Mastitis — udder infection — is the most common and costly disease in dairy cattle, causing significant pain and welfare harm to millions of cows.
Mastitis pain in dairy cows is significant and often undertreated: clinical mastitis causes local pain from swollen, inflamed udder tissue and systemic pain from bacterial toxins, yet pain management is used in a minority of affected cows in most countries. The chronic subclinical form, while less obvious, causes ongoing immune system activation and reduced welfare. High-producing cows are more susceptible to mastitis, creating a direct link between production intensity and welfare compromise that is difficult to address without reducing production targets.