Page 64 - The Veterinary Laboratory and Field Manual 3rd Edition

Setting up and using a laboratory service 33

recent disease problems and treatment pro-
vided
5 duration of current problem(s), clinical signs,
mortality (number dead) vs. morbidity (num-
ber sick)
6 production records (if on a farm), for exam-
ple, milk production, growth rates, egg
output and so on.

General guidelines for a clinical examination
should include the following.

1 Evaluate the animal(s) from a distance,
observe posture and general appearance.
2 Check hair coat, skin and eyes. Assess
the colour of the mucous membranes, for
example, if they are pale the animal could be
anaemic. Look for any oral (mouth), ocular
(eye) or nasal (nose) discharges. Look for the
Figure 1.31 Application of a muzzle prior to presence of any ectoparasites.
examination of a dog. Care should be taken before 3 Take the temperature, heart rate and respira-
approaching any dog especially in areas where tory rate and record the findings along with
rabies is endemic. In some cases, the animal may other observations (for example, abnormal
appear to be friendly but it is not worth taking the abdominal and chest sounds).
risk of being bitten. Blood samples may be easily 4 Check for vaginal (female) or preputial
collected from a peripheral limb vein for example, (male) discharges and for faecal staining
the brachial vein (forelimb) but ensure that an expe- around the tail and anus. Check the milk (in
rienced handler is available to restrain the animal female ruminants), faeces and urine.
correctly.
5 Note the animal’s behaviour before and dur-
ing the examination.
General guidelines for taking a clinical history 6 If a post-mortem is required it is important
should include capturing the following (these to get as much information as possible about
should be included on most laboratory submis- the clinical signs prior to death, examine
sion forms or on an attached case history form): other sick animals and check for any sub-clin-
ical cases. Samples collected from in-contact
1 date of examination, farmer name, district, and clinically sick animals can often provide
village and so on valuable supplementary information to com-
2 number, species, breed, age groups and sex of pliment the necropsy findings in cases where
animals involved a group of animals is involved.
3 management policies, for example, nutrition,
breeding programme, housing, recent trans-
portation and so on
4 case history and veterinary procedures, for
example, vaccination, de-worming programme,

Vet Lab.indb 33 26/03/2019 10:25