An early step in recognizing an emergency in dogs and cats is to assess the severity of the animal's condition. The most rapid way to assess the animal's cardiovascular function is to examine the gums and measure capillary refill time (CRT). Normal gums should be light pink. If the gums are pale or grey, the animal may be in shock or severely anemic. Blue or grey gums can indicate shock, heart failure, lung failure, or poisoning. CRT is determined by applying pressure to the gums with a thumb. When the thumb is removed, the gums will be white but should rapidly refill with blood. The time required to refill is the CRT (normally 1 second). If the CRT is longer than 2 seconds, the animal has inadequate cardiovascular function and is probably in shock.
A. True
B. False
Question 2
Dogs infected with canine distemper as puppies and survived the viral infection may exhibit neurological signs of the disease in old age.
A. True
B. False
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