Mastitic cow management practices on California dairies

Abstract

Minimizing the risk of antibiotic resistant organisms and antibiotic residues in dairy and dairy-beef products is a topic of nationwide interest. Our long term goal is to achieve this objective, based on decreasing unnecessary antibiotic use on dairies. To design an effective outreach program on judicious use of antibiotics, it is imperative to describe the actual practices on dairies. Antibiotic therapy on dairies is mostly used on post-partum and mastitic cows. On most of large California dairies, dairy employees are ultimately responsible for sick cow identification, disease diagnose, and treatment administration. Thus, to understand how antibiotics are used on dairies, researchers need to work directly with the individuals ultimately administering antibiotics to cows. The objective of this study is to describe identification techniques and treatments decisions for mastitic cows.