Using teat sealant
This
year a new non-antibiotic teat sealant is available on the Australian market. It
is specifically designed to protect uninfected cows during the dry period.
Farmers and their advisers have been asking a lot of good questions about how
they might use teat sealant.
Our
experience with these products on Australia dairy farms is limited – but we
can learn from overseas research work and from experience in New Zealand where
teat sealant has been used in many herds since the mid-1990s.
So, here are answers to the common questions:
Teat sealants
– how do they work?
Teat
sealants provide a non-antibiotic approach to protecting uninfected cows from
environmental mastitis during the dry period. They are made of non-irritant,
insoluble material which is infused into the teat after the last milking (from a
tube similar to an antibiotic tube). The teat sealant stays in the lower part of
the teats throughout the dry period and physically prevents bacteria from
entering the teat ends.
They
do not cure mastitis infections that are already in the udder. But they do give
protection against new infections establishing.
Which cows
are appropriate for teat sealant?
Teatseal®
is registered for use in uninfected cows. It is has no curative action,
so it is not appropriate to use for infected cows. Only use it in cows:
-
that
have had at least 3 cell counts throughout this lactation, all of which have
been below 250,000 cells/mL, and
-
have
not had any clinical case of mastitis in this lactation
Cows
that have had high cell counts or clinical mastitis should receive an antibiotic
Dry Cow Treatment at drying-off.
Which herds
will benefit from using a teat sealant?
Each
herd is different – check with your veterinarian to customise your best
approach. As a general guide :
- you
must be able to select uninfected cows (by regular Milk Recording).
- herds
with high mastitis levels (more than 30% of cows have cell counts above
250,000 cells/mL) will get more benefit from using Blanket antibiotic Dry
Cow Treatment.
- herds
with low risk of new infections during the dry period should use a Selective
antibiotic Dry Cow Treatment strategy (only use antibiotics in cows with
high cell counts).
- If
your herd has low mastitis levels, and cows are at risk of environmental
mastitis infections, teat sealant provides a non-antibiotic alternative to
protect your uninfected cows.
Herds
using teat sealant are choosing the “Combination” drying off treatment
strategy, where antibiotic Dry Cow Treatment is used in all quarters of infected
cows and teat sealant is used in all quarters of non-infected cows.
What are the
keys to successful administration?
Very,
very good hygiene is essential. This is true for all infusions into the udder,
and especially for teat sealant because it has no direct anti-bacterial action.
It prevents bacteria migrating up the teat canal after drying-off, but it will
have absolutely no effect against bacteria pushed up into the udder with the
tube, if administration is not scrupulously clean.
Review
your protocol and staff training for administration of intramammaries. Use the
Fact sheet in the Countdown Farm Guidelines (page 91) and get advice from your
vet.
There
are some things to do differently from administering antibiotics – for
example, the contents of the tube should not be massaged up the udder – teat
sealant must settle in the lower part of the teat.
What happens
if cows leak milk? How long does the teat sealant last?
Although
some cows do leak milk after administration, field reports from New Zealand
indicate that this does not appear to expel Teatseal®.
Some material persists in the teat for the whole dry period (observed for up to
176 days).
What happens
at calving? How is teat sealant removed?
At
calving, teat sealant is removed by calves sucking or manual stripping. All cows
should be manually stripped at the first eight milkings. In most cows, teat
sealant is removed over this time, but flecks may be seen for up to three weeks
after calving. It has no detrimental effect on calves (passes through the gut
without difficulty), and is trapped on the filter sock.
It
is important not to confuse flecks of teat sealant material with clots of
mastitis. An easy way of telling them apart is to rub the material between
gloved fingers. The teat sealant is greasy and smears away to nothing.
What about
residues or tests for inhibitory substances?
There
are no residue concerns, and no withholding periods for Teatseal®.
It has no effect on screening tests such as Delvo.
Can you use
teat sealant and antibiotic Dry Cow Treatment at once in the same cow?
There
is very little information about the compatibility of teat sealant and
antibiotic tubes given at the same time. In a substantial trial in New Zealand,
there was no additional protection when teat sealant was administered
immediately after a tube of cloxacillin antibiotic. Commonsense would indicate
that the risks of poor hygiene would be increased if two tubes were administered
to each quarter.
Where do I
get extra information?
Ask
your veterinarian. The company marketing the product has provided vets with
background information. Countdown will also keep vets up-to-date on Australian
experiences as they emerge.
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