Lecture 1 (8/21) Flashcards
What is the most important diagnostic tool?
The physical examination
What signalments should be determined during a physical examination?
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
What things can you notice as the patient walks in the door without beginning a thorough physical examination?
body condition, behavior, attidue, posture, ambulation (walking about), respiratory pattern
Name a few routine procedures and hints for carrying the patient around the hospital.
Persuasion out of the cage by using voice, special phrases, and/or treats
Leash
Rabies pole/stick
Use carrier to transport when possible
How should you restrain a cat?
Minimally: scruff or neck hold, towel wrap, two hand push down hold, on side (wrist over neck hold), muzzles/bags
How should you restrain a dog?
Head lock; on side (forearm over neck hold), double hand hold, intermandibular nose hold, muzzles (gauze, nylon, or basket)
When giving IM injections, what is absolutely necessary to avoid? Why?
The sciatic nerve; if injected, it could result in paralyzation of the leg.
Which muscles can be used for IM injections?
Hindlimb: quadriceps, semimembranosis, semitendonosis
Forelimb: triceps
Dorsal Lumbar: epaxials
What is the procedure for IM injections?
Proper restraint
Needle and syringe (25-20 gauge)
Accurate drug calculations
Draw back (to watch for blood before injecting)
Inject
Massage site
What is the function of dexmedetomidine?
mild sedative
What is the function of Butorphenol?
sedative/analgesic
What is the combination of dexmedetomidine and butorphenol used for?
injected IM and use to anesthetize animals
How do you covert pounds to kilograms and vice versa?
Pounds/2.2 = kilogram
Kilograms X 2.2 = Pounds
How do you calculate HR and RR?
HR: count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4
RR: hold for 10 seconds and mulitply by 6
What is TPR? Explain in detail.
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)
How do you test for the hydration of an animal?
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
Menace Response?
Blinking reflex
Stridor?
the ability to hear an animal breathing (a harsh or grating sound)
What cells are lymph nodes coated in that make them feel slippery?
fat
On a scale of small to large dogs, what are considered normal heart rates?
Small: 90-140 bpm
Medium: 80-120 bpm
Large: 60-100 bpm
What is considered a normal HR in cats?
If there are quiet or dull areas heard in the lungs, what is this a consequence of?
pleural or pericardial effusion, mass, or hernia
If there are crackle sounds heard in the lungs, what is this a consequence of?
popping open of small airways or air moving through airway secretions
If there is wheezing heard in the lungs, what is this a consequence of?
continuous, musical sounds from air passing through narrow or obstructed airways
What is the normal RR for dogs and cats?
Dogs: 10-30 bpm
Cats: 20-30 bpm
Dyspnea?
Difficult or labored breathing
What are a few artifacts heard when listeing to the different organs of the thorax?
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
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?
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
When performing a physical examination, what should be evaluated when checking the skin?
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)
When performing a physical examination, what should be evaluated when checking the anus?
perineal and perianal regions
When performing a physical examination, what should be evaluated when checking the genitalia?
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
When performing a rectal palpation, what things should be carefully evaluated?
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
What things should be evaluated for a neurological exam?
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
What things should be evaluated when checking the muscuolskeletal system?
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)
Puritis?
severe itching of the skin
