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CHAPTER
[02]

Observation Depth and Types

Chapter 7.1 covered the basic observation workflow. Anyone can record what they see in 30-60 seconds. This section explores the depth of the observations system. It shows how observations range from simple staff notes to comprehensive veterinary diagnostic assessments.

Kora supports multiple observation levels simultaneously. This ensures appropriate documentation for different situations and different user types.

Types of Observations

Standard Animal Observations

Who records: Farm staff, animal care workers, zoo keepers, field workers. Anyone working with animals.

What they document:

  • Health symptoms (limping, coughing, discharge, wounds)
  • Behavioural changes (lethargy, aggression, unusual activity)
  • Dietary changes (appetite reduction, food refusal)
  • Physical condition (weight loss, coat quality, body condition)
  • Social interactions (isolation, dominance changes)
  • Environmental responses (reactions to weather, habitat changes)
  • Reproductive behaviours (oestrus signs, nesting)

Documentation approach:

  • Descriptive observations of visible conditions
  • Plain language ("not eating breakfast" rather than "anorexia")
  • Photos showing condition
  • GPS location where observed (mobile auto-capture)
  • Severity classification (Low, Medium, High, Critical)

Example standard observation:

  • Animal: Daisy (Cow #A123)
  • Category: Health Symptom
  • Severity: Medium
  • Description: "Limping on left front leg, favouring right side when standing, no visible swelling or wounds observed"
  • Photos: Two images showing gait abnormality
  • GPS: Auto-captured field location
  • Time required: 45 seconds to record

These observations create the frontline health monitoring system. Early detection through daily visibility.

Veterinary Observations (Licensed Veterinarians Only)

Who records: Licensed veterinarians only (system enforces based on user credentials)

What they document: Complete clinical assessments with diagnostic depth

Veterinary observations extend standard observations with professional clinical features:

Clinical Diagnosis:

  • Formal diagnosis based on examination
  • "Laminitis - Left fore, Grade 2/4"
  • "Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDC)"
  • "Pregnancy - 45 days estimated gestation"

Clinical Findings:

  • Detailed physical examination results
  • Vital signs (temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate)
  • Physical examination details (palpation findings, auscultation results, visual examination)
  • Objective clinical data supporting diagnosis

Symptoms Documentation:

  • Clinical symptom description
  • Duration and progression
  • Associated signs
  • Symptom severity in clinical terms

Differential Diagnoses:

  • Other conditions considered
  • Why they were ruled out or deprioritised
  • Diagnostic reasoning documentation

Diagnostic Tests Ordered:

  • Lab tests requested (bloodwork, urinalysis, faecal examination)
  • Imaging ordered (radiographs, ultrasound)
  • Specialised testing (biopsy, culture and sensitivity)
  • Expected results timeline

Test Results:

  • Lab result entry (quantitative values, ranges, interpretations)
  • Result review and clinical significance
  • Integration with diagnosis

Prognosis:

  • Expected outcome assessment
  • Recovery timeline estimate
  • Risk factors identified
  • Long-term health implications

Treatment Recommendations:

  • Prescribed therapies
  • Treatment duration and frequency
  • Monitoring requirements
  • Follow-up scheduling

Prescriptions:

  • Medications prescribed
  • Dosage and administration instructions
  • Withdrawal periods (food animals)
  • Owner or staff instructions

Zoonotic Disease Flags:

  • Indication if condition can transmit to humans
  • Public health precautions required
  • Staff protection recommendations
  • Regulatory notification requirements

Example veterinary observation:

