Procedure for Disease Management
1
Procedure for Disease Management
Angela Culp LVT
Tarleton State University
Shelter Medicine
4/12/2015
Procedure for Disease Management
2
When I visited Operation Kindness in Carrollton Melissa Golden, a Veterinary Nurse, gave
me a tour of the facility and sat down with me for an interview on Disease Prevention and Outbreak
Procedures. During this tour I was shown the procedures of intake, disease/initial care, general
population and adoption procedure. Melissa demonstrated a previous case of a patient named
Benny and his treatment that occurred while he stayed at the shelter until his adoption.
Benny, a 5 month old intact male Blue heeler, was surrendered at the shelter by a Good
Samaritan. He was found on the side of the road and was very skinny and dehydrated. After intake
due to his age he was placed in an area so he could be watched for signs of sickness, not in general
population, since we are unaware of his vaccine history. A Technician Exam was performed with
a TPR, weight, overall body health evaluation with diagnostics of a Parvo Elisa test, Fecal float
that tested negative at that time, initial vaccines and dewormer.
After two days Benny started showing signs of Parvo with vomiting and bloody diarrhea
that was brought to the technician attention by the kennel staff. Upon the initial recognition of the
disease it is recorded in the computer file. The kennel is the initial care givers of the animal and
upon arrival in the morning they evaluate the animals and determine if any seemed ill. If there is a
sick patient the Kennel Technician would inform the Technician that came in that morning to
evaluate and perform a tech exam. The tech then inputs the information in the operating system
and follows up with the director. Normally there is not a Veterinarian on staff, but there is use of
an associate veterinarian from city. The director then contacts a referring clinic veterinarian and
the patient gets taken by the technician on staff for an exam, if there is not a treatment policy in
place. Every record from the veterinarian comes back to the clinic and is documented into the
system for a complete record.
Procedure for Disease Management
3
Benny was retested for parvo and came back with a positive test result. Any infectious
disease with a possible outbreak is placed into isolation. In isolation area you would spot clean the
cages with Roccal as needed and mop daily with Roccal for the floors. You would place a bleach
bucket at the door for foot traffic so you don’t spread the infection throughout the clinic. After the
patient has gone through treatment you would bleach the entire area of isolation to kill any leftover
possibilities of the disease.
The assigned treatment plan that is used at the shelter for parvo is provided by the associate
veterinarian. A parvo treatment includes the patient being on IV fluid of P- Lyte or LRS and
injectable medications of antibiotics, anti-nausea and a probiotic antidiarrheal. The patient is cared
for in the shelter isolation by the technician staff. All animals that show signs of illness receive
treatment. The initiation of treatment is done by the associate veterinarian. Daily treatment is
conducted by the veterinary technician. Any of the disease we have a standing treatment plan. The
associate veterinarian is contacted and is instructed on the positive Elisa test or the disease
symptoms. After that the patient is treated in the isolation area at the shelter with the treatment
plan. Depending on the shelter facility and what room is available in the facility. First the animal
with the disease would be put in isolation and put through treatment. If isolation was already used
for another animal the animal would be sent to a foster for treatment or if the disease is less severe.
If the animal is not getting over a disease they will visit the associate veterinarian and have a
thorough exam and treatment will continue at the shelter. If the animal is not getting over a disease
they will visit the associate veterinarian and have a thorough exam and treatment will continue at
the shelter.
Procedure for Disease Management
4
Benny in the end fully recovered and was adopted out to a family. He was put on the
adoption website prior to the end of his recovery and had lots of interested families. Upon adoption
we gave the new owner the discharge paperwork, went over the record history and vaccines. Any
and all animals are available for adoption prior to treatment and recovery. They will have a record
in the adoption section with a photo. If anyone has an interest and wants to adopt can happen but
the animal cannot go home with the new owner until the patient is fully recovered from treatment.
The
diagnosis,
test
results,
treatment,
rechecks,
adoption
release,
home
care
instructions/prescriptions will be documented in the soap and the animal record in the computer.
The animals file has a facility record and a secondary record that gets sent home with the adopters.
Upon adoption the new owners get sat down and go over discharge information that includes any
activity that was done while at the shelter, adoption release and any instructions and prescriptions
that need to be administered.
Procedure for Disease Management
References
Golden, M. (2015, 4 9). Procedure for Disease Management. (A. C. LVT, Interviewer)
5