Nick Lyttle

Dr Singh, I have three questions. Firstly, can you please explain in more detail your understanding of the pathophysiology of the breakdown of the intercellular tight junctions. My current interpretation from your comments and other reading is that the loss of buffering function (from low citrate) and subsequent pH elevation in the mamary gland drives the calcium ions out of the tight junction str ...

Linda, reading your response and in particular the closing remarks about "damaged udders, lost production and dead kids" could there be nutritional, housing, kidding and other environmental conditions contributing to these issues. We see all of these issues when metabolic disease is present and it may be fruitful to step back from the mastitis focus and ask what else could be involved? Good luck ...

Part of the challenge with this issue is the terminology of the discussion and also the philosophy of those participating. As a summary here are some key points to consider: 1. Mastitis means inflammation and not infection. If there is an indication for antibiotics then a bacterial mastitis must be present. however, the foundational thinking raised by Mr Jasmer Singh et al (thank you for your wor ...

Linda, yes you can mix it up and use it as an individual drench but that is the challenge with bigger operations - the time requried became a blockage compared with other treatment options, I would expect unless you have a very high incidence that this could be a useful supplement to test. The oral form is the only one we deal with at present because of our national veterinary medicine legislation ...

We've done some work with several dairy goat clients and there are challenges. Mostly related to the numbers invovled and practicality of mixing and dosing. Depending on availity of product, how many goats you're milking and subsequently needing to support, the severity of the issue you're dealing with and availability of other mastitis support options, you and or your staff will either embrace th ...

A couple of comments on the recent postings.John, your philosophy is closely aligned with mine. We have many organic clients in both dairy (cows and goats ) and dry stock. One of the issues we see here with grain feeding (and this was the foundation of our consultancy business) is the very low levels of most trace elements meaning the greater the percentage of the diet the more supplementation req ...

This is an interesting discussion as it shows just how different farming is in different countries with different feed availability and different farming systems. There are only a few farmers in New Zealand feeding by-pass fat as an energy source. Grain is relatively economical source of energy (cheaper than by pass fat) to balance the excess protein from pasture - particularly in spring when most ...

There are no universally prescriptive solutions for this very important question. Commercially viable solutions that preserve milk production, enhance animal welfare and respect the environmental issues facing us all, regularly compete. We're regularly advising our clients to add grain into their predominantly pasture diet to ensure sufficient levels of soluble carbohydrate (SCHO) immediately pos ...