Internal and external parasites cause significant welfare problems in cattle, reducing productivity and causing pain and discomfort that is often chronically present.
Parasitism causes widespread, chronic suffering in cattle that is easily overlooked because affected animals continue to function rather than showing obvious distress. Subclinical parasite burdens reduce growth, immune function, and reproductive performance while causing gut discomfort and irritation. Severe infestations cause acute illness that is clearly painful. The challenge for welfare-oriented parasite management is balancing effective treatment against the imperative to slow anthelmintic resistance, which threatens the long-term availability of effective drugs. Integrated parasite management approaches that target treatment to genuinely affected animals and preserve drug efficacy serve both welfare and long-term disease control goals.