Comparisonof an Experimental Teat Sealant vs. Commercial Dry Period Barrier Teat Sealant Dipon Teat Coverage Persistency and Teat Health

Mastitis research has shown 40-50% of intramammaryinfections (IMI) are contracted during the dry or non-lactating period with greatest percentages occurring during first and last two weeks of dry period. The ability to develop and apply external persistent barrier teat dip products that can persist for these 1 week periods could decrease IMI, thus improving animal health and performance, and product quality and safety.Objective of this study was to evaluate an experimentalsealant product vs. commercial persistent barrier dry cow teatsealant dip with particular interest and comparisons of dip persistency in providing teat end protection, and overall teat end and skin health. Two external teat sealants were applied to 24 animals for assessment of adherence to teatskin/teat end over a period of fifteen days. Overall, substantially better coverage wasobserved for teats treated with the experimental product compared to control product over thefirst week after application. By the third day, the experimental productwas 22 times more likelyto have teats protected than the control product. By day four, this likelihood increased to 56times. Product was observed on teats with the experimental productuntil day 10, while noproduct was visible by day 5 on teats treated with the control product. The studyshowed thatthe experimental productstayed on teats much longer than the control product, with around50% teat ends protected five days after initial application