Additionally, the animals may exhibit behavioural signs such as walking stiffly on their toes, lying on their sternum, and squealing when handled. A vaccine does exist, however if infection occurs, penicillin is the treatment of choice. This is primarily a winter-spring disease of sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs. The drug of choice is penicillin, however erythromycin, chloramphenicol, and the tetracyclines are also effective. This is a non-contagious disease of late fall, winter, and early spring, occurring primarily in Northern California, Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Arkansas, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
Treatment is oxytetracycline.
The appearance of the milk may progress to brownish with fine flakes of clots. If the infection is allowed to progress, the mammary gland may permanently loose its productiveness. Typically, dry mastitis responds to treatment better than wet mastitis. In dry mastitis, milk out the affected quarter, clean and disinfect the teat, infuse the medication, close and massage the teat and udder. It wet mastitis, the above procedure is employed after each milking for at least three treatments.