It's also important to be aware that if a value recorded for
an individual animal falls outside these normal reference ranges,
it doesn't necessarily mean that the animal is unwell.
All of these signs can be influenced by a number of factors,
including the animal's age, breed, and fitness.
Its level of exercise and stress at the time of the recording, and
even external influences such as the weather.
At this point it's also worth mentioning one of the main challenges faced
by veterinary students in the early years of their degree.
And that is to learn what is normal and what is abnormal for a range of
different species, each of which may have widely differing anatomy and physiology.
So this table summarizes the normal reference ranges for
vital signs in the dog, the horse, and the cow.
Take a moment to look through these, and try to learn them as best you can.
They'll be useful in the next quiz, and
also in the assessment questions at the end of this week.
You'll see from the table that we work in degrees Celsius for temperature,
in beats per minute from pulse or heart rate, and in breaths per minute for
respiratory rates.