Download Animal Health

Unit
Animal Science
Problem Area
Growth and Development of
Animals
Lesson
Animal Health
Student Learning Objectives
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1. Find and time a pulse on a dog and understand what
sound makes a “heartbeat”.
2. Be able to successfully give a physical exam and listen
to heart, lungs, and observe the overall condition of the dog
and be able to recognize signs of an unhealthy or stressed
animal (i.e., elevated or depressed temperature, erratic
heart rate, irregular breathing, pale gums, etc.).
3. Discuss common diseases found in pets and livestock
animals.
Terms
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Capillary Refill Time (CRT)
Contagious
Diseases
Non-contagious
Pulse
Respiration rate
Stethoscope
Vaccination
How do we find and time the pulse on a dog and what
sound makes a “heartbeat”?
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The pulse of an animal is the rhythmic expansion of an
artery which may be felt with a finger. The pulse correlates
with the heart rate (how quickly the heart is beating) of the
animal.
A. To find the pulse rate of a dog, feel caudal and dorsal to
the elbow of a standing dog. The pulse can also be felt on
the inside of the dog’s thigh, about level with the knee.
Count the number of beats in one minute (or the number of
beats in 15 seconds and multiply by 4). This is the dog’s
resting pulse, or heart rate.
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B. The pulse happens at the same rate as the beating of
the heart because the heart is pumping the blood. As more
blood is pumped, the arteries expand and blood is cycled
back to the heart.
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C. The sound of a heartbeat is caused by the opening and
closing of the valves of the heart. Because the heart is a
muscle and is contracting to pump blood to the body, there
is siderable force closing the valves of the heart. There are
two valves that separate the chambers of the heart and
give off the “lub-dub” sound that can be heard with a
stethoscope, an instrument for listening to internal body
sounds.
How do we give a physical exam and listen to the heart,
lungs, and observe the overall condition of a dog? What are
the signs of an unhealthy or stressed animal?
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Giving a physical exam to a dog requires
observation of the pulse, respiration rate,
temperature, and capillary refill time (CRT).
A. The pulse can be taken from the inside of the
thigh or elbow of the dog. Please refer to the
procedures outlined in objective 1.
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B. The respiration rate, or number of breaths per
minute, can be calculated by simply counting the
number of breaths the animal takes in one minute
(or counting for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4).
Respiration can also be found by holding a
stethoscope to the dog’s chest to listen to lung
sounds.
Respiration rate will decrease as the animal size
increases. A normal respiration rate for a dog would
be approximately 22 breaths per minute. A sign of
an unhealthy animal would be rapid and shallow
breathing or extremely slow respiration.
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C. The temperature of the dog must be taken with a
rectal thermometer. Dogs could become agitated
and bite down on a thermometer inserted into the
mouth. When using a rectal thermometer, insert the
thermometer 1.5 to 2 inches into the rectum of the
animal and leave it for one minute. The normal
temperature range for a dog is 101 to 102.5°F.
Unhealthy animals, like humans, will run a
temperature if they are fighting an illness.
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D. Capillary Refill Time (CRT), is an indication of
how quickly blood will refill the capillaries of body
tissues. To check CRT, raise the upper lip of the dog
and press on the gum and release. In a healthy
animal, the gum will turn white and then pink again.
Unhealthy animals will have a CRT of longer than 3
seconds. Animals with CRT of more than 3 seconds
could be exhibiting signs of shock.
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E. An overall check of animal health is also
important during a checkup. Things to observe in an
overall check would be dog behavior (excited?,
wagging tail?, lethargic?), coat condition (shiny or
dull?), eye condition (bright eyes or dull?,
responsive to activity?), and teeth condition (white,
clean, strong teeth?, healthy gums?).
What are common diseases found in pets and livestock
animals?
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Diseases can be defined as some disturbance of
normal body functions or structures. Some diseases
are specific to a certain type of animal or livestock.
Most diseases can be controlled with a vaccination,
or injection of a disease fighting medicine. Some
vaccinations are actually low doses of the disease
itself, allowing the body to fight the disease and
build up a resistance for the next exposure to the
disease.
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A. Diseases can either be contagious, able to be
spread to other animals, or non-contagious, unable
to be spread to others. Contagious diseases are
caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and
parasites. Non-contagious diseases can be caused
by nutrient deficiencies, body defects, animal
injuries, and genetics.
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B. Some selected common diseases of livestock are
listed below.
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1. Anthrax—An infectious disease that will attack most
warm-blooded animals. Can affect cattle during summer
when they are on pasture.
2. Brucellosis—An infectious disease of the reproductive
tract of cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and can be spread to
humans. Also known as ‘Bang’s’, this disease causes
developing fetuses to abort and can be fatal.
3. Hog Cholera—A highly contagious viral disease of swine
that can be fatal. There is no known treatment for cholera
and all swine with cholera must be destroyed.
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4. Coccidiosis—A parasitic disease affecting poultry that
can be treated with a medication in the feed and water.
Birds must be isolated for treatment.
5. Sleeping Sickness—A virus in horses caused from insect
bites. Symptoms include reckless walking, sleepy
appearance, cannot swallow, and grinding of teeth. Most
horses die within two to four days, but some can recover
with treatment.
6. Foot and Mouth—A disease that only affects animals
with cloven or divided feet. Caused by a virus, it is highly
contagious and has no known treatment at this time.
Infected animals get watery blisters around the mouth and
skin of the foot.
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7. Mastitis—A bacterial disease that affects female cattle,
sheep, goats, and swine. An inflammation of the udder that
interferes with milk production. Although treatable, chronic
mastitis can lead to death of the animal. Milk from a
diseased animal cannot be sold for consumption or any
use.
8. Rabies—An infectious disease that can occur in nearly
every warm-blooded animal. Caused by a virus, this
disease can be spread to humans. Affected animals may
become “crazed” or exhibit aggressive behavior, as well as
other symptoms. Although treatment is available for
humans, animals with rabies are destroyed and autopsied
to diagnose the disease.
Review/Summary
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How do we find and time the pulse on a dog
and what sound makes a “heartbeat”?
How do we give a physical exam and listen to
the heart, lungs, and observe the overall
condition of a dog? What are the signs of an
unhealthy or stressed animal?
What are common diseases found in pets
and livestock animals?