Clinical mastitis is a prevalent problem in the dairy industry, and has detrimental effects on the animal's profitability, as well as negative impacts on cow welfare. As with many disease conditions in animals, it is inferred that mastitis causes significant discomfort and pain. Mild and moderate clinical mastitis cases have been previously studied, and it was found that moderate clinical mastitis cases had significantly higher heart rates, rectal temperatures and respiratory rates, when compared tocows with mild clinical mastitis and normal cows.2'3 Cows also experienced an increased sensitivity to a mechanical pressure stimulus on the leg closest to the affected mammary quarter, suggesting a change in pain information processing as a result of inflammation. Although these studies present extremely useful information about discomfort with mastitis, published documentation quantifying pain with mastitis is not abundant. The current study was conducted to objectively assess pain in cases of experimentally-induced clinical mastitis, to better understand the effects of clinical mastitis on dairy cattle welfare.
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