What are some questions that an equine vet should ask their client to find out information on the sick horse?

Question

Lets say a client calls you in hysterics because her horse is sick. What are some questions you are going to ask her?

please list as many as you can thankxx =]

Answer 1

Temperature?

Heartrate?

Capillary refill response (when you press on the gum, does the flesh remain white or pop back to pink quickly).

Any other symptons such as lameness, pain, cuts....

Answer 2

If the client's in hysterics, I'd keep it very simple.

Where is the horse kept?

Can you meet me there?

What's your name and phone number?

You're not going to get much more coherent out of an hysterical client.  

Now for a calm client, it would depend on their skill level and what was wrong.

Colic:  gut noises, gum color, respiration, degree of pain

Infection:  temperature, respiration, mucous.

Wound:  Life threatening?

Other:  Symptoms?  How long?  What have you tried?

I wouldn't ask too much, just enough to get an idea how big an emergency it is for priortizing calls.  Most of this stuff the vet can assess at a glance once s/he's there, and s/he'll only ask those questions that might cause her to tell the owner to do something right now, before she gets there.  (E.g., stop the bleeding, get the horse up, hose her down, whatever)

Answer 3

Is the horse UP or down?

Eating/drinking?

Temperature?

Symptoms?

Address and phone number - so that the vet can find the owner

Current on Deworming and VaccS?

Type of feeds?

How long have the symptoms been going on?

No diagnosis should be given over the phone - other then some basic care instructions (ie: horse is down thrashing - get it up and keep it up) - otherwise if the horse is not doing well - there are too many possibilities to what could be wrong, without examination!

Answer 4

The word "sick" comprises a million ailments, but  just to address the general question:

What exactly are the symptoms, and when did they start

Injury: where is the injury, is it bleeding profusely, how deep, any bones protruding.  How much blood, approx. has been lost

Is the horse recumbant or standing

Is he off his feed and/or water

What are  temp, pulse, and respiration

What color are the gums

What is the capillary refill time

Are the feet hot, is there a strong digital pulse

Has he passed manure in the last hour

Is he sweating profusely

PS  If the client really were hysterical, the vet wouldn't ask a lot of questions on the phone, other than to get a basic idea of what's going on (eg colic, fractured leg, eye injury, shock)in order  to attempt to tell the hysterical owner what to do until the vet could get there.

Answer 5

I'm not a vet, just an office manager, but I'm the first one people talk to when they call in, so a lot of the question/answer part I get to deal with.  Depends on the situation....usually, first thing I ask is "Have we seen your horse before?"  If the answer is yes, then I punch them up on the computer and check to see vaccination dates, last visit, history....  

Details of symptoms....when did they start?  Is the horse eating, drinking, urinating, passing manure?  If no to any of these, when did they last?  Any changes in the horse's routine...has it been anywhere to be exposed to other horses...ie....horse is off feed, coughing a bit, and was at the horse camp about a week ago....Hmmm....were there other horses there that were coughing/snotting?  If the horse is showing symptoms of colic, we usually ask if the owner has banamine on hand, if the doc has seen the horse before they will usually instruct a dose to be given until the doc gets there....   If we haven't seen the animal before, we try to get a more detailed history....are they current on their vaccinations?  When were they dewormed last?  Age, weight, typical use?  If it's an injury, we try to get details if possible of cause, what type of injury....where....bleeding?  How much?  When did it happen?  Horse's attitude...calm, or nervous, or worse yet, shocky?  But even at that, sometimes owner's descriptions don't exactly meet the situation.  I took a call once....God....never forget this one....the people were so CALM....just like they called for a chat.  "Um....my son's foal got cut, and we think maybe it might be an emergency...maybe it needs stitches."  OK, I asked them when it happened, age of the foal, location and size of the cut.  It was an 8 months weanling, the cut was "on the shoulder, and about 3/4" long....but looked kinda deep".  OK, fine.  I suggested that they take a clean damp towel and cover the area until the vet could get there, and as soon as they were able, I'd send them that way.  They said "Oh, I don't think we can catch her..."  Hmmm....how bad could it be?  So, I paged the doc, told him when he got done on his call he needed to go, and waited.  About an hour later, the people called back, wanted to know if I'd contacted the doc.  I told them yes, and that in fact he would probably be headed their way very shortly.  Still totally calm, they said "Good, because we think it probably is an emergency..."  The doc pulled in, took one look, and called his wife (also a vet) and told her to get out there, he needed help.  The thing had nearly severed it's head.  You could stand on one side and see all the way through the pieshaped wedge to the other side.  It's carotid arteries were pulled and exposed, but fortunately not breached.  The wound was at least a foot long, and full thickness through the neck.  They thought the foal had gotten snagged on a Tpost.  Docs stopped counting at 300 stitches, but they did put her back together, and years later, she's still a patient of theirs.  On the other side, I've had people call hysterical....sure the horse is gonna die....and it's a simple foot abscess.  So ya never know.  But it makes life interesting.

Answer 6

What is your horse doing that is not normal for him?

a.  dragging feet

b.  hanging head

c.  drooling

d.  biting at her...

e.  stopped pooping

f.   stopped peeing

g.  laying down alot

etc..

When did this start?

How long between episodes? (if applicable)

What have you done so far to help?

What is the rectal temp?

What is the breaths per minute?

What is the heart rate?

What is the capillary refill time on the gums?

Swelling?

Heat in the area?

Discharge?

Is he applying any pressure to the extremity (if it is the case)?

Has he eaten or drank and when was the last?

Recent manure? Consistency?

Recent urine?  Color?

There are so many things it's hard to give an account.  All depends on the circumstance.

Above is the normal things that I try to have written down.

Answer 7

I am no vet but I would ask what the symptoms are, when u noticed them, the horse's normal heart rate and tempeture, the last thing u did with the horse before u noticed the symptoms, if he has been eating, what shots and vaccinations the horse has had, If it was founder I'd ask how long the horse had been on pasture, and if u introdused him to it gradually, Colic I'd ask what food u fed him and if u had changed resently, if he had plenty of water. that's all I can think of.

Answer 8

What are the horse's symptoms?

When did they start?

Where is the horse now?

How have you responded?

What has it eaten?

How is it acting now?

Are there any obvious signs of injury (ie a gaping hole in the leg)

And after giving advice whilst en route - Are you clear on all that? Do you understand what you have to do until I get there?

Why do you ask?

Answer 9

I'm not a vet, but I've had to deal with plenty of them, lol.

It all depends on what kind of symptoms a horse is having. For example, if your horse is showing signs of colic the vet might ask if you've changed their feed, turn out, or exercise routine, or if the horse had been in any very stressful situations. On the other hand, an injury would cause a whole new set of questions, such as, where is your horse injured, how bad do you believe it is? How long has it been there? etc...

Some basic questions would be:

What makes you think your horse is sick? (For example, what kind of symptoms does your horse have?)

He would then most likely ask how long he has had the symptoms, and if you had already tried to treat them.

Thats all I can think of. Hope I helped!

Answer 10

You should also know how to take your horse's pulse and temperature, and check his gums for circulation and capillary refill time, as well as heat in the hooves, swelling in the legs or any other place, and whether or not the horse is on his feet or down, and whether his flanks are soft or hard.