Mastitis is the most common and costly disease in dairy cattle, causing significant pain, reduced milk production, and welfare impairment in millions of cows annually. Effective pain management alongside treatment is essential but often lacking.
Mastitis causes acute and sometimes severe pain that is frequently undertreated in dairy cattle. Affected cows show reduced feed intake, altered lying behaviour, and gait changes consistent with significant discomfort. Despite strong evidence that NSAID administration improves welfare outcomes and recovery rates, analgesic use for mastitis remains inconsistent and incomplete in many dairy systems. Subclinical mastitis — where there are no visible signs but elevated somatic cell counts indicate udder inflammation — represents a chronic, low-grade welfare cost affecting very large numbers of cows. Prevention through management improvement is both welfare-positive and economically beneficial, yet mastitis prevalence remains high in many intensive systems. Every case of mastitis represents a failure in either prevention or prompt, adequate treatment.