Basic Physical Examination of Horses

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Basic Physical Examination of Horses

• Chapter 5
• LACP

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Examination of Horses

• The history and physical examination are the most
  important part of the database and serve as the
  starting point for identifying the patients
  problems

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History

• History
• Coach the client-
• Individual food and water source, feeding
  practices
• Management of the entire group
• Environmental stresses- pasture management, new
  animals
• Prior treatments- other veterinarians, or self
  medications/treatments
• Do not pass judgment

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Physical Examination

• Physical examination
• Baseline
• Potential problems
• Insurance examination
• Required
• Prepurchase examination
• Used in the sale of horses
• It is not a guarantee of horses future performance

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Physical examination

• There are several types of physical examinations
  for equines
• Insurance examination is required by the
  insurance company before a horse can receive
  insurance coverage
• Prepurchase examination, conducted before
  completing the sale of an animal, the
  veterinarian performing the examination is
  presumed to be working in the buyers best
  interest

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Visual Observation

• Observe the animal from a distance
• Gait
• Posture
• Hair coat
• Behavior
• Breathing pattern
• Respiratory noises
• Body swellings
• Skin wound
• Etc.

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Observation From a Distance

• Behavior
• Individual differences
• Affected by illness/pain
• Depending on environment, changes throughout the
  day
• Eating, drinking
• Feces, urine

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Body Condition Scoring

• The Ideal Body Condition Score is between 5 and
  6-1/2
• 1. Poor
• Animal extremely emaciated spinous processes,
  ribs, tailhead,
• tuber coxae (hip joints), and ischia (lower
  pelvic bones)
• projecting prominently bone structure of
  withers, shoulders,
• and neck easily noticeable no fatty tissue can
  be felt.
• 2. Very Thin
• Animal emaciated slight fat covering over base
  of spinous
• processes, transverse processes of lumbar
  vertebrae feel
• rounded spinous processes, ribs, tailhead, tuber
  coxae (hip
• joints) and ischia (lower pelvic bones)
  prominent withers,
• shoulders, and neck structure faintly
  discernable.
• 3. Thin
• Fat buildup about halfway on spinous processes
  transverse
• processes cannot be felt slight fat cover over
  ribs spinous
• processes and ribs easily discernable tailhead
  prominent, but
• individual vertebrae cannot be identified
  visually tuber coxae
• (hip joints), appear rounded but easily
  discernable
• tuber ischia (lower pelvic bones) not
  distinguishable withers,

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Body Condition Scoring

• 4. Moderately Thin
• Slight ridge along back faint outline of ribs
  discernible tailhead prominence depends on
• conformation, fat can be felt around it tuber
  coxae (hip joints) not discernable withers,
  shoulders
• and neck not obviously thin.
• 5. Moderate
• Back is flat (no crease or ridge) ribs not
  visually distinguishable but easily felt fat
  around tailhead
• beginning to feel spongy withers appear rounded
  over spinous processes shoulders and neck
• blend smoothly into body.
• 6. Moderately Fleshy
• May have slight crease down back fat over ribs
  spongy fat around tailhead soft fat beginning
  to
• be deposited along the side of withers, behind
  shoulders, and along sides of neck.
• 7. Fleshy
• May have slight crease down back individual
  ribs can be felt, but noticeable filling between
  ribs
• with fat fat around tailhead soft fat deposited
  along withers, behind shoulders,and along neck.
• 8. Fat
• Crease down back difficult to feel ribs, fat
  around tailhead very soft fat area along withers
  filled
• with fat, area behind shoulder filled with fat,
  noticeable thickening of neck fat deposited
  along
• inner thighs.
• 9. Extremely Fat

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Attitude

• Depressed attitude
• Pain
• Weakness
• Cerebral dysfunction
• Abnormal behavior
• Pain
• Cerebral dysfunction

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• The basic physical examination usually includes
  temperature/pulse/respiration (TPR) heart/lung
  auscultation, abdominal auscultation, hydratation
  status, examination of mucous membranes, and
  height/weight measurement

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Normal values- Adults (p. 149)

• Body temperature- normal adult at rest
  99.0-101.5F
• varies by age, breed, environmental temperature
• Pulse rate/heart rate- normal adult at rest
  28-44 bpm
• varies by age, fitness level, 2 A-V block
• Respiratory rate- normal adult at rest 6-12
  breaths per minute
• varies by age, environmental temperature
• Gastrointestinal motility (p. 130) normal adult
  at rest 1-3 borborygmi per minute
• Borborygmus- rumbling or gurgling noises produced
  by movement of gas in the alimentary canal and
  audible at a distance
• Pink gums
• 6-10 piles of well formed manure per 24 hours

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Normal Neonate

• Temperature 99-102F
• HR 80-120
• RR 20-40
• Pink gums
• Nursing 4-6 times per hour
• Fecal output 2-4 piles per day, pasty

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Equine weight measuring tapes
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Pull the tape so that is it snug and not tight
around the horses girth.
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Read the number that meets the weight arrow end
of your weight tape, this is the animals weight
in lbs.
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• Page 487 CVTV

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The height of a horse is measured from the point
of the withers to the ground.
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Measuring height.

