to supplement if she is hungry. She drinks well water. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?

Milking time;

I catch her, tie her up, she eats. I am washing her whole udder down with a dish soap(not antibacterial) and vinager solution, then drying her off. I use clean, bleached cloths to wash and dry with. I teat dip her, then use a separate and new piece of paper towel to wipe each teat. I sit down, with a small amount of Bag Balm for lube and commence milking. When I am done, she is teat dipped again and then let out into the field. Am I missing something?

Please let me say I hate Abx,(and I am a nurse!) and loathe using them yet again. I dump during treatment, then the box says for another 4 days and well, I have seen residual up to a few days after that. So in total, I dump my milk for 10 days just to be sure. I let all my shareholders know what is going on, so they know I am up front and honest about their milk supply. But it really is driving me insane! I just want a clean, happy cow grazing on pasture and giving clean, pure milk I can share with others.

If anyone has anything to share that my cow and I can benefit from, please let me know. I struggle with keeping up this program when I cannot deliver a predictably clean milk supply. Thank you!

[Guest guest]

I would stop with the grainfeeding.A good quality mineral supplement and maybe some kelp at milking time can be substituted for grain.Whenever you use antibiotics,you are starting from the beginning to reestablish the beneficial microbes.Except that now you will have many more antibiotic resistant microbes than before.Giving antibiotics without a follow up and regular doses of probiotics is like plowing,disking and dragging a field without planting anything.The result will be plenty of weeds or antibiotic resistant microbes.If the hay and pasture come from healthy soil ,that will help some to reestablish the right bacteria. http://www.agroforestry.net/overstory/overstory81.html "Overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have

effects on soil organisms that are similar to over-using antibiotics.

When we consider human use of antibiotics, these chemicals seemed a

panacea at first, because they could control disease. But with

continued use, resistant organisms developed, and the organisms that

compete with the disease-causing organisms were lost. We found that

antibiotics couldn't be used willy-nilly, that they must be used only

when necessary, and that some effort must be made to replace the normal

human-digestive system bacteria killed by the antibiotics.

Soils are similar, in that plants grown in soil where competing

organisms have been knocked back with chemicals are more susceptible to

disease-causing organisms. If the numbers of bacteria, fungi, protozoa,

nematodes and arthropods are lower than they should be for a particular

soil type, the soil's "digestive system" doesn't work properly.

Decomposition will be low, nutrients will not be retained in the soil,

and will not be cycled properly. Ultimately, nutrients will be lost

through the groundwater or through erosion because organisms aren't

present to hold the soil together."Subject: Frustration with infectionsTo: RawDairy Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 4:22 PM

Hello everyone,

I am being driven slowly insane with infections in my Jersey cow. I have had her since December '08, when she came to me with a high staph count in her Left Hind and a totally empty Right Hind. The right hind had not resolved even with Abx, so the dairy had left it to dry off. During her dry off prior to calving, she was infused with an Abx that the staph was sensitive to, and that totally cleared up any infection. I was very happy. I choose to test all 4 quarters monthly for a paper trail and to assure my shareholders that the milk is clean and safe.

April(calved March29th), and May she was clean. June showed a very mild staph species in her Right teats, front and hind. Had not yet showed up as mastitis because it was caught very early- I could smell the milk was not right. Used Abx. July showed staph species in her Left front and Right hind, again a mild infection and caught early. Abx again. Spent a long time on the phone with the Vet Tech to discuss cleanliness and the only suggestion was to teat dip prior to milking. So I have been doing that faithfully- yet today I am told her Right hind(AGAIN!) now has a Klebsiella pneumoniae. AHHHHH! This time I have said I want to talk with the vet and ask him what the heck I can do differently.

My cow is on pasture, gets grain at milking and hay to supplement if she is hungry. She drinks well water. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?

Milking time;

I catch her, tie her up, she eats. I am washing her whole udder down with a dish soap(not antibacterial) and vinager solution, then drying her off. I use clean, bleached cloths to wash and dry with. I teat dip her, then use a separate and new piece of paper towel to wipe each teat. I sit down, with a small amount of Bag Balm for lube and commence milking. When I am done, she is teat dipped again and then let out into the field. Am I missing something?

Please let me say I hate Abx,(and I am a nurse!) and loathe using them yet again. I dump during treatment, then the box says for another 4 days and well, I have seen residual up to a few days after that. So in total, I dump my milk for 10 days just to be sure. I let all my shareholders know what is going on, so they know I am up front and honest about their milk supply. But it really is driving me insane! I just want a clean, happy cow grazing on pasture and giving clean, pure milk I can share with others.

If anyone has anything to share that my cow and I can benefit from, please let me know. I struggle with keeping up this program when I cannot deliver a predictably clean milk supply. Thank you!