Mastitis is the most economically costly and welfare-significant disease in dairy cattle, causing severe pain and systemic illness that requires prompt diagnosis and treatment to minimise suffering.
Mastitis causes acute, severe pain in affected quarters and systemic illness in severe cases. Cows with clinical mastitis show altered gait, reduce feed intake, and display pain behaviours when the udder is palpated. Effective pain relief using NSAIDs alongside antibiotic treatment significantly improves recovery and welfare during treatment. Subclinical mastitis causes chronic inflammatory pain at lower intensity that is easy to miss without somatic cell count monitoring but represents a welfare concern through prolonged mild suffering. Farms with low mastitis incidence achieve this through rigorous milking hygiene, effective dry cow management, and responsive treatment when cases occur.