Question: How do you find out how the animal is ill? u find out how the animal is ill

Marisol Collins answered on 10 Nov 2016:

This is a very good question! There are different ways that we find out how an animal is ill. I’ll give you an example by describing what I would do if someone brought me their pet puppy and it was poorly. First, I would ask the owner lots of questions, as the information can give me lots of clues about what might be wrong. For example, I will ask whether the puppy is eating and drinking ok, wether its wee and poo are normal and whether it has had its regular worming and vaccines. Then I will examine the puppy to see if I can find any problems, so I will check its whole body, listen to its heart and lungs, feel its tummy and check its temperature. I will also weigh the puppy to see if it has lost weight. If I find something that worries me in a particular area, for example a sore tummy, I can start to do other tests that will give me more clues. I may already have an idea in my mind about what might be wrong, but I need to be sure it is this and not something else. I can take an X-ray or an ultrasound of the tummy to see if I can spot a problem, as perhaps the puppy has eaten something that is stuck in its intestines. I can take a blood test to see if some of the organs in the tummy are working ok, or if there is an infection. The bloods cells can give me a clue to this, or in some cases I can test for a particular infection in the blood, for example with a virus like parvovirus, that can cause terrible diarrhoea in puppies. I can also collect a bit of poo from the puppy and test this in many ways too, to look for parasites, bacteria and viruses that can cause disease. We can do all of these things while we are giving the puppy some treatment to make it feel better, and when our tests show us the cause of the problem, we will know what treatment to add to hopefully cure him or her of the problem!