Article Summary
Engorgement of a cow's udder is a synonymous disease that often occurs in dairy cattle due to a bacterial infection called mastitis. Mastitis is the most undesirable inflammation of the mammary glands by cattle breeders because it is a serious disease that must be treated properly and in a timely manner because it will be detrimental to cattle breeders if the disease is prolonged.

By: Nur Syamila Kamarul Arefin

Engorgement of a cow's udder is a synonymous disease that often occurs in dairy cattle due to a bacterial infection called mastitis. Mastitis is the most undesirable inflammation of the mammary glands by cattle breeders because it is a serious disease that must be treated properly and in a timely manner because it will be detrimental to cattle breeders if the disease is prolonged.

If the swelling of the udder is not treated, it will lead to a very low amount of expressed milk due to the udder engorgement disease. This condition is similar to women who breastfeed their babies, and when they have problems with breast engorgement, it causes their health to be affected due to excessive swelling.

As a result of the swelling, it will cause an infection that will cause pain in the udder. Mastitis can cause inflammation, udder swelling, bleeding or pus, and it can cause cows to experience fever due to the engorgement of the udder.

There are usually two types of mammary gland inflammation: clinical mastitis and subclinical mastitis. Clinical mastitis infections can be seen with the naked eye in that the expressed milk can contain blood and pus, or the milk becomes lumpy. On the other hand, subclinical mastitis infections cannot be seen visually. For subclinical mastitis infections, field tests need to be done or sent to a laboratory to identify the cause of the milk being spoiled.

According to a veterinary officer from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Ts. Dr. Muhammad Azrolharith Rashid, among the treatments for udder engorgement is by starting a clinical treatment called intramammary infusion, which is done by inserting medicine into the cow’s teats.

“The spoiled milk needs to be expressed to help the healing process. The swelling of the udder is very painful, and the medicine will be inserted into the udder for three to five days, depending on the severity.

“This milk needs to be separated and cannot be used during the whole medication period. When dairy cows fall sick, it will cause losses to cattle breeders because the milk cannot be sold, and farmers also have to spend more money to buy medicine to treat these sick cows,” he said.

Agriculture officer, Aznida Che Alli, said due to mastitis, the farmers will face significant losses due to the swelling of the udder because the milk can no longer be used.

"This will cause huge losses to cattle breeders because the cow's milk still needs to be expressed but it cannot be used or sold. It is a challenge indeed to dairy farmers whose cows suffer from mastitis.

"Apart from that, the milking technique is also a contributing factor of udder engorgement due to the rough milking process and the poorly maintained milking machines," he said.

He added that before milking the cows, the udder should be cleaned and sanitised first using the iosan teat dip before the milking process to prevent bacterial infection to the udder. - UPM