Ewes affected with mastitis become feverish, go off feed and become depressed. They may hold their rear foot up, as if they are lame, and refuse to allow their lambs to nurse. Keen observation is necessary to pick out these cases and prevent the potential damage. Ewes which show signs of mastitis should be separated from the rest of the flock and treated with antibiotics. It may be necessary to bottle feed their lambs.
Treatment usually involves intramammary infusions of antibiotics and systemic antibiotics.
It is helpful to collect milk samples from affected ewes to determine the main bacteria involved and the correct medication to use. Treatment should be continued for several days until the clinical signs have gone away. The udders of ewes should be examined after weaning and before breeding. Ewes with hard lumps in the udders should be culled, as these ewes will become increasingly poor producers of milk. Ewes that can only nurse one lamb should be culled from the flock.