↑↓ Navigate ↵ Select Esc Close
CHAPTER
[03]

Treatment Recording Depth

Chapter 7.4 covered basic treatment workflows. Recording medications, vaccinations, and procedures in 1-2 minutes. This section expands treatment administration features. It shows how individual treatments, mob treatments, and treatment plans work together. They create comprehensive medical care documentation.

Treatment administration balances speed with depth. Quick recording for routine treatments. Detailed documentation for complex care.

Individual Animal Treatments

Individual treatments target specific animals requiring medical intervention.

Recording Individual Treatments (Review)

Basic workflow (from Chapter 7.4):

  1. Select animal
  2. Record treatment
  3. Choose category (Antimicrobials, Parasiticides, Vaccines, OffLabel, OtherTreatments)
  4. Enter medication name
  5. Add details (administered by, batch number, date, notes)
  6. Set withdrawal period (if food animal)
  7. Save (1-2 minutes)

This workflow handles most routine treatment documentation efficiently.

Enhanced Treatment Details

Beyond basics, treatment records support detailed documentation:

Administration details:

  • Dosage (amount administered)
  • Route (oral, injectable, topical, other)
  • Site (injection location, application area)
  • Frequency (once, daily, twice daily, etc.)

Product information:

  • Batch or lot number (traceability)
  • Product expiration date
  • Manufacturer (if relevant)

Clinical context:

  • Reason for treatment (links to observation or diagnosis)
  • Prescribed by (veterinarian name or licence if prescription medication)
  • Treatment duration (single dose vs multi-day course)

Follow-up planning:

  • Link to treatment plan (if part of scheduled care)
  • Expected outcome
  • Monitoring requirements

Example detailed treatment:

  • Animal: Daisy (Cow #A123)
  • Category: Antimicrobials
  • Medication: Penicillin G Procaine Injectable
  • Batch: LOT-2024-11-A
  • Expiration: 2025-06-30
  • Date: Today
  • Administered by: John Smith (under vet prescription)
  • Dosage: 20,000 IU/kg (5 mL)
  • Route: Intramuscular
  • Site: Right neck
  • Reason: Laminitis secondary infection prevention (per Dr Johnson diagnosis)
  • Prescribed by: Dr Sarah Johnson, DVM #12345
  • Duration: 5 days (Day 1 of 5)
  • Withdrawal: 28 days (meat), documented
  • Notes: "Part of treatment plan for laminitis, daily administration, monitor injection site for swelling"
  • Follow-up: Linked to 5-day treatment plan

This level of detail supports clinical decision-making. Regulatory compliance and treatment effectiveness evaluation.

Treatment Response Documentation

After administering treatment, documenting response completes the clinical picture:

Response observations:

  • Create observation noting treatment response
  • "Day 3 of antibiotics - lameness improving, appetite returned to normal"
  • Link observation to treatment record
  • Shows treatment effectiveness

Adverse reactions:

  • Document any adverse reactions as observations
  • "Swelling at injection site 24 hours post-treatment"
  • Severity classification guides response
  • Informs future treatment decisions

Outcome documentation:

  • When treatment completes, record outcome
  • "5-day antibiotic course completed, lameness resolved"
  • Case closure documentation

Treatment response tracking transforms treatment records. From "what was given" to "what worked".

Mob Treatments

Treating groups collectively provides efficiency for large populations. While maintaining treatment records.

When to Use Mob Treatments

Appropriate for:

  • Vaccinations (entire flock vaccinated)
  • Deworming programmes (all animals in mob treated)
  • Preventive treatments (seasonal parasite control)
  • Group health interventions (water medication, feed additives)

Mob treatment workflow:

  1. Select mob
  2. Record mob treatment
  3. Choose category (same categories as individual treatments)
  4. Enter medication name
  5. Specify number treated (all animals in mob or subset)
  6. Add demographic details (which group - "All females", "Juveniles only", "Adults in North Paddock")
  7. Enter batch number and date
  8. Set withdrawal period (if applicable)
  9. Save

Example mob treatment:

