Clinical Examination of the Animals

Course name
Dr. Muhammad Umer Anwar
Department of Clinical Medicine & Surgery, Bahauddin Zakariya
University, Multan.
Complete clinical examination consists of checking
for the presence or absence of all the clinical
abnormalities and predisposing disease risk factors.
It tells us the
 Organ or system involved
 Location of illness
 Type of lesion
 Pathophysiological processes occurring
 Severity of the disease
 Steps in Clinical Examination
• Owners complaint
• Signalment of the animal
• History of the animal
• Observation of the environment
• Observation of the animal at a distance
• Close/detailed observation of the animal
 Owners complaint
• Which individuals or group of animals
involved.
• Urgency of the problem
• History of the patient
• Changes in behaviour
• Owners opinion about etiology leading
 Signalment of the animal
• It includes
 Identification number
 Breed
 Sex
 Age
 Colour
 Production class of animal
Some diseases are specific to some groupings like
Milk fever only in productive animals not in calfs.
 History of the animal
• Immediate history from the owner
• Past history
• Nutritional history
• Environmental history
• Outdoor environmental history
• Indoor environmental history
 Observation of the environment
• The environment in which the animals were kept
should be carefully examined.
• It includes two risk factors
• Outdoor risk factors
• Indoor risk factors
• Outdoor risk factors includes
Presence of toxic material
Grazing management
Biosecurity
Regional mineral deficiencies
• Indoor risk factors includes
Ventilation
Humidity
Dust
Stocking density
Temperature
Lighting
Bedding
Water availability
Feeding facilities
Observation of the animal at a distance

• Ideally this procedure should be performed

with the patient in its normal environment
because this enables the animal to express its
normal behaviour and activities without
restraint or excitement.
• It includes
Feeding
Eating
Urination
Defecation
Interactions between other group members
Responses to external stimuli
Walking movement
Posture
Gait
Detailed/close observations of the animal

o Detailed observation can be made in docile

animals without restraint; however restraint
may be necessary to facilitate the procedure
o While restraining must ensure the safety of the
animal and the clinician
o It includes
Head and neck symmetry
Eyes
Ears
Muzzles
Nostrils
Mouth
Lymph nodes of the head
Clear examination of neck for abnormalities
Right and left side of the body thorax and abdomen
Limbs abnormalities
Tail
Udder and teats
Vaginal examination
Rectal examination
Respiratory rates (breaths/min) and respiratory sounds
Pulse rate (beats/min)
Temperature
Capillary refil time (CRT)
Examine skin coat and condition scoring
Joints movements
Fecal material
History Taking
• History taking is the process of obtaining
information on the animal patient about its illness,
onset of illness, feeding practices through careful
questioning of the owner.
• Important due to followings reasons
To get complete illness information from owner as animal
patient cannot talk as in case of human
Owner is the first person to notice the disease
To rule out disease those are species specific or age specific
like FMD not in horses, milk fever in lactating cows not in
calfs.
• While history taking must do the followings
be polite while history taking
Use simple language if possible then best to speak the language of the farmer
Be humorous but not sarcastic
Avoid being rude to the farmer
• Cautions
Some farms gives wrong history information to hide their mistakes or to hide
the negligence
Some farms may not talk for many reasons in that case encourage them to
speak
Ask questions gradually
Some farmers may be talkative and may talk about what is not relevant to
history
• History taking may be achieved under four
headings
Immediate history
Past history
Nutritional history
Environmental history
 Immediate history
• It includes
– Recording of the seasonal events from the start of
illness
– Questions about physiological functions such as
• Appetite
• Urination
• Defecation
• Rumination
• Respiration
• Sweating
• Milk production
• Also first symptoms shown by the animal
• Points to be noted
– Location of the problems
– Nature of the illness
– When did farmer notice the disorder
– What were the sign noticed
– Is animal feed or grazed
– Affected animal vaccinated or not
– Is there any other animal affected with the similar
disorder
 Past history
• Inquiring into the past history may help in
arriving at a diagnosis
• History of past problems may co-relate with the
present problems
• Points to be noted
– Ask if such condition reported previously
– Does this occurs at a certain period of times
– Was disease reported from other places
– Has any animal recovered from such sickness
 Nutritional history
• The state of nutrition may have some bearing
on the health of animals and enquiries on
nutrition may prove helpful in diagnosis a
disease
• Change in diet may lead to diarrhea and other
feeding related problems
 Environmental history
• Environment and surrounding history of the
animal may help in the diagnosis of disease
• like animal grazing on pasture irrigated with sewerage
water may suffer from nitrate poisoning
• Parasitic diseases are more in animals which are kept in
messhy lands
• Environmental history can be divided into
• Outdoor environmental history
• Indoor environmental history
• Outdoor risk factors includes
Presence of toxic material
Grazing management
Biosecurity
Regional mineral deficiencies
• Indoor risk factors includes
Ventilation
Humidity
Dust
Stocking density
Temperature
Lighting
Bedding
Water availability
Feeding facilities