Efficacy of two non-antibiotic therapies, oxytocin and topical liniment, against bovine staphylococcal mastitis

Eight cows were challenged by a single quarter intramammary infusion of a r elatively low-virulence strain of Staphylococcus aureus on four occasions f ive weeks apart and, after each challenge, each cow received one of four tr eatments, according to a duplicated Latin-square design. The treatments wer e massage alone (negative control), massage with a proprietary liniment, ox ytocin, and a single course of a proprietary intramammary antibiotic. The m assage treatments were applied at every milking for three weeks, oxytocin w as given for one week, and the antibiotic was given after three successive milkings. Milk samples were collected immediately before and for three week s after each challenge, and a scoring system was used to quantify the prese nce of bacteria during the whole of the period. None of the treatments comp letely eliminated bacteria from all the cows. Relative to the negative cont rol, the liniment had no significant effect, but both oxytocin and the anti biotic: reduced the numbers of bacteria significantly and did not differ si gnificantly in efficacy.