NAVLE Emergency Guide
Veterinary Shock Types: Practical Triage and Treatment Flow
Shock questions often test whether you can separate perfusion failure patterns and act before complete diagnostic certainty. This guide focuses on the practical differences that change treatment in the first hour.
Use this guide to move from first-pass pattern recognition to structured diagnostic and treatment logic. The flow is designed for NAVLE-style decision sequencing and practical ward preparation.
Rapid Algorithm
- Identify perfusion failure using mentation, pulse quality, capillary refill trends, temperature gradients, and blood pressure.
- Classify likely shock pattern: hypovolemic, distributive, cardiogenic, or obstructive.
- Start targeted stabilization while avoiding interventions that worsen the likely phenotype.
- Use dynamic reassessment to refine diagnosis as monitoring data accumulates.
- Escalate support when perfusion markers remain poor after first-line interventions.
Diagnostic Flow
- Point-of-care lactate and serial trends can be useful but should not delay initial support.
- Focused ultrasound and thoracic imaging can reveal obstructive or cardiogenic contributors.
- Baseline CBC and chemistry guide fluid, transfusion, and electrolyte decisions.
- Urine output and blood pressure trajectories provide objective response checkpoints.
- Recheck perfusion markers after each major intervention to avoid false reassurance.
Treatment Flow
- Hypovolemic shock usually needs volume replacement plus source control of fluid or blood loss.
- Distributive shock often requires early antimicrobials when sepsis is suspected and perfusion-guided fluids.
- Cardiogenic shock requires caution with fluid loading and early support of cardiac output strategies.
- Obstructive shock demands rapid identification and relief of the mechanical barrier.
- Use vasopressors or inotropes when perfusion remains poor after appropriate first-line measures.
Exam Traps
- Applying the same fluid plan to every shock phenotype is a frequent scoring loss.
- Overvaluing a single blood pressure reading without clinical context can mislead decisions.
- Failing to reassess after each bolus prevents phenotype correction when the response diverges.
- Delaying sepsis-directed actions while waiting for culture confirmation can harm outcomes.
- Ignoring obstructive causes in sudden decompensation leads to repeated ineffective boluses.
Practice Prompts
- How does your first-line plan differ between hypovolemic and cardiogenic shock?
- Which findings shift your concern toward obstructive shock?
- When should vasopressors be considered in distributive shock?
- What reassessment metrics matter most after the first bolus?
- How can serial lactate improve decision quality without overreliance?
Related Content
- Return to pillar: NAVLE Emergency and Critical Care: Triage, Stabilize, Treat
- Sepsis and SIRS in Veterinary Patients: Hour-One Priorities
- DKA Approach in Dogs and Cats: Stabilization Before Insulin
- Use the Fluid Calculator for perfusion-guided boluses
- Try 5 free practice questions on this topic
- Unlock unlimited practice (Premium)
Sources and Review Notes
- Drug label search (DailyMed)
- IRIS stages
- Normal lab values
- Heartworm treatment protocol
- Lab test protocols
- Microchip lookup
- Vertebral Heart Score
- BCS charts
- ACVIM cardiology consensus guideline references
- Dental charts
- AAHA vaccination guidelines
- Flea/tick product info
- Dog/cat breed search
- RECOVER CPR guidelines
Last reviewed: February 13, 2026
Educational only. This page is designed for study and does not replace case-specific diagnosis, local protocols, or direct supervision.