446 
PHLEGMONOUS MASTITIS. 
Symptoms and course. The condition is announced by swelling and 
redness, which is generally diffuse, and seldom limited to particular 
portions of the gland. It appears suddenly: the skin is injected; at 
hist it appears bright red, afterwards bluish. The swelling is then soft 
and doughy, but later becomes hard and firm, and requires some force 
to indent it. The skin is often exceedingly hot, but pain, as in sub¬ 
cutaneous inflammation, is seldom severe, nor does the milk show much 
change in quality, though the total quantity certainly falls off. At the 
commencement, slight fever is present; the lymph glands of the udder 
swell, and the tumefaction spreads. 
In four to eight days the symptoms may gradually recede, the redness 
disappear, the swelling subside, and the secretion of milk become 
normal. In other cases abscesses form. In or just beneath the skin, 
less frequently in the superficial portions of the gland, several fluctuating 
points develop, which after a short time break and discharge pus. Such 
abscesses .ai e distinguished from those occurring during parenchymatous 
mastitis by their superficial position (antemammary abscesses) and slight 
size. This disease may also lead to other complications, like gangrenous 
inflammation. 
Differential diagnosis. The present affection is distinguished from 
disease of the parenchyma by the slight change in the milk, by the 
involvement of several sections of the udder, and by the marked simul¬ 
taneous changes in the skin. It is more likely to be mistaken for the 
oedema occurring in the udder at the time of parturition. In the latter 
condition, however, the well-developed inflammatory symptoms, such as 
increased warmth, reddening, and pain, are wanting. Nevertheless, it 
cannot be denied that this oedema (before calving) is sometimes so 
intense as to be difficult to differentiate from mastitis. In occasional 
cases, indeed, mastitis follows it. 
The prognosis depends on the virulence of the micro-organisms, as 
shown by the violence with which the process develops, and by the 
degree of the general disturbance, particularly of fever. As a rule, the 
process is benign, but abscess formation prolongs it. 
^ Treatment should, in the first instance, be of a prophylactic character. 
Considering the possibly contagious character of all forms of mastitis, 
the operator’s hands and all instruments, like milk catheters, should be 
carefully disinfected before and after operation. The animal’s bedding 
should be clean and frequently renewed, and the floor of the stall be 
washed down and sprinkled with a disinfectant. Direct treatment is 
similar to that in erysipelatous and phlegmonous conditions in other 
paits of the body. Cold applications are contra-indicated, and the best 
results follow infriction with mild fats (like borated or camphorated 
vaseline oil or butter), or with carbolised oil, mercurial ointment, &c. 
