How to prevent and treat mastitis in nutria breeding

[Causes of mastitis in nutria]Mastitis is mostly caused by infection of the mammary tissue, such as traumatic infection from bites to the udder by the young, or the mother nutria having an abundant milk supply, causing the udder to become engorged, while the young have weak suckling ability or die, leading to long-term accumulation of milk and causing mastitis.

[Symptoms of mastitis in nutria]After a mother nutria develops mastitis, she is unwilling to care for her young and often stays on the exercise yard; because the young cannot get enough milk, they make abnormal calls. Long-term inflammation of the mammary glands in the mother nutria can also cause an elevated body temperature, decreased appetite, listlessness, and physical weakness. If the udder is examined, it may be found to be red and swollen, with lumps, and hot; in some cases the teats or udder may be bitten and broken, and in a few cases may rupture and ulcerate.

[Prevention and treatment methods for mastitis in nutria]During the farrowing period, the feeding and management of mother nutria should be strengthened, and any external injuries should be treated promptly to prevent infection. In the early stage of mastitis, the udder can be massaged to expel retained milk. If the udder has already become infected and suppurative, generally 0.25% novocaine diluted penicillin is used for multiple-point block treatment around the inflamed area of the udder (depending on the animal species, the dose is 5-20 ml), and the block treatment is repeated after 2-3 days. For those that have not ruptured and suppurated, hot compress treatment can be used: soak gauze in warm 0.3% rivanol solution, apply it to the udder, and massage, while also giving an intramuscular injection of penicillin. For cases refusing to eat, 5% glucose solution 15-30 ml can be injected intravenously or subcutaneously, and compound vitamin B 1-2 ml can be injected intramuscularly