The only thing wrong with reducing animal health costs is what do you do when you’ve got them as low as you can?. What then?.

Getting a better return on the money you already spend on animal health is a different approach. It opens up your mind to more possibilities somehow.

And using your veterinarians more effectively is one way to get the leverage you desire.

Here’s a few things you could do. 

• Bite the bullet and book them in for an hour say.
• Imagine all the information they may need to help you achieve your goal and have it ready.
• Make sure to include time to look at your cows and/or young stock. If mastitis is your main concern then watch them being milked.
• Decide on a few key metrics so you can see your improvement over time..like your spend in cents per kg milk solids.
• Ask about the incidence of a particular disease so you can assess the risk to your animals better. And to make those vaccination choices easier.
• Involve your people in the discussion.They will feel part of the project, add more insights and it’s an opportunity for you to talk them up.
• Brainstorm some possible solutions and ask for their opinion on which three to start with first. These are likely to be either the easiest, cheapest or most effective.

If you’re still wondering if this exercise is going to be worth it, take a look at some of these sums.Use your own incidence numbers and herd size and see what you get. 

10% lameness at $1264 per case for a herd of 300 cows = $37920

5% milk fever at $490 per case for the same herd = $7350

And 20% sub clinical mastitis at $75  = $4500

Most diseases or conditions like milk fever, mastitis, ketosis and lameness are multi-factorial. Like a spiders web there are many different interconnected factors that are involved. Dry matter intake, the weather, race condition and whether there is a head bail for safe hoof trimming and care would be a few for lameness for example.

Invest a little time with your veterinarian for long term animal health benefits.