When animals get sick farmers most often need the services of the veterinarian to help find out what is wrong with their animal as livestock are expensive and keeping them healthy is a priority.

However in East Africa there is a severe lack of skilled veterinarians and farmers often accept the loss of animals without a chance of knowing why the loss came about. There are in Kenya several veterinary investigation laboratories and often veterinary clinics at a distance. Farmers can do a lot to find the cause of a disease and get it diagnosed by telephone and/or by delivering in samples for analysis.

There are several outward signs that can help in identifying the cause of the problem, but often they are not sufficient to determine with a good degree of certainty what the exact nature of the disease is. And treating an animal for the wrong disease is not only expensive and useless, it also gives the animal additional stress.

The following is an attempt to guide non-vets in examining sick or dead animals to find the cause of the problem.

Hopefully the animal is still alive and you only need to call the vet and describe the symptoms and get recommendations for treatment. The vet may ask you if you are able to take smear samples of blood and lymph nodes and bring in. This is a simple procedure that can easily be learned - if you want to learn please see below under Taking Samples. Please now take pen and paper and note down which of the following conditions you see on a piece of paper before you call the vet:

a) Expression:- anxious, feverish, nervous, excitable, aggressive, dull, lethargic

b) General condition:- weak, thin, emaciated, dropsical

c) Skin:- weeping, dry, peeling, scurfy, crusted, lumpy, bald, bearing lice, ticks, stick-tight fleas,

d) Coat:- matted, dry, rough, staring.

e) Mucous membranes:- (the linings of the eyelids and natural openings):red, blueish, yellow, pale; with vesicles, with pustules, ulcers (sores), haemorrhages (collections of blood), cheesy deposits, necrotic areas, smelling badly.

f) Eyes:- cloudy, discharging, protruding, sunken, bloodshot

g) Lymph nodes:- enlarged, normal

h) Temperature: High, low, subnormal, fluctuating. A rectal thermometer is very useful to any livestock keeper.

i) Behaviour such as Coughing, shivering, dilated nostrils, facing the wind, groaning, grunting, grinding the teeth, salivating, looking at the flank, rolling, convulsions, staring, staggering, blindness, turning in circles, star-gazing, high-stepping, vomiting, arching the back, avoiding light, failing to chew the cud, paralysis, coma.

a. Appetite and thirst:- reduced, increased, capricious, depraved

b. Respiration:- shallow, quick, slow, difficult, laboured, irregular

c. Heartbeat:- slow, fast, thumping, irregular, with pulse in jugular vein

d. Defaecation and urination:- frequent, suppressed, painful, forcible

e. Faeces:- hard, slimy, soft, frothy, clay-coloured, black, greenish, containing blood clots, shreds of mucous membranes, worms

f. Urine:- pale, yellow, blood-tinged, viscid, cloudy, strong-smelling, forming a deposit on standing, containing blood clots

g. Milk:- yellow, pink, with white clots, blood clots, ropy, smelling

Continuous or intermittent, clear, cloudy or containing pus, watery or ropy, yellow, pink, blood-streaked, foul-smelling, from what source and how much of it is there.

Hot or cold, hard or soft, painful or painless, containing liquid or gas, pitting or crackling on pressure, tense or flabby, sharply or ill-defined, discharging, pointing ( soft at one part), how distributed and of what size.

Post mortem is the name of an examination after death carried out to determine the cause of death. Any animal which dies without an obvious cause, whether after a long or short illness, should be subjected to a post mortem examination. Not to do so leaves the cause of death in the realms of speculation and supposition. But by doing a post mortem much may be learned both to the benefit of the farmer and to the other animals in the flock or herd.

The post mortem should always be carried out by a qualified veterinarian who is trained in determining even slight changes from normality in animal tissue. However where no vet is available and samples have to be transported to a laboratory, the following procedure can be followed.

The basics needed are a sharp knife, scalpel, panga or axe, rubber gloves, note pad and pen, glass slides, swabs, leakproof plastic bags or pots, protective clothing, gum boots and overalls. A digital camera is very useful to record observations which may be difficult to put into words.

