Mastitis is the most costly disease of dairy cows, causing significant pain and antibiotic use, and is largely preventable through improved hygiene, management and teat condition monitoring.
Cows with clinical mastitis experience severe udder pain that affects gait, lying behaviour and feed intake. Subclinical mastitis causes chronic low-grade pain that is frequently missed. Repeated mastitis episodes are a major cause of premature culling. The reduction of blanket antibiotic dry cow therapy requires improved cow welfare and cleanliness to prevent the disease it was preventing pharmacologically.