Mouth Malfunctions

Instructional Guide

Learners will obtain a basic understanding of dysphagia and how we can use that knowledge to help the patient.

Intended Grade Level

This lesson is intended for students in grades 9-12. Students should be knowledgable on basic GI functions, including the normal path of ingesta.

Learning objectives

• Define dysphagia
• Understand the causes of dysphagia
• Recognize signs of dysphagia
• Learn how to diagnose dysphagia
• Be able to treat for dysphagia

Lesson Format

This can be done in any size group. Activities require a computer with internet access.

• First students will read signs, symptoms and causes of dysphagia. Then students will play a game sorting symptoms into categories based on their association with dysphagia.(15 minutes)
• Next, students read sections on diagnostics and treatments for dysphagia. (10 minutes)
• The assessment will be a short quiz (5 minutes)

Lesson Background

Dysphagia is the inability to properly swallow. There can be multiple causes, which will be discussed in detail, but the end result will be the same: the animal cannot swallow. This is distinct from regurgitation, when an animal’s food comes back out of its mouth before it has reached the stomach, and vomiting, in which an animal’s food has reached the stomach, then is expelled back out. So, if an animal is experiencing dysphagia, what comes out of its mouth will look very similar to the food it was just eating, as it has not experienced any kind of digestion. If an animal is regurgitating, the food will look more chewed and mushy, and they will appear to have slight effort getting the food up and out. If an animal is vomiting, their food will look like it has started the process of digestion, and they will have a lot of full body effort to get the food up and out.

Dysphagia can be caused by nerve issues, rabies, bad dental health, or a foreign body, which is when there is something stuck in the animal’s throat that they should not have eaten, like a toy.

When an animal is unable to swallow, this means that they are not able to consume any of the food they are attempting to eat. So, their body is not receiving any of the nutrients it needs and any of the nutrients that the food is providing.

Activities

Students will read through symptoms and drag them into the correct category based on the symptoms association with dysphagia.

Common misconceptions and challenge points

A potential challenge for students could be understanding the complexity of dysphagia and how different causes (nerve damage, rabies, dental issues, and foreign bodies) can lead to similar symptoms like drooling and difficulty swallowing. Since dysphagia is a relatively complex medical term, students might struggle with distinguishing between these causes, especially without direct observation of a cat or animal in distress. To address this, you can emphasize key differences in symptoms during the clue phase (e.g., rabies might show aggression, while a foreign body would cause drooling or gagging). Additionally, you can simplify the explanation of how nerve damage affects swallowing by describing it in terms of “signals” not getting to the muscles needed to swallow or how dental issues are directly related to pain while chewing.

Assessment

Students will take a brief quiz that focuses on the learning objectives.

Further exploration

Other chapters within this textbook may be interesting for students. Some options can be found linked below:

Jacob and Jeffrey’s Journey of Dysphagia

Whiskers’ Swallowing Struggles: A Journey to a Purrfect Diagnosis