It should be borne in mind that certain diseases of animals are transmissible to humans e.g. Rift Valley Fever, Q Fever, brucellosis, salmonellosis, rabies, anthrax and salmonellosis. Therefore questions should always be put to the owner regarding the history of the animal about to be post-mortemed.

If an animal is found dead without obvious cause, then before the carcase is opened a check should be made to ascertain whether it had died from anthrax. This is done by making a blood smear from a drop of blood taken by nicking the ear, spreading it on a slide, staining it and examining it under a microscope. Such examination should be done by a qualified veterinarian. Remember that Anthrax is a Notifiable Disease and is easily transferred to humans, so be very careful not to touch any blood with bare hands.

Pregnant women should NOT carry out post-mortems, especially those of sheep, as they run the risk of having a miscarriage from infections such as those caused by toxoplasmosis, Q fever etc.

Carcases to be post-mortemed should be as fresh as possible in order to gain the best results.

Adequate light and plenty of water are essential. A raised working area is helpful.

1. Start with a thorough external examination. Note the general body condition and make the following notes or dictate so someone taking notes while the post mortem is going on, and if there is a camera nearby it is good to also take pictures:

2. Next carefully remove the skin, noting whether it peels easily or with difficulty perhaps indicating dehydration. Are there any haemorrhages (blood collections) below the skin or any oedema (swelling)?

3. Place the carcase on its back and carefully cut though the midline, taking care not to cut into the rumen if it is bloated. Cut through the sternum (middle of chest) with an axe or panga to open the chest cavity. Check for any abnormal fluids in the chest or abdomen such as pus or serous fluids.
Before removing any organs look at how they are situated in the chest or abdomen and make notes.

Cut along the length of the neck and dissect out the windpipe, gullet and tongue and reflect them backwards and remove them together with the lungs and heart. Cut the diaphragm where it joins the chest wall and dissect backwards to remove the stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys and intestines.

Lay everything out on a smooth, clean, washable surface and examine in a logical manner.

A full account of the post-mortem findings, in conjunction with a description of any symptoms prior to death is very important to reach a trustworthy diagnosis.

To cut down on volume for taking to the lab the most important samples are those that appear not to be normal.

1. Blood smears should be taken. Disinfect a small area at the base of the animal's ear. Prick a small hole with a disinfected needle so that a drop of blood appears. A small drop of blood is then touched with a clean glass slide. With another glass slide touch the drop with one end of the slide until the blood spreads along the angle between the two slides. Then push the upper slide along the length of the lower slide so that it draws the blood after it. Wave the slide in the air and it should dry almost immediately if the smear is of the correct degree of thinness. Place inside a clean envelope. Do NOT stick two smears together. So doing renders both useless for diagnostic purposes.

2. Take a gland smear by inserting an 18 gauge needle attached to a 2 ml syringe into a prescapular (those in front of the shoulder blade) lymph node , suck back on the syringe and expel the sucked up fluid onto a clean slide.

3. Fresh faecal samples should be put into clean polythene bags and be sealed and labeled.

Other samples MUST be presented FRESH to a veterinary surgeon or veterinary officer. Bringing in a bag of decomposing, toxic, smelly organs will not advance the diagnosis, but it will certainly make you very unpopular.

If the animal was also seen alive before death then a good clinical description of the symptoms together with a clear PM report will all help the contacted veterinarian to reach a diagnosis, in conjunction with submitted smears, faeces and possible fresh material.

If the list of symptoms while the animal was still alive is considered while any patient is examined it may draw attention to points which might otherwise be overlooked, so please before you submit the report to the veterinarian also include the symptoms before death noted down as described above.

A clearly written post-mortem report, together with a brief but straightforward description of any symptoms which occurred prior to death, plus blood and lymph node smears and fresh samples if possible will go a long way towards helping the consulted veterinarian to reach a diagnosis.