Editor’s note: The following section includes commentary from questions posed to Dr. Richard Holliday, a holistic veterinarian. To ask your own question, e-mail the question to editor@progressivedairy.com. Answers to submissions will be printed in Progressive Dairyman’s October organics section. “Hey, Doc, waddaya got for mastitis?” is a question posed by dairymen everywhere. I wish I had a good answer. Treatments range from frequent stripping out of the udder to the newest antibiotic or immune stimulant. Fortunately, many treatments are successful. But some treatments only suppress the symptoms, and when the effect of the treatment wears off the symptoms return with a vengeance. Unfortunately, any success with treatment often interferes with the need or desire to address the actual cause of the problems. Holistic veterinary medicine may have some insights into this problem – insights often overlooked by today’s dairymen.

Salmonellosis is a disease of all animals caused by the genus Salmonellae and usually characterized by one or more of three major syndromes: 1) Septicemia (a blood infection) 2) Acute enteritis (infection and inflammation of the intestinal tract) 3) Chronic enteritis (a long-term infection and inflammation of the intestinal tract)

The transition period, extending from approximately three weeks prior to calving to about 40 days after calving, includes the time frame during which the overwhelming majority of dairy cow diseases occur.

Lameness is an economically important problem in dairy cattle worldwide. Economic losses resulting from lameness arise not only from the cost to treat clinical cases but also from decreased milk production, decreased reproductive efficiency and premature culling. New York researchers estimate the average cost of lameness per 100 cows per year to be nearly $9,000. The average incidence was 30 cases per 100 cows per year with a case fatality rate of 2 percent, involuntary culling rate of 20 percent and increase in average days open of 29 days. The National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) Dairy 1996 study revealed that 15 percent of dairy cows were culled due to lameness or injury.

Your cows don’t talk, but they can be communicating some very important messages. Are you listening? The way cows behave can tell us a lot about how the cattle are handled, how comfortable their facilities are and if management is causing or reducing stress. It’s easy to write off a cow’s opinion since college-trained people have scientifically taken care of all her nutritional and housing needs. Cow-handling skills are not considered because the cow is confined in a barn and we can make her go where we want. Here are some reasons why we need to pay attention to our cows’ behavior.

An important concept in dairy herd health is early diagnosis and treatment of sick cows. It may even be more important than the type of treatment administered. In lactating dairy cows, this concept cannot be overemphasized. A delay in treating a sick cow not only reduces her chances for a full recovery but results in milk production loss and may impair reproductive performance, especially if the disease occurs early postpartum.

Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland or udder tissue. Inflammation is the response of the body to injury. In cows, this response (i.e., mastitis) is usually provoked by infection with bacteria. Mastitis can also be the result of noninfectious causes, such as mechanical damage. A poorly adjusted milking machine or narrow stalls and poorly trimmed claws may cause mechanical injuries to the teats and the udder.

When dairy producers have a record of the mastitis pathogen profile for their herds, control measures and treatment decisions are improved. While elevations in bulk tank somatic cell count (SCC) can be an indication of herd mastitis problems, the personnel milking the cows are typically the initial component in the decision-making process for clinical mastitis treatment. Strategic milk culture programs are the only mechanisms to determine which microbial agents are causing mastitis problems.

A recent economic analysis estimated each clinically lame cow costs the dairy producer approximately $300. Costs associated with lameness include decreased milk production, reduced fertility and increased culling risk, treatment costs and labor requirements. Surveys indicate incidence of lameness on dairies varies between four and 55 cases per 100 cows per year and is dependent upon farm, location and time of year. Clearly, lameness is a costly disease and reducing its incidence will have a very favorable impact on dairy profitability.

Have you tipped any cows lately? Cow tipping has become quite the rage. Yes, I said cow tipping! If you type “cow tipping” into Google.com, you will find at least 200,000 different websites that deal directly with cow tipping. Unfortunately, after sifting through all 200,000 sites, I did not find one site that referred to cow tipping as a way to reward a cow for a job well done. I’m sure you’ve tipped a waitress for a job well done. Right? But are you rewarding your cows for a job well done?