Mastitis is the most common and costly disease in dairy cattle, causing significant pain and impaired welfare, with prevention through hygiene and management being highly effective.
Clinical mastitis causes significant acute welfare harm through pain, fever, and systemic illness. Severely affected cows may be recumbent, anorexic, and clearly distressed. Subclinical mastitis causes chronic welfare harm at a lower intensity through sustained udder inflammation and discomfort during milking. Prompt antibiotic treatment of clinical cases with adequate analgesia reduces the duration of suffering. Prevention through milking hygiene, appropriate housing, and management is more welfare-effective than treatment, as it prevents the suffering from occurring rather than ending it after onset.