Mastitis is the most common and economically significant disease in dairy cows, causing pain across millions of animals. Prevention through hygiene and treatment through prompt veterinary care are both critical.
Mastitis causes significant pain across the udder and, in severe cases, systemic illness with fever and collapse. Clinical mastitis is acutely painful - cows show obvious signs of discomfort when the affected quarter is touched. Subclinical mastitis may involve chronic low-grade discomfort across months. Early treatment reduces both the severity and duration of pain. Prevention-focused herd management - attention to hygiene, teat scoring, dry cow protocols, and housing design - reduces the overall welfare burden across the herd. Selective dry cow therapy, using antibiotics only where needed, is a welfare and antimicrobial stewardship improvement.