  • Animal: Daisy (Cow #A123)
  • Diagnosis: "Acute laminitis - Left fore, Grade 2/4"
  • Clinical Findings: "Temperature 39.2°C (slightly elevated), increased digital pulse left fore, heat in hoof wall, reluctant to bear weight, no coronary band abscessation visible"
  • Symptoms: "Onset 24-48 hours ago, progressive lameness, favouring right fore, pain response to hoof testers over toe region"
  • Differential Diagnoses: "Sole abscess (ruled out - no drainage point found), foreign body penetration (ruled out - no visible trauma), navicular disease (less likely - acute onset)"
  • Diagnostic Tests: "Radiographs ordered - evaluate pedal bone position, rule out rotation"
  • Prognosis: "Good with treatment - expect resolution in 7-14 days with appropriate care"
  • Treatment Recommendations: "Anti-inflammatory therapy, strict stall rest, hoof support or frog padding, daily hoof soaking, recheck in 5 days"
  • Prescriptions: "Meloxicam 500mg PO q24h x 7 days, withdrawal period 15 days"
  • Zoonotic: No
  • Follow-up: Required - 5 days for recheck examination

Veterinary observations provide clinical certainty guiding treatment decisions.

Severity Levels in Detail

Severity classification helps prioritise which observations require immediate attention.

Low Severity:

  • Minor observations, no immediate concern
  • Slight appetite reduction
  • Mild behavioural change
  • Routine monitoring sufficient
  • Examples: "Ate 90% of breakfast (normally 100%)", "Slightly less active than usual, still engaging normally", "Minor superficial scratch, no bleeding"

Medium Severity:

  • Noteworthy observation requiring attention
  • Persistent symptoms
  • Moderate behavioural changes
  • Worth monitoring closely or consulting veterinarian
  • Examples: "Not eating for 24 hours", "Persistent cough for 3 days", "Mild lameness, still mobile", "Social withdrawal, lying down more than normal"

High Severity:

  • Significant concern requiring prompt action
  • Obvious distress or discomfort
  • Injury requiring treatment
  • Sudden behaviour changes
  • Potential health risk
  • Veterinary consultation recommended soon
  • Examples: "Severe lameness, unable to bear weight", "Laboured breathing, obvious respiratory distress", "Large wound, bleeding controlled but requires treatment", "Aggressive behaviour change, safety concern"

Critical Severity:

  • Emergency requiring immediate veterinary attention
  • Severe injury or acute illness
  • Life-threatening condition
  • Collapse or inability to stand
  • Emergency response protocols
  • Examples: "Unresponsive, collapsed", "Severe bleeding, unable to control", "Seizures or neurological emergency", "Birthing complications, distress", "Suspected toxic ingestion", "Acute bloat (cattle or sheep)"

Severity guides response time. Low equals routine monitoring. Medium equals close observation or scheduled vet visit. High equals prompt veterinary consultation. Critical equals emergency immediate action.

Follow-Up Workflow

Some observations require follow-up. Checking whether the condition improved, worsened, or was resolved. Follow-up workflows ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Standard Observation Follow-Up

When to flag for follow-up:

  • Medium or high severity observations
  • Ongoing conditions requiring monitoring
  • Animals under treatment (checking treatment response)
  • Animals recovering from illness or injury

Flagging process:

  1. Record observation
  2. Check "Requires Follow-Up" checkbox
  3. Set follow-up date (when to check again)
  4. Add follow-up notes ("Recheck in 3 days - if not eating, call vet")
  5. Save observation

What happens:

  • Follow-up badge appears on animal profile
  • Task auto-generated with follow-up date as due date
  • Reminders sent as follow-up date approaches
  • Follow-up appears in pending follow-up list

Completing follow-up:

  1. On follow-up date, view animal profile
  2. Check current condition (improved? worsened? resolved?)
  3. Record new observation documenting current status
  4. Link new observation to original observation
  5. Mark original observation follow-up complete OR extend follow-up if needed

Example follow-up workflow:

  • Day 1: Observation: "Limping on left front leg" (Severity: Medium, Follow-up: 3 days)
  • Day 4: Follow-up observation: "Still limping but less severe, bearing more weight, eating normally" (Severity: Low, Follow-up: 3 days)
  • Day 7: Follow-up observation: "Lameness resolved, normal gait restored, back to normal activity" (Follow-up complete, case closed)

Follow-up tracking ensures systematic monitoring. This replaces memory-based "I think I was supposed to check that animal".

