Medical History and Physical Examination in Companion Animals

creation no falsification falsification Tl rejected creation etc. Figure 1-1 delivers such a result that the theory must be seen as an extension of Popper's rational proce­ discarded. In this way we come at the same time dure for theory elimination. to the border between science and nonscience: a Popper's naive falsifiability knows only one theory is scientific if it is falsifiable. It is thus way, the elimination of what is weak. The so­ not scientific to bring additional evidence to phisticated falsifiability, in contrast, knows only bear in vindication of the theory; the theory elimination in combination with the acceptance would thereby take on the character of an un­ of an alternative. According to sophisticated fal­ challengeable certainty of belief ('religion'). sifiability, a scientific theory T r is only aban­ Following Popper, others such as Kuhn, with doned if its place is taken by another theory T2 his paradigm theory, have considerably extended which has the following three characteristics: 1 the range of thought over what is scientific and T 2 has more empirical content than TI; the new what is not. The medical history and physical examination are the most important cornerstones of clinical diagnosis, but there has been no single book devoted to a description of methods applicable to companion animals. This book is intended to fulfil the need. It describes the methods used in the veterinary schools of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and the University of Ghent in Belgium. The effectiveness of these methods is recognized by many visiting staff members and students from other veterinary schools in Europe and North America. Central to this book is the concept that the examination should be as efficient as possible. To achieve this purpose, a short initial examination is used to define the problems presented by the owner. The clinician is then guided in making choices, which focuses the attention on the essential problems and makes more of the examination time available for problem solving. The methods of examination, which are described system by system, are based on this selective approach. Many of the chapters close with a medical history form, which facilitates rapid orientation to the medical problem, and throughout the book photographs and original drawings illustrate both concepts and methods Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-3 The rationale for this approach....Pages 4-8 A few concepts and an introduction to the diagnostic process....Pages 9-20 Methods and instruments....Pages 21-31 Medical records....Pages 32-48 The history....Pages 49-56 General impression....Pages 57-60 General examination....Pages 61-79 Respiratory system....Pages 80-95 Circulatory system....Pages 96-108 Digestive tract....Pages 109-126 Kidneys and urinary tract....Pages 127-138 Female reproductive tract....Pages 139-149 Male reproductive tract....Pages 150-156 Skin, hair, and nails....Pages 157-167 Mammary glands....Pages 168-174 Locomotor system....Pages 175-201 Nervous system....Pages 202-220 Eyes....Pages 221-254 Ears....Pages 255-262 Endocrine glands....Pages 263-271 Behavior....Pages 272-285 Emergencies....Pages 286-289 Handling and restraint — Injections and blood collection....Pages 290-299 Preanesthetic examination and health certification....Pages 300-306 Birds....Pages 307-343 Small mammals: rabbit, guinea pig, chinchilla, golden hamster, mouse, rat, gerbil, ferret, and mink....Pages 344-366 Back Matter....Pages 367-376