Lecture 1 (8/21)

Question 1

What is the most important diagnostic tool?

Answer 1

The physical examination

Question 2

What signalments should be determined during a physical examination?

Answer 2

Age: young vs. old

Sex: female vs. male

Species and breed: can be used to determine breed-specific congential and hereditary disorders; color can be a factor in formulating differentials

Question 3

What things can you notice as the patient walks in the door without beginning a thorough physical examination?

Answer 3

body condition, behavior, attidue, posture, ambulation (walking about), respiratory pattern

Question 4

Name a few routine procedures and hints for carrying the patient around the hospital.

Answer 4

Persuasion out of the cage by using voice, special phrases, and/or treats

Leash

Rabies pole/stick

Use carrier to transport when possible

Question 5

How should you restrain a cat?

Answer 5

Minimally: scruff or neck hold, towel wrap, two hand push down hold, on side (wrist over neck hold), muzzles/bags

Question 6

How should you restrain a dog?

Answer 6

Head lock; on side (forearm over neck hold), double hand hold, intermandibular nose hold, muzzles (gauze, nylon, or basket)

Question 7

When giving IM injections, what is absolutely necessary to avoid? Why?

Answer 7

The sciatic nerve; if injected, it could result in paralyzation of the leg.

Question 8

Which muscles can be used for IM injections?

Answer 8

Hindlimb: quadriceps, semimembranosis, semitendonosis

Forelimb: triceps

Dorsal Lumbar: epaxials

Question 9

What is the procedure for IM injections?

Answer 9

Proper restraint

Needle and syringe (25-20 gauge)

Accurate drug calculations

Draw back (to watch for blood before injecting)

Inject

Massage site

Question 10

What is the function of dexmedetomidine?

Answer 10

mild sedative

Question 11

What is the function of Butorphenol?

Answer 11

sedative/analgesic

Question 12

What is the combination of dexmedetomidine and butorphenol used for?

Answer 12

injected IM and use to anesthetize animals

Question 13

How do you covert pounds to kilograms and vice versa?

Answer 13

Pounds/2.2 = kilogram

Kilograms X 2.2 = Pounds

Question 14

How do you calculate HR and RR?

Answer 14

HR: count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4

RR: hold for 10 seconds and mulitply by 6

Question 15

What is TPR? Explain in detail.

Answer 15

Temperature (rectal): normal range for dogs (100-102.5 ⁰F)

Pulse: heart rate in beats per minute (bpm)

Respiration: respiratory rate in breaths per minute (bpm)

Question 16

How do you test for the hydration of an animal?

Answer 16

MM, eyes, skin turgor

geriatric (old), cachectic (weak/chronically ill) animals

Lift upper lift and press on buccal MM and count how long it takes for pink color to return; check color of MM; feel if MM are moist, dry, or tacky; CRT (capillary refill time) is normal if <2 seconds

Question 17

Menace Response?

Answer 17

Blinking reflex

Question 18

Stridor?

Answer 18

the ability to hear an animal breathing (a harsh or grating sound)

Question 19

What cells are lymph nodes coated in that make them feel slippery?

Answer 19

fat

Question 20

On a scale of small to large dogs, what are considered normal heart rates?

Answer 20

Small: 90-140 bpm

Medium: 80-120 bpm

Large: 60-100 bpm

Question 21

What is considered a normal HR in cats?

Question 22

If there are quiet or dull areas heard in the lungs, what is this a consequence of?

Answer 22

pleural or pericardial effusion, mass, or hernia

Question 23

If there are crackle sounds heard in the lungs, what is this a consequence of?

Answer 23

popping open of small airways or air moving through airway secretions

Question 24

If there is wheezing heard in the lungs, what is this a consequence of?

Answer 24

continuous, musical sounds from air passing through narrow or obstructed airways

Question 25

What is the normal RR for dogs and cats?

Answer 25

Dogs: 10-30 bpm

Cats: 20-30 bpm

Question 26

Dyspnea?

Answer 26

Difficult or labored breathing

Question 27

What are a few artifacts heard when listeing to the different organs of the thorax?

Answer 27

shivering, referred airway noise, panting, stethoscope rub, compression

Artifact = something observed in a scientific investigation or experiment that is not naturally present but occurs as a result of the preparative or investigative procedure

Question 28

What are the 8 organs palpated in the abdominal region during a physical examination and what should you be looking out for in each organ?

Answer 28

Liver: (difficult to palpate normally) smooth, well-defined caudal edges; if enlarged in extends beyond the costal arch and has rounded edges; lateral recumbency or standing may help

Stomach: (normally not palpated) doughy or fluid-filled (left side) after eating

Spleen: (not always palpatable) in the mid abdomen; palpate for irregularity or masses

Intestines: not thickness, fluid, gas foreign bodies, or masses; colon is dorsal-caudal (feces vs. mass where feces will be squishy)

Kidneys: dorsal-abdominal region in cats and difficult to feel in dogs unless young and thin; compare size, shape, firmness, and irregularities

Urinary Bladder: ventral-caudal abdomen; assess size, thickness, calculi, obstruction

Uterus: (not normally palpated) tubular shape; look for enlargement due to pyometra (an accumulation of pus in the uterus) or late pregnancy

Prostate: only intact males; usually palpated in caudal abdomen ventral to the colon and caudal to the urinary bladder

Question 29

When performing a physical examination, what should be evaluated when checking the skin?

Answer 29

The coat, interdigital, foot pads, mucocutaneous junctions, alopecia/broken hairs, erythmia, lesions, parasites, distribution of lesions (demodex on legs/head and scabies on elbows, ears, and hocks), and palpate for masses (SQ and skin)

Question 30

When performing a physical examination, what should be evaluated when checking the anus?

Answer 30

perineal and perianal regions

Question 31

When performing a physical examination, what should be evaluated when checking the genitalia?

Answer 31

Mammary glands: masses, discharge, milk, swelling, firmness, heat

Vulva: conformation, swelling, discharge

Vaginal exam: indicated with dystocias or vaginal discharge

Prepuce and penis

Testicles: symmetry, firmness, irregularity

Question 32

When performing a rectal palpation, what things should be carefully evaluated?

Answer 32

Stool: amount, consistency, color, blood, mucus, foreign material

Anal sacs: distention, masses, infection

Pelvis: fractures, masses, narrowing

Urethra: thickening, masses, stones

Lymph nodes (sublumbar): dorsal aspect of pelvic canal

Prostate: normal is bi-lobed, symmetric, smooth, and non-painful, median raphe

Question 33

What things should be evaluated for a neurological exam?

Answer 33

mentation/behavior; gait/posture; cranial nerves, pupil symmetry, ocular position, fascial sensation, gag; postural reactions (propioception [the ability to sense the position and location and orientation and movement of the body and its parts] wheelbarrow, hopping, etc.); spinal reflexes

Question 34

What things should be evaluated when checking the muscuolskeletal system?

Answer 34

Walk and trot; Head and neck (look for pain or resistance); vertebral column; lameness - systematic approach to affected limbs (hips: range of motion and pain, Ortolani sign*; stifle: postion of patella in extension and flexion, cranial drawer)

Question 35

Puritis?

Answer 35

severe itching of the skin