Veterinary Follow-Up Workflow

Veterinarians have enhanced follow-up capabilities:

Veterinary follow-up includes:

  • Follow-up examination scheduling
  • Treatment response monitoring
  • Lab result review appointments
  • Recheck protocols
  • Case status tracking (Active, Monitoring, Resolved)

Follow-up instructions:

  • Specific examination focus ("Recheck left fore lameness, evaluate hoof heat and digital pulse")
  • Treatment adjustments based on response
  • Criteria for case resolution
  • Escalation triggers (when to consult specialist)

Second opinion workflow:

  • Veterinarian can flag case for second opinion
  • Consulting veterinarian receives notification
  • Consulting veterinarian reviews case, adds assessment
  • Both assessments visible in animal record
  • Support for complex or uncertain cases

Example veterinary follow-up:

  • Initial diagnosis: Laminitis
  • Treatment prescribed: Anti-inflammatories, stall rest, hoof care
  • Follow-up: 5 days - recheck examination
  • Follow-up observation (Day 5): "Lameness improved from Grade 2/4 to Grade 1/4, heat reduced in hoof wall, digital pulse normal, continue treatment 3 more days then reassess"
  • Follow-up: 8 days - final recheck
  • Final observation (Day 8): "Lameness resolved (Grade 0/4), normal gait, no heat in hoof wall, case resolved. Return to normal activity gradually over 5 days."

Observation History and Timelines

Every observation creates a permanent health history entry. Over time, these observations build comprehensive timelines showing:

Pattern recognition:

  • Seasonal health issues (respiratory problems every winter)
  • Recurring conditions (chronic lameness flare-ups)
  • Treatment response patterns (responds well to specific antibiotics)

Baseline establishment:

  • Normal behaviour patterns documented
  • Deviations from normal become obvious
  • "This animal usually eats 100%, now at 70%" is meaningful because baseline established

Diagnostic support:

  • Veterinarians review complete observation history
  • Symptom progression over days or weeks informs diagnosis
  • "Started with slight cough 10 days ago, now laboured breathing" provides critical timeline

Welfare documentation:

  • Demonstrates consistent health monitoring
  • Regulatory compliance (required observation frequency met)
  • Audit trail showing responsible care

Health trends:

  • Improving health over time visible in timeline
  • Declining health triggering intervention
  • Stable health showing management effectiveness

Observation Integration with Other Features

Biosecurity (Chapter 11): Veterinary observations diagnosing contagious diseases automatically trigger contact tracing. They identify exposures and recommend quarantine. One observation can activate entire biosecurity response.

Maps (Chapter 9): Observations with GPS coordinates appear on maps. Field observations showing disease clustering in specific paddocks identify environmental health risks spatially.

Tasks (Chapter 7.2): High-severity observations auto-generate tasks ("Veterinary consultation required"). Follow-up observations create scheduled tasks ensuring monitoring happens.

Traceability (Chapter 12): All observations become traceability events. Creating immutable health history supporting regulatory audits.

Health Assessments (10.3): Observations feed into automated health scoring. Multiple high-severity observations trigger health risk alerts.

Observations are not isolated notes. They are integrated data points activating multiple system features automatically.

Best Practices for Effective Observations

Record promptly: Document observations when they happen. Not hours or days later when details are forgotten.

Be specific: "Limping on left front leg, favouring right side" is better than "limping". Specificity helps veterinarians diagnose remotely and guides follow-up.

Use photos: Visual documentation shows conditions better than words. Wounds, swelling, gait abnormalities, body condition all benefit from photos.

Include context: Environmental factors matter. "Coughing - all animals in barn showing symptoms" suggests different cause than "Single animal coughing - recently moved from different location".

Classify severity accurately: Critical should mean emergency, not just "important". Accurate severity ensures appropriate response priority.

Follow up systematically: Flag observations requiring monitoring. Set appropriate follow-up dates. Actually complete follow-ups. Do not let observations become "I wonder what happened to that animal".

Link related observations: If recording follow-up to previous observation, reference the original. Creates connected narrative rather than disconnected notes.

Review history before recording: Check recent observations before adding new ones. "Still not eating" is more useful than "not eating" if yesterday's observation already documented same issue. This shows progression or persistence.

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