Animal Nursing and Patient Care
This domain covers the day-to-day nursing that determines whether a hospitalized patient improves: vital-sign assessment, pain management, fluid therapy, catheters, bandages, hygiene, nutrition, and clear discharge teaching.
Core standards
- Know approximate normals: dog heart rate 60-160 bpm, cat 140-220 bpm; temperature about 100.5-102.5 F (38.1-39.2 C); respiratory rate 10-30 in dogs and 20-30 in cats.
- Use a validated pain scale such as the Glasgow composite measure or the Feline Grimace Scale, and reassess after analgesia rather than assuming it worked.
- Fluid deficit in mL = body weight in kg x percent dehydration x 1000. Add maintenance (roughly 50-60 mL/kg/day for an adult) and ongoing losses.
- Place catheters aseptically, flush and secure them, and inspect the site each shift for swelling, pain or discharge.
- A bandage has three layers: contact, absorbent padding, and outer. Check toes for swelling, odor or coolness and change when soiled.
- Weigh patients daily; weight change is the fastest read on fluid balance and appetite.
Worked example
A 5 kg cat is estimated 8% dehydrated. Deficit = 5 x 0.08 x 1000 = 400 mL. Maintenance at 60 mL/kg/day = 300 mL. Total 700 mL over 24 hours, about 29 mL/hr, with the deficit often replaced faster in the first hours and the plan reassessed after the first bolus.
Traps that cost marks
Skipping daily weights, wrapping a bandage so tightly that toes swell, cleaning open wounds with harsh antiseptics or tap water, forgetting to warm fluids, and sending a client home without written instructions on incision checks, medication timing and warning signs.