124 SPECIAL CATTLE THERAPY 



of inflammation are usually confined to one quarter 

 of the udder; later both quarters on one side, or both 

 front or rear quarters, may be involved. In rare 

 cases the entire udder is involved. 



In sporadic mastitis the part involved is the seat of 

 a uniform, firm swelling which is very painful under 

 manipulation. There is considerable local heat and 

 the skin over the quarters involved appears much red- 

 dened and tense. The lacteal secretion is diminished; 

 in some cases it is almost completely suspended. When 

 the veterinarian strips the teat on the affected quar- 

 ter to ascertain the character of the secretion, he finds 

 that the first spurt or two has the appearance of 

 water into w^hich a drop or two of fluid extract of 

 nux vomica has been dissolved. Following this the fluid 

 that is stripped out has more the appearance of milk, 

 but it contains clots and flakes. Cows that are other- 

 wise gentle and kind milkers will resist handling of 

 the parts affected. 



If the condition is not promptly and judiciously 

 treated, pus formation and abscesses may supervene. 



Before taking up the treatment of mastitis we would 

 like to impress upon the reader our understanding of 

 the term ''infectious mastitis." By infectious mas- 

 titis we understand that form of this disease which is 

 more or less readily communicated to other cows. We 

 make this point clear so that the reader may not get 

 the impression that we consider sporadic mastitis idio- 

 pathic. Sporadic mastitis is usually due to infection 

 with micro-organisms of the pus-producing group, but 

 it is not infectious in the sense of transmissibility or 

 contagion. 



The treatment of sporadic mastitis at the present 

 time includes a great variety of remedial procedures. 

 It can safely be said that there is at the present time 



