Pre-Anesthetic Evaluation & Physical Exam – Small-Animal Anesthesia Lecture

Vocabulary-style cards covering key terms, breeds, physiologic principles, physical-exam findings, monitoring, and common mishaps related to the pre-anesthetic period and anesthesia lecture.

Pre-anesthetic period

Time between patient admittance and induction; used for history, exam, diagnostics and planning.

Incomplete history

Failing to gather a full medical, drug and fasting history— a common pre-anesthetic mishap.

Drug ignorance

Administering agents without knowing their actions, side-effects or contraindications.

Inadequate experience

Performing anesthesia with limited practical skill; increases risk of errors.

Haste, fatigue & complacency

Rushing, working tired, or becoming over-confident—three human factors that jeopardize anesthesia safety.

Drug knowledge

Thorough understanding of each anesthetic/adjunct’s pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.

Physiologic understanding

Knowing normal organ function and reflexes (e.g., vagal effects) to predict drug responses.

Comprehensive monitoring

Using as many physiologic parameters as possible for a complete picture of patient status.

Equipment familiarity

Knowing set-up, function and limitations of all anesthetic machines and monitors.

Client contact

Face-to-face meeting to obtain history, explain risks, gain consent and phone number.

Consent form

Legal document owner signs acknowledging anesthetic/surgical risks and authorizing procedure.

Patient identification

Correctly matching chart, collar tag or cage card to the specific animal presented.

Signalment

Patient’s species, breed, sex/repro status and age; critical for anesthetic planning.

Brachycephalic breeds

Short-nosed dogs prone to redundant soft-palate tissue and exaggerated vagal responses.

Sighthound breeds

Lean dogs (e.g., Greyhounds) with low body fat, prolonging lipid-soluble drug effects.

Obesity & dosing

Dose anesthetics to ideal—not actual—body weight to avoid over-sedation and delayed recovery.

Neonate considerations

Immature hepatic/renal enzymes make young patients slow to metabolize drugs.

Geriatric considerations

Age-related decline in organ function reduces clearance of anesthetic agents.

Species differences

Cats, dogs, horses, etc. metabolize drugs uniquely; protocols must be species-specific.

TPR

Abbreviation for Temperature, Pulse and Respiration—basic vital signs recorded on exam.

Capillary refill time (CRT)

Normal peripheral perfusion measurement; desired value < 2 seconds (horses: pale pink mucosa).

Mucous membrane color

Pink indicates adequate oxygenation; pale, cyanotic or injected colors suggest pathology.

Arrhythmia

Abnormal electrical rhythm of the heart (e.g., VPCs) seen on auscultation/ECG.

Heart murmur

Audible turbulent blood flow through valves; not the same as rhythm disturbance.

Pulse deficit

Heartbeat heard but no synchronous femoral pulse felt—often with VPCs.

Synchronous & symmetric

Normal pulse quality: beats match heart rate (synchronous) and equal strength bilaterally (symmetric).

Stridor

High-pitched upper-airway sound signalling obstruction (e.g., foreign body, swelling).

Stertor

Low-pitched snoring noise from soft-palate or nasopharyngeal tissue vibration.

Crackles

Fine popping lung sounds caused by fluid in alveoli or small airways.

Rhonchi

Coarse rattling/snore-like sounds indicating excessive secretions in larger airways.

Wheezes

Musical sounds at end-exhalation; often due to bronchoconstriction or collapsed alveoli.

Dyspnea

Difficult or labored breathing effort.

Tachypnea

Abnormally rapid respiratory rate.

Bradypnea

Abnormally slow respiratory rate.

Apnea

Temporary absence of breathing.

EENT

Chart shorthand for Eyes, Ears, Nose, Throat examination.

Mydriasis

Pupil dilation beyond normal size.

Miosis

Pupil constriction to an abnormally small size.

Anisocoria

Unequal pupil sizes between eyes.

Entropion

Inward rolling eyelid causing lashes to rub cornea.

Otoscope

Instrument used to visualize ear canal and tympanic membrane.

Aural hematoma

Blood-filled swelling of the pinna after vessel rupture from head-shaking.

Nasal discharge characterization

Describing exudate (clear, purulent, bloody, etc.) to localize respiratory disease.

Cranial drawer test

Manipulation assessing stifle stability by sliding tibia cranially relative to femur.

Cranial cruciate ligament rupture

Tearing of key stifle ligament causing positive cranial drawer motion.

Lipoma

Benign subcutaneous fat tumor commonly felt on thorax or limbs.

Osteosarcoma

Aggressive bone cancer frequently originating in canine distal radius/ulna.

Costochondral junction

Transition site from bony rib to cartilage; common rib fracture location.

Colic

General term for equine abdominal pain; requires four-quadrant auscultation.

Pelvic flexure

Part of equine large colon prone to impaction during colic.

Gut motility rate (horse)

Normal large-colon gurgle approximately every 30 seconds (≈2 sounds/minute).

Packed cell volume (PCV)

Percentage of blood volume occupied by red cells; critical pre-anesthetic parameter.

Total protein (TP)

Plasma protein concentration; low values signal hypoproteinemia and anesthetic risk.

Blood glucose normal

Canine/feline reference ~70–120 mg/dL; interpret with stress level.

Vagally mediated bradycardia

Heart-rate drop triggered by vagus-nerve stimulation, heightened in brachycephalics.

Highly lipid-soluble drugs

Agents (e.g., thiopental) that redistribute into fat; duration prolonged in lean breeds.

Redundant soft palate

Excess tissue in brachycephalics that narrows airway and complicates anesthesia.

“More is better” monitoring

Principle that each additional parameter improves anesthetic safety.

RPM vs BPM

Use RPM (respirations per minute) for breathing, BPM (beats per minute) for heart rate to avoid confusion.

Ideal body-weight dosing

Calculating anesthetic doses for what the patient should weigh, not its actual obese weight.