When using blanket dry cow therapy, all quarters of all cows are treated with long-acting antimicrobials at dry off. This technique is widely used and allows curing and prevent mastitis, but worldwide there is a strong trend to reduce or phase out the preventive use of antibiotics.
Selective dry cow therapy will help reduce the use of antimicrobials at dry off without any detrimental effect on udder health or milk production – as long as the right herd and the right cows are selected for the right treatment and internal teat sealants only are used for healthy, untreated cows. Provide the farmer with a decision tree such as this one, to help determine when selective dry cow therapy is useful.
Hygiene and correct application procedures are particularly important if the cow is dried off without intramammary antibiotics (teat sealant alone). Your role as farm vet is to set up optimal treatment procedures, and then checking and training farm staff.