  • Mob: "Spring Lambs 2024" (250 lambs total)
  • Treatment: Vaccination
  • Medication: 7-in-1 Clostridial Vaccine
  • Number Treated: 250 (all animals in mob)
  • Batch: VAC-2024-105
  • Date: Today
  • Administered by: Farm staff under vet supervision
  • Notes: "Annual vaccination programme, all lambs vaccinated before weaning, no adverse reactions observed"
  • Time required: 2 minutes to document (treating 250 animals took 3 hours, documenting took 2 minutes)

Mob treatment vs individual treatments:

  • Mob treatment creates single record for entire group (efficient)
  • Individual treatments create separate records for each animal (detailed but time-consuming)
  • Choose based on context: preventive mob care vs targeted individual treatment

Partial mob treatments:

  • Not all mob animals need treatment sometimes
  • "15 ewes showing symptoms treated with antibiotic"
  • Record number affected (15 out of 200)
  • Specify demographics ("Older females in wet paddock areas")
  • Creates targeted group treatment record

Mob treatment documentation maintains medical history at population level. Without individual animal record overhead.

Treatment Plans (Scheduled Care)

Treatment plans organise multi-dose or long-term treatment schedules. Ensuring systematic care delivery.

When to Use Treatment Plans

Treatment plans work well for:

  • Multi-day medication courses (7-day antibiotic, 14-day anti-inflammatory)
  • Vaccination series (primary plus booster shots with specific intervals)
  • Chronic condition management (ongoing diabetes, arthritis, heart disease treatments)
  • Preventive care schedules (quarterly deworming, monthly preventive medication)

Treatment plans vs individual treatments:

  • Individual treatment: One-off medication (single vaccination, emergency treatment)
  • Treatment plan: Multiple treatments scheduled over time with tracking

Creating Treatment Plans

Treatment plan workflow (conceptual):

  1. Create new treatment plan
  2. Enter plan name (descriptive: "7-Day Antibiotic Course - Respiratory Infection", "Annual Vaccination Series", "Chronic Arthritis Management")
  3. Specify animal (which individual will receive treatments)
  4. Set date range (start date and end date)
  5. Choose frequency:
    • Daily (every day for duration)
    • Weekly (once per week)
    • Custom interval (every 3 days, every 2 weeks, etc.)
    • Specific dates (list exact treatment dates)
  6. Add plan notes (overall treatment purpose, monitoring requirements)
  7. Save plan

What happens after creation:

  • System generates scheduled treatment dates based on frequency
  • Each scheduled date becomes a pending treatment
  • Reminders or notifications as treatment dates approach
  • Staff see upcoming scheduled treatments in task lists

Administering scheduled treatments:

  1. Scheduled treatment date arrives
  2. Administer medication to animal
  3. Record treatment (standard treatment workflow)
  4. Link treatment to plan (system prompts: "Is this for Treatment Plan: 7-Day Antibiotic Course?")
  5. Confirm link
  6. Treatment recorded AND plan updated showing completion

Tracking completion:

  • Plan shows progress: "Day 3 of 7 completed"
  • Remaining scheduled treatments visible: "Days 4, 5, 6, 7 pending"
  • Visual progress indicators (3/7 green checkmarks, 4/7 pending)
  • Missed doses flagged (scheduled treatment date passed but not recorded)

Example treatment plan workflow:

Day 1: Veterinarian diagnoses respiratory infection, prescribes 7-day antibiotic course

  • Create treatment plan: "7-Day Antibiotic - Respiratory Infection"
  • Animal: Daisy
  • Medication: Oxytetracycline
  • Start: Today, End: 6 days from today
  • Frequency: Daily
  • Save plan

Days 1-7: Each day, staff:

  • See reminder: "Daisy - Antibiotic due today (Day X/7)"
  • Administer medication
  • Record treatment, link to plan
  • Plan updates: "Day X/7 completed"

Day 7: Final dose

  • Administer and record
  • Plan shows: "7/7 completed"
  • Plan automatically marks complete
  • Treatment course documented fully

Benefits:

  • Nothing forgotten (reminders prevent missed doses)
  • Progress visible (know where you are in schedule)
  • Complete documentation (every administered dose recorded)
  • Outcome trackable (full course completion verified)

Treatment Plans for Preventive Care

Ongoing preventive care uses treatment plans for systematic scheduling:

Quarterly deworming:

  • Plan: "Quarterly Deworming - 2024 All Cattle"
  • Frequency: Every 90 days
  • Medication: Ivermectin
  • Duration: Ongoing (no end date, renews each quarter)
  • Automatic reminders 7 days before each scheduled treatment

