How to Assess Vital Signs

Assessing your pet’s vital signs is easy and straightforward and can be done with little equipment.  The only equipment needed is a thermometer and lubricating-jelly, though a stethoscope might make monitoring the heart rate and respiration easier.

Stethoscopes are easily obtained at any medical supply store and are worthwhile addition to any emergency medical kit. Thermometers come in many different shapes and sizes from digital to manual but if the manual is chosen a livestock thermometer with a string attached will make your life much simpler when taking the rectal temperature on a large animal.

Proper restraint is important no matter what animal you are assessing. The primary goal is safety of the handler and animal. Make sure your animal is in a comfortable location if possible before you began to assess the vital signs. It is always a good idea to do a practice run before you have an emergency so that you are aware of what the animal will react like. A practice run will further allow your animal to know what to expect during the procedure. Vital signs consist of primarily three things; temperature, pulse, and respiration. When confronted with an emergency, there are other things to consider such as: G.I. sounds, digital pulses, mucous membrane color and hydration status.

Taking Vital Signs

Temperature:  With the animal properly restrained apply a small amount of the lubricating jelly on the end of the thermometer. If using the manual thermometer, make sure the thermometer is shaken down prior to inserting into the rectum. Insert the thermometer approximately 3 to 4 inches into the rectum, and allow at least 2 min. before reading if using a manual thermometer, or until the digital thermometer beeps before removing. The string on a livestock thermometer can be attached to the tail so that it is not inadvertently lost into the rectum or dropped on accident. Caution should be used to assure the end of the thermometer is not within a fecal ball, as this will tend to falsify the reading in some cases.

• Normal temperature for a Horse is 98.5-101 degrees.
• Normal temperature for a Dog is 99.5–102.5 degrees.
• Normal temperature for a Cow is 100–102.5 degrees.
• Normal temperature for a Sheep/Goat is 101–103 degrees.
• Normal temperature for a Rabbit is 100.4–105 degrees.
• Normal temperature for a Cat is 100-103.1 degrees.
• Normal temperature for a Swine is 100–102 degrees.

Pulse:    An animal's heart lies approximately behind the elbow and is easiest to detect using a stethoscope on the left side of the animal’s body. It can be measured manually however, by finding an artery palpating the pulse much is you do on yourself when you palpate your pulse over your wrist. The horse’s pulse may be taken manually by placing your fingertips on the large artery up against the inside of his jawbone near his cheek. The dog and cat in contrast is most easily detected at the femoral artery inside the flank of the hind leg. Other livestock animals such as sheep, cattle and swine you will find it best to use the stethoscope rather than trying to manually palpate the pulse. The pulse can be counted for a minute or, one can use the formula counting the pulse beats (each lub-dub counts as one beat) for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to get the rate per minute.

• Normal pulse rate in a Horse is 28-45 beats per minute.
• Normal pulse rate in a Dog is 80–120 beats per minute.
• Normal pulse rate in a Cow is 55–100 beats per minute.
• Normal pulse rate in a Sheep/Goat is 60-110 beats per minute.
• Normal pulse rate in a Rabbit is 20–150 beats per minute.
• Normal pulse rate in a Cat is 100–140 beats per minute.
• Normal pulse rate in a Swine is 60-120 beats per minute.

Respiration:   Respiration is perhaps the easiest vital sign to obtain since no contact with the animal is required in order for it to be measured. In contrast respiration is also the most variable of all the vital signs, and the most affected when the animal is excited or in pain. It is not uncommon for respiration rates to double or triple with pain or anxiety. Watch the animal’s flanks, counting every inhalation for 15 seconds. Multiply by 4 to get the rate per minute.

• Normal respiration rate in a Horse is 10–14 per minute.
• Normal respiration rate in a Dog is 15–30 per minute.
• Normal respiration rate in a Cow is 10–40 per minute.
• Normal respiration rate in a Sheep/Goat is 10–30 per minute.
• Normal respiration rate in a Rabbit is 50–60 per minute.
• Normal respiration rate in a Cat is 20–30 per minute.
• Normal respiration rate in a Swine is 8–18 per minute. The the the the the the the

Take your animal’s vital signs over a number of days in different weather and temperature conditions. This will assist in establishing a baseline to interpret and react to variations in these values should the need arise.