Now that you've learned to describe the signalment of a dog and also to gain as much information as possible by observing it carefully. We're going to move on to discussing the so-called vital signs of different species. The term vital signs is commonly used to describe the temperature, pulse rate or heart rate, and respiratory rate of an animal. And this is often abbreviated by veterinary surgeons to TPR. On the next slide, we'll show you the normal reference ranges that we teach our students in Edinburgh for the dog, the horse and the cow. However, do be aware that these figures may vary between different published sources of information. It's also important to be aware that if a value recorded for an individual animal falls outside these normal reference ranges, it doesn't necessarily mean that the animal is unwell. All of these signs can be influenced by a number of factors, including the animal's age, breed, and fitness. Its level of exercise and stress at the time of the recording, and even external influences such as the weather. At this point it's also worth mentioning one of the main challenges faced by veterinary students in the early years of their degree. And that is to learn what is normal and what is abnormal for a range of different species, each of which may have widely differing anatomy and physiology. So this table summarizes the normal reference ranges for vital signs in the dog, the horse, and the cow. Take a moment to look through these, and try to learn them as best you can. They'll be useful in the next quiz, and also in the assessment questions at the end of this week. You'll see from the table that we work in degrees Celsius for temperature, in beats per minute from pulse or heart rate, and in breaths per minute for respiratory rates. So we're now going to move on to developing your third clinical skill, which is using your observation skills to measure the respiratory rate of an animal. You remember from the last section that we discussed the importance of doing this from a distance before the stressing the animal by restraining it. When we measure the respiratory rate, we count the number of either inspiratory, or breathing in movements, or expiratory, or breathing out movements. But it's important that we don't measure both of these, or we'll end up with a respiratory rate that is double what it should be. Ideally, we also observe these movements over a period of one minute, in order to get our rate in breaths per minute. However, sometimes it's necessary to observe these movements over 30 seconds, and the translate this to breaths per minute by doubling the figure that we've recorded. In a moment, we're going to show you video clips of different animals and ask you and ask you to record their respiratory rate. However, you many need to spend a few moments getting your eye in in order to observe the respiratory movements with each animal clearly. To do this, we'd recommend you observe the animal over the region just behind its rib cage. As shown by the turquoise crescent on the photo of this dog. This quiz will test your ability to measure a respiratory rate accurately. We're going to play you three different video clips of a cow, a horse, and a dog. And we want you to count the number of breaths observed over one minute. We then want you to compare your results to the reference ranges we gave you in the previous slide and decide if the respiratory rate for each animal is within normal limits. Just a note before you get started, however. You may want to watch each video through in full initially so that you can detect the respiratory movements clearly, and then replay it again to actually measure the respiratory rate itself. So start by watching the video clip of this dairy cow lying in a typical UK cubicle house. Remember to watch the region just in front of her hind legs and at the end of her rib cage to see the respiratory movements. Hopefully you recorded a respiratory rate very close to 42 breaths per minute for this cow. When we compare this to our reference range of 15 to 30 breaths per minute, we can see that this cow's respiratory rate is above normal limits. You probably also have noticed that the respiratory movements were quite obvious as you observed the clip. As veterinary surgeons, we would then need to take into account several other factors. Including any findings from our history and full physical examination before deciding whether these were significant clinical findings for this cow. We'll now move on to watch a video clip of a horse tied up outside in a UK stable yard. Remember to watch the region just in front of his hind legs and at the end of his rib cage to see the respiratory movements. You may have noticed that this clip was trickier to record a respiratory rate from, as the horse's respiratory movements were quite subtle. However, hopefully, you recorded respiratory rate very close to eight breaths per minute for this horse. When we compare this to our reference range of 8 to 12 breaths per minute, we can say that this horse's respiratory rate is within normal limits. And in addition, there was no excessive effort in its respiratory movements, which is also a good sign. Just for interest, you may also have noticed that this horse had two clipped areas, one on its neck and one just behind its left forelimb. Which are likely to indicate that the horse has undergone recent veterinary investigations or treatments. The next clip shows a dog which is in the process of recovering from a general anesthetic. Again, count the respiratory rate and compare this to the normal reference range. You may have noticed that as the dog gradually wakes up from its anesthetic, his respiratory rate increased. And also that the dog had a large clipped area on its abdomen as it had just been neutered. Hopefully you recorded a respiratory rate in the range of 20 to 22 beats per minute from this dog. And if you compare this to the normal reference range, you'll see that this again is within normal limits. Just to let you know, this dog went on to make a normal recovery after its abdominal surgery.
