oooh, goody, a cow question. Pat wrote:
<<I think  there is another condition in cows that is disastrous and cured
with calcium IV - can't think of name???????  BTW, those clogged milk pores
are described in cow lit.  Removed mechanically, long, stringy, rubbery,
milky looking substance. >>

I think this would be what is referred to as milk fever, where the increase
in calcium drain from milk production exceeds the available calcium from
the blood and tissue (before the exchange from bone to blood kicks into
high gear). Muscles don't work properly, cow starts to tremble, eventually
collapses and dies of heart failure in severe cases unless treated.

With mastitis, if there is a plug that can be felt, the farmer or vet might
use a metal corkscrew looking think to insert into the teat and try to
remove the plug. I am cringing just thinking of it. Needless to say, the
cow was not impressed. The farmers did not like doing this, as it seemed to
risk introducing germs into the teat canal. Some cows would only get the
odd episode of mastitis, while others would be chronic, and on their way to
McDonald's.

Donna Hansen
Burnaby, British Columbia

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