Below is a case study of a mastitis case from a HAWL farmer, followed by evidence and research into the treatment of mastitis with homeopathy. You can also buy our HAWL guide on treating mastitis with homeopathy, from Serpentina Books.
Homeopathy rescues a bad case of mastitis
Lydia, an organic dairy cow, was due to deliver her calf in January but a chronic case of mastitis was proving incurable with antibiotics. Her conventional vet had treated her quickly and the organic farm followed their usual strict protocols in order to get the swiftest response from Lydia, but repeated doses of antibiotics and good animal husbandry made no difference.
Fortunately, Homeopathy At Wellie Level (HAWL) were running a course at the farm and so the Farm Manager asked the HAWL vet to take a look and use Lydia as a teaching example. The homeopath vet took a look on 9th November and warned the Farm Manager.
“The case is very chronic and the udder badly damaged. I fear she will not come into milk at all in any quarters. However, with the wonders of homeopathy….!! She is not in pain and is in good condition so she’s not suffering. She will need prolonged treatment for any chance of recovery.”
Above: 9th November: Mastitis after several courses of antibiotics and before homeopathic treatment.
13th November 4 days into homeopathic treatment: You can see that the wound had opened right up so the herdsman continued to keep it clean and persisted with the remedy
By the 16th November (above), seven days after homeopathic treatment started, the herdsman reported noticeable changes and that the abscesses had started to heal.
Above: 21st December - eleven days after homeopathic treatment started
By December 21st (above) just 11 days after treatment commenced, the herdsman sent the homeopathic vet photographs and said,
“The hardness in the affected quarter seemed a little less pronounced and I think she seems better/more confident in herself.”
On New Years Eve, 20 days after treatment started, the herdsman sent another photograph (below) to the homeopath vet showing, a little pus but still considerable improvement, despite not cleaning the teat before taking the picture!
Her email said:
“Lydia has been back with the herd for the last three weeks and actually just calved within the last hour!!” The herdsman went on
“Although I haven’t tested her udder for milk yet, she has bagged up really well. On examination yesterday, her hard quarter did seem larger (but presumably this is because she’s coming into milk). There was also a pea-sized hole where pus had been/is coming out from, on the underside of the hard quarter. This doesn’t seem painful to her.”
This indicated a change of remedy which was prescribed by the homeopathic vet and close veterinary supervision towards recovery was advised.
Surprisingly, not only did Lydia calve but she returned to the milking herd. The affected teat never gave milk but it was possible to milk her from the other three. An unexpected outcome and the bonus was that they did not lose the calf.
Cases like this need supervision by a homeopathic vet. You can find one here http://bahvs.co.uk/. It is also vital when working with a case like this, that the herdsman or farmer understands how to use homeopathy. See our course information here.
Homeopathic research into treating mastitis
The India Study paper entitled “The comparative efficacy of homeopathic and allopathic systems of medicine in the management of clinical mastitis of Indian dairy cows by J.P. Varshney abd R. Naresh from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute concluded “the combination of Phytolacca, Calcarea fluorica, Silica, Belladonna, Bryonia, Arnica, Conium and Ipecacuanha (Healwell VT-6) was effective and economical in the management of mastitis in lactating dairy cows.”
This paper published in 2020 by Maria Fernandez Portales on the Efficacy of Homeopathic Herd Health Management in Antibiotic Resistant Dairy Cattle in Northern Spain concluded “when comparing treatments in dairy farms, homeopathy is more effective at keeping SCC below the 250 threshold.”
An Assessment of the effect of homoeopathic nosodes in subclinical
bovine mastitis by Kiarazm, Tajik, and Nava concluded that “treatment of cows with subclinical mastitis using a combination of homeopathic nosodes resulted in lower SCC and reduced isolated bacteria compared with the control group. In addition, the nosodes had an effect in reducing the incidence of mastitis.” You can download this paper below.