California Mastitis Test

Highgate Veterinary Clinic

173 Highgate, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4EN
01539 721344


Home Contact Us Opening Times How to Find Us
Pet Owners
Farm Clients Farm Services Farm Contracts Farm Newsletter Info Sheets Case Histories Training and Events
Meet the Staff
Links

Click HERE for pdf version to save or print

The California Mastitis Test [CMT] is a cow side test to estimate the somatic cell count of milk.

	BENEFITS
	Immediate result, carried out by milker in the parlour
	An indication of high or low cell counts
	The CMT only shows changes in cell counts above 400,000
	CMT assesses the level of infection of each quarter instead of an overall udder result
	Low cost

	USES
	Identify high cell count cows and quarters
	Double check individual cow cell count results
	Can confirm suspect mastitis cases
	Check cows after treatment
	Identify quarters for bacterial sampling

	THE TEST
	Discard foremilk
	Draw 1 or 2 squirts from each quarter into the paddle dish
	Tip the dish to discard most of the milk
	Add an equal volume of reagent to the remaining milk
	Swirl the milk and look for a gel or slime reaction
	Record the result by quarter
	Rinse the dish before testing the next cow

Score	Gelling
Negative	None
1	Mild
2	Moderate
3	Heavy, almost solidifies

Record results for each animal.
If in doubt, repeat the test immediately or at the next milking.
NB. Results can vary according to who does the test. Always try to be consistent in your measures of milk and reagent.

Draw 1 or 2 squirts into paddle dish

Add equal volume of reagant

Look for slime or gel reaction

PDF Version
Click here to download this information sheet as a PDF file to save or print

Back to Information Sheets