Idiopathic Issues

When you think about small animal preventive care, what topics come to mind? 

If you’re like most vet students, your list probably looks something like this: 

• Physical exam
• Core vaccines
• Non-core vaccines (depending on lifestyle)
• Fecal parasite exam
• Feline infectious disease testing (FeLV/FIV)
• Canine heartworm and tick-borne disease testing
• Parasite preventatives
• Wellness laboratory testing (CBC/Chem, urinalysis) 

While all of these things are certainly important, I’d like to encourage you to broaden your definition a bit.

Depending on what sort of practice you enter after vet school, you may find yourself performing as many as 30 physical exams per day. While that may seem daunting, I promise you will adjust.

The patient history is probably the most underrated aspect of a veterinary visit.

In many cases, you can learn just as much from the patient's history (if not more!) as you will learn from your physical exam.

Feline lymphoma is a malignant cancer of the lymphatic system, the exquisitely structured arrangement of internal organs and tissues that directly or indirectly influences virtually every aspect of a cat’s physical existence.¹

Here is a case study Vet Students can review to help them with the correct questions and topics to cover. 

CASE STUDY

You’re two months out of vet school and finally finding your groove as a new grad in general practice. One busy afternoon, an 11-year-old MN Siamese cat named Ricky presents for a two-month history of weight loss, intermittent vomiting, and soft stool. 

Before entering the exam room, you review Ricky’s medical record and history. You see that Ricky is an indoor cat and is the only pet in his home. He is up to date on all preventive care; he receives core vaccines, yearly fecal parasite exams, yearly bloodwork, and regular dental cleanings.

He was last seen seven months ago for an annual exam and his bloodwork and urinalysis were normal at that time. He has definitely lost weight, though; he weighed 12.1 lbs seven months ago and today he is down to 9.1 lbs. 

If you haven’t yet had any experience with hemangiosarcoma, that is likely to change at some point during your career!

Unfortunately, unlike other forms of cancer that tend to creep up slowly, giving clients at least a short period of time to consider the possibilities and decide how to proceed, hemangiosarcoma often presents as an emergency.

If a dog comes in with a hemoabdomen due to a splenic tumor, you must consider hemangiosarcoma as a differential and be prepared to educate your clients within a relatively short period of time.