Monthly preventive medication:

  • Plan: "Monthly Heartworm Prevention - Max (Dog)"
  • Frequency: Monthly (1st of every month)
  • Medication: Ivermectin or Pyrantel combination
  • Duration: Ongoing (year-round prevention)
  • Never forget monthly prevention dose

Vaccination series:

  • Plan: "Rabies Vaccination Series - Primary plus Annual Boosters"
  • Initial vaccination: Today
  • Booster 1: 1 year from today
  • Booster 2: 2 years from today
  • Subsequent annual boosters scheduled automatically

Treatment plans transform "try to remember" preventive care. Into systematic, documented protocols.

Medication Inventory Integration

Kora integrates with medication databases. Providing country-specific approved medications.

How Medication Databases Work (Conceptual)

Approved medication lists:

  • System includes databases of approved veterinary medications by country
  • Country-specific regulatory approvals (Australia, Kenya, Philippines, US, etc.)
  • Medications organised by category (antimicrobials, parasiticides, vaccines, etc.)

What databases provide:

  • Medication names (as approved by regulatory authorities)
  • Active ingredients
  • Manufacturers
  • Dosage forms (injectable, oral, topical, etc.)
  • Strength or concentration
  • Withdrawal periods (pre-populated for food animals)
  • Approval numbers (regulatory traceability)

Using medication databases:

  1. Record treatment
  2. Instead of typing medication name, select from dropdown list
  3. Choose medication from approved list
  4. Withdrawal period auto-fills (if applicable)
  5. Batch number and other details entered manually
  6. Save treatment

Benefits:

  • Standardised medication naming (consistency across records)
  • Withdrawal periods automatic (reduces compliance errors)
  • Regulatory compliance (only approved medications in system)
  • Traceability (approved medications linked to regulatory authorities)

Custom medications:

  • If medication not in database, can enter manually
  • Supports off-label use, compounded medications, new products
  • User enters all details including withdrawal periods

Medication databases provide convenience and compliance support. While maintaining flexibility for edge cases.

Treatment History and Medical Records

Every treatment creates permanent medical record entry showing:

Complete medication history:

  • All medications ever administered to animal
  • Chronological timeline from birth
  • Vaccination history with batch numbers
  • Antibiotic use patterns (AMR stewardship tracking)

Treatment effectiveness patterns:

  • "This animal responds well to Drug X for Condition Y"
  • "Previous antibiotic Z ineffective, required switch to Drug W"
  • Evidence-based treatment decisions from historical data

Regulatory compliance documentation:

  • Withdrawal period compliance verified
  • Batch number traceability for vaccine recalls
  • Prescription medication properly documented
  • Audit trail for regulatory inspections

Cost tracking:

  • Treatment expenses over time
  • Cost per animal, cost per condition
  • Treatment protocol cost-effectiveness

Example treatment history value:

  • Cow develops mastitis
  • Veterinarian reviews treatment history
  • Sees this cow had mastitis 6 months ago
  • Previous treatment: Antibiotic A (successful, resolved in 5 days)
  • Current treatment decision: Use Antibiotic A again (known effective for this animal)
  • Outcome: Faster resolution, fewer treatment trials

Historical treatment data guides future care.

Best Practices for Treatment Administration

Record immediately: Document treatments right after administration. Not end-of-day when details blur.

Include batch numbers: Essential for regulatory traceability and product recalls. Takes 10 seconds, prevents compliance violations.

Set withdrawal periods accurately: For food animals, verify withdrawal periods before recording. Consult medication labels, veterinarian, or regulatory databases.

Use treatment plans for multi-dose care: Do not rely on memory for 7-day courses. Create plan, get reminders, track completion.

Link to observations: Reference the observation or diagnosis that prompted treatment. Creates clinical narrative: observation to diagnosis to treatment to outcome.

Document outcomes: After treatment completes, record whether it worked. "5-day antibiotic course - lameness resolved" closes the loop.

Photo unusual treatments: Wound care, specialised procedures, application techniques. Visual documentation adds context.

Monitor mob treatment coverage: When treating groups, note if any animals missed treatment and why.

WORDS
[1,798]
READ TIME
[9m]