Mastitis in dairy goats causes significant pain and milk quality problems. Prevention through hygiene and management is more welfare-positive than reactive treatment.
Dairy goat mastitis causes chronic pain that is often underrecognized due to the absence of obvious clinical signs in subclinical cases. Regular CMT testing identifies affected animals before welfare decline becomes severe. Prevention through milking hygiene is substantially more welfare-positive than detection and treatment, as it prevents the pain rather than just resolving it.