BCS and GIT clinical exam prac

Question 1

how do you body condition score a dairy cow

Answer 1

Question 2

how do you body condition score a sheep

Answer 2

palp over the transverse processes

Question 3

how do you body condition score a pig

Answer 3

Question 4

how do you body condition score a snake

Answer 4

Question 5

how do you body condition score a leopard gecko

Answer 5

head width should be same as tail base width

Question 6

how do you body condition score a bearded dragon

Answer 6

fat pads assessment of thighs etc

Question 7

how do you body condition score a tortoise

Answer 7

weigh tortoise, then measure shell lengthwise then plot on chart specific to species

Question 8

how do you body condition score a rabbit

Answer 8

Question 9

how do you body condition score a horse

Answer 9

Neck:
1. Start by visually assessing the overall shape of the neck:
* Can you easily see the shape of the neck muscles?
* Is fat evenly deposited along the top of the neck, or ‘crest’, from the poll to the withers?
2. Next, palpate the neck by feeling along the horse’s ‘crest’:
* Is there thickened, hard fat?
* Can you wobble the ‘crest’ from side to side?
* Can you palpate the horse’s nuchal ligament? This structure runs along the length of the horse’s
neck, just below the mane. Muscle will sit below the nuchal ligament, with excess fat sitting above it.
3. Finally, run your hand down the side of the neck onto the shoulder region:
* Ideally, the scapula should be clearly defined.
* If fat has accumulated in front of the scapula, your hand will tend to move smoothly over the neck
onto the shoulder region, instead of being stopped by the scapula. You may also feel fat pads behind
the scapula too.

RIBS
1. Run your hand over the ribs:
* Ideally you should be able to palpate them with light pressure.
* If firm pressure is needed, or you can’t feel them at all, then the horse is carrying excess fat.
2. Next, place a flat hand, approximately a hand’s width away from the withers, on the horse’s back and
palpate along the spine:
* Ideally you should be able to ‘arch’ your hand over the curve of the spine.
* You should be able to easily palpate the spine.
* If your hand lies flat across the back, this is the result of fat building up on either side of the spine.
* A very visible, angular spine indicates a lack of fat covering this area.

rear:
1. Visually assess the horse from behind:
* Ideally the hindquarters should be slightly rounded
* An ‘apple’ or ‘M’ shaped pelvis, with a gutter along the spine, would indicate too much fat.
* If the hindquarters are very angular and ‘drop away’, this indicates that the horse is underweight.
2. Palpate over the hip bones, top of the pelvis and tail head:
* You should be able to see and feel the pelvic landmarks easily under a thin layer of fat.
* If firm pressure is needed, or you can’t feel them at all, then the horse is carrying excess fat.
* If the hip bones and top of pelvis are prominently ‘sticking out’, and both are very easy to feel, the
horse is underweight

Once you have assessed all three regions, adjust the score of the pelvis by half a point if it differs buy one
point or more to the back or neck. Following this, add all three scores together and divide by three to obtain
the overall body condition score for the horse.

Question 10

how do you body condition score a dog

Answer 10

above: wasit line
side: rib palp
side: tummy tuck

Question 11

how do you perform a GI clinical exam on a horse

Answer 11

auscultate abdomin in 4 quarants: left dorsal, left ventral, right dorsal, right ventral for 30 seconds each. right side should have