LACTEAL FISTULA 131 



LACTEAL FISTULA 



Lacteal fistula appears in various locations on teats 

 and udder. The most common seat of a lacteal fistula 

 is on the teat over the course of the lacteal duct. 



Most lacteal fistulas are of traumatic origin; occa- 

 sionally abscess formation in mastitis may leave a per- 

 manent opening in the udder through which milk es- 

 capes. 



Li rare cases rudimentary teats near the base of a 

 teat may develop a permanent opening, allowing a 

 constant dripping of milk. Some cases have occurred 

 in our practice which resulted from cutting off rudi- 

 mentary teats. The animals w^ere pure-bred cows and 

 the owner feared that the rudimentary teats would 

 detract from their showing qualities. He snipped off 

 the rudimentary teats with scissors. Evidently the 

 teats contained a lacteal duct, which continued to drip 

 milk constantly, after being cut through. 



A lacteal fistula is difficult to heal when chronic, es- 

 pecially while the gland is active. The proper time to 

 undertake the cure of a lacteal fistula which has been 

 in existence for a month or longer is when the cow 

 "goes dry." While it is possible to obtain good re- 

 sults while the cow is being milked, no certain prom- 

 ises of a favorable outcome should be made. 



In cases which are of less than one month's standing, 

 good results can be obtained at any time. The treat- 

 ment which we recommend is the same for recent 

 and for chronic cases — the only point differentiating 

 one from the other being the time when the treatment 

 is used — namely: in chronic cases only during the in- 

 terval between lactation periods; in recent cases, at 

 any time. To apply the treatment properly the cow 



