COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON MASTITIS IN PRIMIPAR OUS AND PLURIPAROUS COWS DURING THE PERIPARTAL PERIOD .1. COMMUNICATION - FREQUENCY, ETIOLOGY, CLINICAL COURSE AND CURE RATES OF CLINICAL MASTITIS IN HEIFERS AND COWS DURING THE PERIPARTAL PERIOD

From a total of 658 animals hospitalized at the Clinic for Bovine Obst etrics and Gynecology, Veterinary School at Hannover, because of super vision of labour and/or obstetrics, 89 heifers (13.5 per cent) and 98 cows (14.9 per cent) suffered from clinical mastitis during the peripa rtal period, The majority of the animals (262 heifers = 39.8 per cent and 209 cows = 31.8 per cent) was without clinical signs of mastitis, The frequency of clinical mastitis was statistically significantly hig her in animals which had been hospitalized ante partum (45.2 per cent) than in cows brought into the clinic sub partu (22.8 per cent), There was no interrelationship between the different kinds of dystocia or o bstetrical measures and frequency of mastitis. Approximately three qua rters of the animals (70.8 per cent of the heifers, 82.3 per cent of t he cows) had a chronic catarrhal mastitis which was caused mainly by g rampositive bacteria, Clinical cure rate following local and/or system ic mastitis therapy was 39.1 per cent and 49, 4 per cent in primiparou s and pluriparous cows, respectively, In 40.8 per cent of the heifers and 43.2 per cent of the cows, clinical signs disappeared without loca l antibiotic treatment, Placental membranes were retained more often i n cows with clinical mastitis than in cows without clinical mastitis a t parturition, In contrast, in heifers, there was no difference in fre quency of retained placental membranes between animals with and withou t clinical mastitis at the time of labour.