Animal, Plant & Soil Science
Lesson C5C5-1
Evaluating Animal Health
Interest Approach
Use VM–A, and ask students to discuss
the animal’s health. Is the calf healthy?
If students disagree, ask what students
notice that suggests illness. This will
allow students to try and read the body
language of an unhealthy animal. Some
possible indicators of illness are a
drooping head, drooping ears, and a
thin body.
Other indicators that may not be
apparent in a photograph are a
hunched back, excess salivation,
listlessness/lethargy, and coughing or
wheezing.
Objectives
Describe animal health
through visual and tangible
observations.
Explain how vital signs can
be utilized when detecting
sickness.
List and describe emergency
medical situations and
possible solutions.
Terms
anemia
animal
husbandry
Caesarian
section
dehydration
fecal
examination
fever
hierarchy
hypothermia
solitary
behavior
stethoscope
stress
vital signs
How can animal health be
detected through visual or
tangible observations?
When producers observe their
animals on a regular basis,
animal familiarity exists,
making it easier to notice
that animals are sick or
missing from the herd.
Producers need to know the normal
behavior in each animal and be keenly
aware of subtle changes that may
indicate health issues.
How can animal health be
detected through visual or
tangible observations?
Livestock familiarization is one part of good
animal husbandry—the practice of raising
animals and tending to animal health.
With all animals, there is a
chance that a disease,
parasite, or medical problem
will occur.
One of the main responsibilities of animal
owners or producers is to keep records of their
animals and any illnesses suffered.
How can animal health be
detected through visual or
tangible observations?
A. Animal appearance is often indicative
of animal health.
1. Pale membranes (e.g., inner
eyelids or the gums) indicate
anemia, which is a deficiency
of red blood cells that carry
oxygen to organs and muscles.
Anemia may result from internal parasites
that feed off the host’s blood (e.g., worms).
How can animal health be
detected through visual or
tangible observations?
For animals that are wormed
regularly, anemia can be a
sign of a far more serious
disorder.
Prolonged anemia can cause
irregular pulse, lethargy, increased susceptibility
to other illnesses, and even death.
Tests such as a fecal examination (a
microscopic evaluation of an animal’s feces) can
determine if anemia is caused by internal
parasites or if it requires a diagnostic
examination.
How can animal health be
detected through visual or
tangible observations?
2. Diarrhea is a condition caused by
many factors—some serious and some
minor—and should be treated quickly.
Animals with diarrhea are more prone to
dehydration, which is an excessive loss of
metabolic water that the body needs to
function.
Levels of dehydration can be determined by
pinching an area of skin and timing how
long the skin takes to return to its normal
shape and color.
How can animal health be
detected through visual or
tangible observations?
B. Animal body language and behavior is
another indication of health status.
A few observable indications of
poor health in animals may
include:
1. Lethargy or depression
2. Droopy ears that are not
held in an alert position
3. Dull, rough hair coat or hair loss
How can animal health be
detected through visual or
tangible observations?
4. Head held in a lowered position
5. Coughing or labored
breathing
6. Discharge from the
eyes, nose, mouth, or reproductive tract
7. Discolored or abnormal feces or urine
8. Solitary behavior (abnormally
isolates itself from the group, a sign of
weakness)
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
If animals appear sick, the owner
should check the vital signs:
pulse rate, respiration rate, and
body temperature.
Vital signs vary among different
species.
A. Knowing the normal range of
the vital signs for each species
allows producers to determine
when problems exist.
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
1. Higher or lower than normal body
temperatures in animals indicate poor
health.
An elevated temperature is a fever.
This is a warning of poor health.
Sick animals with below-normal temperatures
(hypothermia) are in serious condition.
However, others factors (e.g., exercise,
digestion, or extreme surrounding
temperatures) may influence body
temperature.
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
2. Respiration rate, or breathing rate,
varies since it is influenced by exercise,
excitement, and animal size.
However, it is known to
increase with fever, pain,
infections, or lung illnesses.
Thus, an abnormal
respiration rate may
indicate poor health.
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
3. The heart rate, or pulse rate, varies
significantly due to excitement, exercise,
digestion, high temperature, and animal
size.
In addition, young animals have a more
rapid heart rate.
Veterinarians typically check the pulse
characteristics, such as the force, fullness,
and rhythm of the beat.
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
The pulse may be quick
and abrupt, hard and
long, or slow and soft.
A healthy rhythm in
horses and cattle is
steady.
An abnormal heart rate
rhythm may be
considered a sign of
disease.
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
B. Vital signs on some animals may include
specific body sounds, such as those that
emanate from the lungs or stomach through
a stethoscope (medical instrument
used to listen to internal body sounds).
For example, cattle sometimes ingest small metal
articles, such as small pieces of wire or nails.
By listening to the stomach and diaphragm of a
cow, certain sounds can indicate injury by foreign
objects.
This is commonly called “hardware disease.”
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
C. Stress is a major factor in the
development of health problems in many
animals.
Stress is the result of fear
or injury that occurs from
transportation and other
factors.
Stressed animals often go off-feed and
water, making their bodies more susceptible
to diseases transmitted from other animals.
How can vital signs be used
to determine animal health?
Stressed animals often show different vital
signs than content animals.
The heart rates and respiration rates of
stressed animals may be greatly increased.
Temperatures may also fluctuate because of
stress.
What are some instances of
emergency situations and
solutions?
While many producers and pet owners
are able to treat minor health situations,
a veterinarian is required in emergency
situations.
Sometimes, veterinary medicine is the
only way to treat animals that require
professional diagnosis, prescription
medications, or surgery to solve various
emergency problems.
What are some instances of
emergency situations and
solutions?
A. One example emergency surgery is
Caesarian section (C-section).
In a C-section, a
veterinarian surgically
removes offspring from
the pregnant female
because of birthing
complications.
C-sections are the most common
emergency surgery for livestock.
What are some instances of
emergency situations and
solutions?
1. C-sections are performed on
companion animals and livestock.
Veterinarians usually perform C-sections on
livestock in emergency cases, but
companion animal C-sections are often
scheduled.
2. Bulldogs commonly undergo Csections because the heads of puppies
are usually too large for the female to
give birth naturally.
What are some instances of
emergency situations and
solutions?
3. Small breed cattle bred to bulls known
for large birth weight calves are the
most common livestock case of Csections.
These cattle would not be
able to have their calves
without the aid of a
veterinarian.
What are some instances of
emergency situations and
solutions?
B. Another type of emergency surgery is
orthopedic surgery, which deals with the
correction of skeletal injury.
Veterinarians are often able to correct broken
bones or musculature caused by injury to horses,
dogs, and cats.
One of the most successful cases of orthopedic
surgery is Mariah’s Storm, a racehorse born in the
early 1990s.
Two-year-old Mariah’s Storm broke her cannon
bone.
Through surgery, this racehorse healed and began
racing again with much success.
What are some instances of
emergency situations and
solutions?
C. Veterinarians are often
called to remove foreign
objects (non-organic
objects) from animals
after ingestion.
Cattle that experience hardware disease are
sometimes candidates for foreign body
removal by either opening the diaphragm or
by using an endoscope that slides down the
throat to remove the object.
Review
How can animal health be detected
through visual or tangible observations?
How can vital signs be used to
determine animal health?
What are some instances of emergency
situations and solutions?