Lecture 4: hoarding Flashcards
4 classifications of animal abuse that are currently tracked by the FBI
a. Simple or gross neglect
b. Intentional abuse (physical abuse)
c. Organized abuse
d. Sexual abuse
most common type of animal abuse
Simple or gross neglect
types of basic care that are typically not provided to neglected animals
Basic necessities such as shelter, food, water, space, exercise, vet care
neglect an act of omission or commission
omission
two most common forms of large-scale animal neglect
puppy mills
hoarders
Fails to provide minimum standards of nutrition, sanitation, vet care and fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals (dz, starvation, death) or environment (overcrowding, extremely unsanitary) or negative effect of the collection on their own health and well-being and on that of other household members
animal hoarder
does the definition of hoarding include a specific number of animals
NO
physical exam findings in animals from hoarding cases
i. Muscle atrophy due to lack of exercise or space
ii. Urine scalding
iii. Dermatitis
iv. Covered in feces or urine
v. Behavioral changes from lack of exercise and space
vi. Overgrown nails
c. Crowding and unsanitary conditions promote
pain and suffering Physical and mental stress Spread of dz Untx painful medical conditions Death from starvation or untx conditions
most common and dangerous respiratory irritant typically encountered in an indoor hoarding environment?
Ammonia! Causes irritation to the mucosal lining of the entire airway
Chronic exposure even at lower levels is detrimental to animal health (inflammatory response, increased cortisol, decreased appetite, mucous membrane/eye and resp irritation)
Detected by humans at 10ppm or less. OSHA = levels above 50ppm are extreme irritants and over 300ppm is direct threat to health/life.
some common medical conditions seen in animals from a hoarding environment
a. Malnutrition and starvation
b. Dehydration
c. Infectious dz; URI, giardia, external/internal parasites, ringworm, retroviruses, FIP
d. Effects of living conditions; lack of grooming
e. Severe dental dz
f. Stomatitis/oral ulcers
g. Ocular conditions
h. Neoplasia
Imbalance of nutrients, nutrient deficiencies and nutrient excess
malnutrition
T/F: starvation is not the same as emaciation
true!
Exogenous, involuntary reduction in calorie intake correctable by nutritional support
starvation
descriptive term given to severe, diffuse, debilitating loss of fat and skeletal muscle
emaciation
endogenous dz, voluntary reduction of calorie intake (anorexia), increased catabolism, and disproportionate loss of lean body mass compared to adipose that is refractory to nutritional support
cachexia
differentiate between emaciation due to starvation vs. cachexia
a. Feed the animal and see if it gains weight (if yes, then starvation)
b. Perform diagnostics and PE to determine if there is a disease process(es) present (red haircoat in starving cats due to reduced tyrosine)
c. Look for evidence of dz that could account for the emaciated state on PE
two common behavioral manifestations of starvation seen in hoarding cases
a. Pica; animal was willing to eat and further verifies abuse
b. Chewing
c. Cannibalism
- What can be analyzed to measure starvation
a. Bone marrow fat analysis (developed for wildlife but applied to SA starvation cases); quantitative measurement of starvation. Post mortem interval may affect results.
can also assess the amount of fat, muscle, and look for serous atrophy
last place the body utilizes fat from is the
bone marrow