• A, Proper position for the height/weight tape for
  measuring height.
• B, Height is read at the highest point of the
  withers

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Physical Examination

• By systems (skeletol, neuro, etc)
• Always use the same approach
• Record your findings
• Look at the whole picture

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Body temperature
Look Familiar?

• Temperature is almost always taken rectally using
  a standard mercury thermometer or a digital
  thermometer for large animals

99-101.5
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When inserting rectal thermometer, stand facing
caudally and maintain contact with the horse
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Grasp the tail at the base and move it gently to
the side
Never stand directly in back of the horses rear
end.
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Insert the thermometer. 60 seconds

• consider environmental factors when taking rectal
  temperatures

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• A, The thermometer has been inserted and secured
  with the clip to the tail hairs.
• B, Thermometer secured to hair coat with the
  clip.

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Pulse Rate/Heart Rate

• The pulse rate is taken by palpation of arteries
• Heart rate and pulse rate are nor the same heart
  rate refers to the number of heart bests/minute
  (bpm) pulse rate refers to the number of
  palpable arterial pulse waves/minute
• In normal animals heart rate and pulse rate are
  equal
• Arterial pulses may be palpated at several
  locations
• Pulse deficit (heart rate ? pulse rate?)
• Pulse is described as strong, bounding, weak,
  thready, or other non-specific terms

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• Facial artery is the most convenient location
  where it courses over the ventral aspect of the
  mandible, rostral to the origin of the masseter
  muscle

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• B, Identify the facial artery along the medial
  aspect of the mandible.
• C, Press the vascular bundle against the medial
  aspect of the mandible

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Transverse facial artery

• Is located in a horizontal depression about 1
  inch caudal to the lateral canthus of the eye and
  just below the zygomatic arch.

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Coccygeal artery

• Supplies the tail and is located along the
  ventral midline of the tail.

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Dorsal metatarsal artery

• Is located between the metatarsal 3 and 4 (cannon
  bone and lateral splint bone) on the hind limp

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• E, Location of the lateral digital artery over
  the lateral proximal sesamoid bone and proximal
  to the lateral collateral cartilage. F, Palpation
  of the digital arteries over the proximal
  sesamoid bones. G, Palpation of the digital
  arteries proximal to the collateral cartilages.

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Heart Auscultation

• Horses are athletes the heart of the average
  horse may be as large as a basketball.
• Auscultation may be done on the left or right
  side of the chest, though most of the heart
  valves and sounds are heard best from the left
  side
• The most common cause of an irregular heart
  rhythm in the horse is the second degree
  atrioventricular (A-V) block

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Landmarks for the heart

• The horizontal marks indicate the level of the
  shoulder and elbow joints. The vertical mark
  indicates the caudal border of the triceps
  muscle.

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Auscultating the heart.

• A, Gently lift the triceps muscle away from the
  chest wall.
• B, Place stethoscope against the chest wall, deep
  to the triceps muscle.

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Respiratory rate

• The number of respirations/minute can be counted
  in several ways
• Using a stethoscope to listen to air movement in
  the trachea or chest
• Using a hand to feel movement of air in and out
  of a nostril
• Simply counting chest excursions (rise and fall
  of the thoracic wall)/minute

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Landmarks for the lung. Borders of the left lung
field for auscultation
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Lung auscultation

• The stethoscope is placed in several locations
  within the lung field to listen to several
  breaths at each location

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Abdominal Auscultation

• Borborygmi or borborygmus-abdominal gut sounds
• A stethoscope is used to listen to abdominal
  sounds, which are created by movements of the
  intestines
• commonly referred to as gastrointestinal
  motility or GI motility

• Landmarks for abdominal auscultation in the flank
  area are the point of the hip (tuber coxae) and
  the last rib.

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Abdominal Auscultation (contd)

• Should listen in each quadrant (4) for at least 1
  minute each, on left and right side
• 0 no motility
• 1 hypomotility
• 2 normal motility
• 3 hypermotility

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Standard four point auscultation
A, Auscultation of the upper left abdominal
quadrant. B, Auscultation of the lower left
abdominal quadrant. C, Auscultation of the upper
right upper abdominal quadrant. D, Auscultation
of the lower right abdominal quadrant.
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Mucous membranes

• Mucous membranes are tissues that have the
  ability to make and secrete mucus.
• Mucus membranes color is helpful for disease
  diagnosis
• Cyanosis is bluish coloration- low oxygen of the
  blood
• Brick red coloration indicates septicemia or
  shock or both, colic, endotoxemia
• Purple gum line indicates endotoxic shock
• Yellowish coloration of the gum indicates icterus
• Pale mucus indicates anemia

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Examination of mucous membranes 4
areas

• .A, Examination of the gums.
• B, Examination of the conjunctiva

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Examination of mucous membranes

• C, Examination of the mucosa of the nares.
• D, Examination of the vulva in the female.

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Mucous membrane color. Normal gum color.
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Hydration Status

• Skin turgor test
• At the point of the shoulder
• 1 second or less is normal
• 1 second or more- gt5
• gt8 seconds Severely dehydrated
• Capillary refill time
• Less than 2 seconds
• Dehydration shock 5 to 8 seconds

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Neurological Examination

• Confirm disease
• Find where
• More tests usually needed

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Neurological Examination (contd)
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How you durin?.....