Method and system for providing animal health histories and tracking inventory of drugs

A method of providing drug treatment to selected individual animals in a livestock feedlot in which groups of animals are normally retained and fed in pens and in which selected individual animals are removed from the pens to a drug treatment location for specific treatments orally or by injection, said method comprising:

• identifying an individual animal in need of drug treatment;
• moving the identified individual animal to be treated to the drug treatment location;
• entering at the drug treatment location the identity of the animal to be treated;
• storing in a computer communicable with the drug treatment location the sickness history and the drug treatment history, if any, of the animal to be treated, the sickness history including the diagnosed sickness and the drug treatment history including drugs administered in a treatment and the dosage of each drug administered in such treatment;
• storing in the computer a list of available drug treatments;
• in response to entry of the identity of the animal to be treated, providing at the drug treatment location communicable with the computer means, the animal's sickness history and drug treatment history, if any;
• diagnosing the sickness of the animal to be treated;
• entering the diagnosed sickness at the drug treatment location;
• storing the entered sickness in the computer as an addition to the animal's sickness history, if any;
• following entry of the diagnosed sickness, providing at the treatment location a list of available drug treatments;
• evaluating the animal's sickness history and drug treatment history and the animal's current sickness, and based on such information and the list of available drug treatments, selecting a drug treatment for administration to the animal;
• entering the selected drug treatment at the drug treatment location and storing the selected treatment in the computer as an addition to the animal's drug treatment history, if any;
• determining the dosage of each drug to be administered in the selected treatment, and entering the determined dosage at the drug treatment location and storing such dosage in the computer as an addition to the animal's drug treatment history, if any;
• if desired, obtaining the determined dosages of the drugs in the selected drug treatment and administering the selected dosages of the drugs in the selected drug treatment to the animal either orally or by injection at the drug treatment location;
• storing in the computer the withdrawal period, if any, for drug treatments available for administration and stored in the computer means;
• in response to entry of a selected drug treatment requiring a withdrawal period, calculating in the computer, for the drug treatment, when the animal may be released from the feedlot.

A method of providing drug treatment to selected individual animals which are removed from a group of retained animals to a drug treatment location for specific treatments by an operator, the method comprising:

• identifying an individual animal in need of drug treatment;
• moving the identified animal to be treated to the drug treatment location;
• entering the animal's identity into a computer system;
• in response to entry of the animal's identity, providing the animal's health and drug treatment history, if any, to assist the operator in making a diagnosis;
• diagnosing the health condition of the identified animal and entering the diagnosed condition into the computer system as an addition to the animal's health history, if any;
• evaluating the animal's health and drug treatment history and the animal's diagnosed condition, and based on such information and the operator's judgment, selecting a drug treatment for the animal;
• entering the selected drug treatment into the computer system as an addition to the animal's drug treatment history, if any;
• determining the dosage of each drug in the selected treatment and entering such dosage into the computer system as an addition to the animal's drug treatment history, if any;
• in response to entry of a selected drug treatment requiring a withdrawal period, calculating in the computer system, for the selected drug treatment, when the animal may be released;
• and
• in response to entry of a selected drug treatment whose dosage is weight-dependent, if any, calculating in the computer system, from the animal's weight and selected drug treatment, a dosage for the animal.

A method of providing drug treatment to selected individual animals which are removed from a group of retained animals to a drug treatment location for specific treatments by an operator, the method comprising:

• moving a selected individual animal to be treated to the drug treatment location;
• entering into a computer the animal's identity;
• in response to entry of the animal's identity, providing the animal's health and drug treatment history, if any, to assist the operator in making a diagnosis;
• diagnosing the condition of the animal to be treated;
• entering into the computer the diagnosed condition as an addition to the animal's health history, if any;
• following entry of the diagnosed condition, providing a list at the drug treatment location of available drug treatments;
• evaluating the animal's health and drug treatment history and the animal's diagnosed condition and, based on such information, the operator's judgment and the list of available drug treatments, selecting a drug treatment for the animal;
• and
• in response to selection of a drug treatment requiring a withdrawal period, calculating in the computer system, for the selected drug treatment, when the animal may be released.

A system for providing drug treatment to selected individual animals which are removed from a group of retained animals to a drug treatment location for specific treatment by an operator, comprising:

• (a) a computer for:
• providing a health and drug treatment history, if any, for an animal to be treated;
• providing a record of drug treatments available for administration and their withdrawal periods, and the weight dependency of their dosages, if any;
• calculating, from an entered drug treatment requiring a withdrawal period and from treatment data, when an animal may be released;
• and
• calculating, from an entered drug treatment whose dosage is weight-dependent and from an animal's weight, a dosage for an animal;
• (b) a data terminal at the treatment location and in communication with the computer, the data terminal operable for:
• entering the identity of an animal to be treated;
• providing the identified animal's health and drug treatment history from the computer to the operator to assist in making a diagnosis, if any;
• permitting entry by the operator of a diagnosis of the identified animal, the diagnosis added to the animal's health history;
• and
• permitting entry by the operator of a drug treatment for the identified animal, the drug treatment added to the animal's drug treatment history.

An animal treatment system located at a treatment location for providing and updating drug treatment and health histories of animals to an operator, comprising:

• a computer programmed for receiving and storing information regarding drug treatment and health histories of animals and, for selected drug treatment requiring a withdrawal period, calculating, for the selected drug treatment, when an animal may be released;
• data entry means at the treatment location for entering into the computer animal identification, drug treatment administered by the operator and health conditions of an animal observed by the operator;
• and
• data output means at the treatment location and coupled to the computer for providing to the operator, in response to entry of the identity of the animal, the animal's drug treatment and health histories, if any,
• an operator thereby being able to obtain at the treatment location an animal's drug treatment and health histories before administering further drug treatment and to update instantly the animal's drug treatment history based on the treatment administered to the animal and the animal's health history based on the animal's observed physical condition.