Cotton ball test

The cotton ball test is a method of examining the visual sense in veterinary medicine , which is mainly used in dogs and cats. A cotton ball is dropped in the lateral field of vision ; alternatively, it is thrown from outside the field of vision into the dog's field of vision. Since the cotton ball falls almost silently, no hearing correction can be made. In addition, the cotton ball falls slowly enough to trigger a visual chase response. If it has eyesight, the animal follows the falling cotton ball. Sluggish animals sometimes only react with a short tip of their ears, which, however, indicate that the cotton ball has been noticed.

If the animal does not react to the falling cotton ball, either severe impairment of vision or impaired consciousness may be present.

literature

• Hans Georg Nobody, Peter F. Suter: Internship at the dog clinic . Georg Thieme Verlag, 10th edition 2006, ISBN 9783830441410 , p. 1022.
• Bernhard Spiess: cotton ball test . In: Andre Jaggy (ed.): Atlas and textbook of small animal neurology . Schlütersche, Hannover 2005, ISBN = 3-87706-739-5, pp. 34–35.