Intake & Exam Basics

Taking in an animal is a big deal and some intakes are certainly easier than others. Intake and exam is a pretty straight forward process but situations can change that. Here is an overview of how I typically do my intake and exams which hopefully will help you undergo your own.

Remain calm. This is one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give. It may not seem like much, but it is. When I first began getting calls, I would race to that animal fueled by adrenaline. I would miss turns, refer to poor notes that I had taken on the phone, or forget to bring certain things with me. Sometimes your finders will bring the animal to you, other times you will have to pick it up. Remember, you are of no use to an animal if you are stressed. If the animal dies before you get to it, then there wasn’t much you would have been able to do to begin with. Drive slowly and be safe. This also applies to animals who are in critical condition. Take a moment to think about your next steps and what you need to do. Do not race through your intake and exam.

Have your items laid out ahead of time. It doesn’t matter if I’m picking up an animal or having it dropped off, I always get my supplies ready ahead of time. There is nothing worse than trying to gather all the things you need when you have an animal screaming in pain, crying because they’re hungry, or trying to escape because their afraid. Have your gloves, exam items, and caging set up before you get the animal. This will make your exam much smoother and in turn, better for the animal.

Perform the ABC’S. A rehabber should always do what’s called a cursory exam or what’s called the ABC’s. ABC’s stands for airway, bleeding, and circulation. Unless an animal is suffering from a blocked airway, losing blood, or has poor circulation, the animal should be placed in a quiet, dark, and warm space so that they can calm down. Animals can die from cardiogenic shock, or a heart attack. This is especially true for cottontails. Once you’ve done a quick once over checking for the ABC’s, give the animal time to wind down and then go back and perform a more thorough exam.

Examination. Often, we can see what is wrong with an animal, but this is not always the case. And sometimes we may think we know what is wrong only to discover it’s something else. Even if you know what is wrong, you should still perform a thorough exam. This includes weighing the animal. Animals should be weighed in grams as this becomes important when we get into administering sub q fluids as well as giving medication. I like to start from the head and work my way down the body checking the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, followed by checking the limbs, the hands and feet for circulation, a skin turgor test to check for dehydration, as well as look through the fur, and watch the animal’s movement and general behavior. Taking pictures is very helpful as it allows you to refer to it later rather than trying to remember everything. It’s also important to take notes, especially when it comes to weight. In the case of orphans, now is the time where you should mark them with nontoxic marker or nail polish so that you can keep track of their individual progress. In cases where you don’t know what is wrong, I check still do a quick cursory exam checking for the ABCs, but I do not subject the animal to more than that. It offers nothing to the animal but additional stress, discomfort, and pain. I take the animal to my vet so they can perform x rays and ultrasounds to diagnosis issues. In cases where you think you know what’s wrong but feel slightly unsure, do a cursory exam and take it to the vet. You’d be surprised what you end up learning. I once had a raccoon who I was convinced had a broken leg as he would walk on it, yet upon x ray we discovered that he had liver failure and fluid buildup and that was most likely the reason he was favoring the other side.

Treatment. After the in-depth exam, I let the animal rest again and quickly write out a care plan which includes rehydration fluid, medication, and anything I need to quickly. If an animal is very dehydrated, I will do this right after I get a weight as organ failure could already be taking place. If it’s a gaping wound that needs to be cleaned and bandaged, I may do that first and then rehydrate. Sometimes I will go straight to medication aiming to get the animal out of pain as quickly as possible. After that, you can then give antibiotics, dewormers, and clean dirty, bloody, or infested fur. A lot of intakes will require you to prioritize treatment. And sadly, some cases end in the animal passing. For those who are dying and where there is nothing more you can do, comforting them and providing a safe space for that transition to take place is the most humane thing you can do. Sometimes you need to take them to the vet to be euthanized. Even then, you can comfort the animal and rest knowing that you did the best you could and that it is no longer suffering. In the case of Rabies Vector Species (RVS) the animal may also need to be tested afterwards.

Post intake, exam, and treatment. Once the initial stress is out of the way and I know the animal is out of pain, warm, and resting, I go back and refine my care plan. This is where I write in detail the rehydration fluid that the animal will need for the next few days, where I create a medication schedule, and decide whether they will be eating a normal diet or need nutrition that is easy to eat and digest, and also what housing is best for them. I also compile all my pictures and notes so that I can reference them later if I need to.

Intake and exam act as the foundation to subsequent care. It is better to take your time and be thorough than to try and fix something you later realize you missed. In my experience, most animals are surprisingly cooperative during this process, and you must learn to work with them as much as they must learn to work with you.