Mastitis — painful udder inflammation — affects millions of dairy cows worldwide and is both a major welfare problem and the dairy industry's most economically significant disease.
Mastitis causes significant and often prolonged suffering. Clinical cases involve acute inflammation producing swelling, heat, pain on touch, and systemic illness including fever and reduced appetite. Cows with mastitis show altered gait, reduced lying time, and clear behavioural pain indicators. Subclinical mastitis — detectable only through SCC or bacterial culture — affects far more cows and causes ongoing discomfort without obvious visible signs. Systematic pain management with anti-inflammatory drugs is the most direct welfare intervention, but many farms still do not routinely administer analgesics during treatment. Prevention through good milking hygiene, cubicle design, and herd health management reduces incidence.