Topic: Develop preventative care guidelines for adult dogs and cats that incorporate all of the important factors discussed in the course. These include patient history, physical examination, diagnostic tests, parasite prevention, vaccination, nutrition, reproductive counseling, pet identification, zoonotic disease, and a customized plan and follow-up.
The scenario: You have just been hired by a veterinary practice that sees mostly dogs and cats. The office manager and chief of staff both realize that the practice is behind the times when it comes to using guidelines to ensure that high-quality care is consistently provided to all patients. They have asked you to design preventative care guidelines for the practice that can be used for both canine and feline patients.
Your research paper must address the following topics:
Patient history: including lifestyle, life-stage or age, breed, behavior, environmental enrichment, exercise, diet, symptoms, and reproductive status
Physical examination: including BCS, MCS, dental examination, and pain assessment
Diagnostic tests: including minimum database, heartworm testing, fecal examinations, and screening for FELV/FIV in cats
Parasite prevention: including broad spectrum, year-round protection against heartworms, internal and external parasites
Vaccination: including core vaccines and assessment for noncore vaccines
Nutrition: including nutritional assessment/counseling, BCS, MCS, appropriate diets, feeding management, and nutritional risk factors
Reproductive counseling: including spay/neuter
Pet identification: including microchipping
Zoonotic diseases: including relevant client counseling for diseases such as rabies, larval migrans, toxoplasmosis, and salmonellosis