NAVLE Practice Questions 2026: 8 Exam-Style Items Explained

Answer: C — Pancreatitis

Cats with pancreatitis are usually lethargic and hyporexic or anorexic, so a ravenous appetite does not fit. Hyperthyroidism, diabetes mellitus and acromegaly are the classic feline causes of polyphagia, and all three are diseases of middle-aged to older cats. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency can cause polyphagia, so do not confuse it with pancreatitis.

• A. Hyperthyroidism raises metabolic rate and is the textbook cause of polyphagia with weight loss in older cats.
• B. Diabetes mellitus causes polyphagia because cells cannot use glucose, usually alongside PU/PD and weight loss.
• D. Acromegaly (excess growth hormone, usually from a pituitary tumor) causes marked polyphagia and insulin-resistant diabetes.

Answer: C — Polioencephalomalacia; parenteral thiamine

Central (cortical) blindness with intact pupillary reflexes, dorsomedial strabismus, head pressing and opisthotonos in a group of young ruminants on a high-grain diet is the textbook picture of polioencephalomalacia (cerebrocortical necrosis). Thiamine deficiency from altered rumen flora or excess dietary sulfur is the usual cause. Parenteral thiamine given early is both treatment and a diagnostic test, since early cases improve within hours to a day.

• A. Pregnancy toxemia affects does in late gestation carrying multiple fetuses, with ketonuria; it does not fit 8-month-olds on a high-energy ration.
• B. Listeriosis causes asymmetric brainstem signs (unilateral facial paralysis, head tilt, circling) with normal vision, and is linked to silage, not blindness from a grain ration.
• D. The neurologic form of CAE affects kids of about 2-4 months with progressive ascending paresis; it does not cause an acute group outbreak of cortical blindness.

Answer: D — V, VII and VIII

Listeria monocytogenes travels up the trigeminal nerve and forms microabscesses in the brainstem (rhombencephalitis). Damage to CN V explains the weak jaw and reduced facial sensation, CN VII the drooping ear, eyelid and lip, and CN VIII (vestibular) the head tilt and circling. CN IX and X can also be involved, but V, VII and VIII account for the signs described here.

• A. CN II is spared in listeriosis (vision is normal), and CN VI deficits are not part of the classic picture.
• B. CN VII and X leave out the trigeminal (jaw tone, facial sensation) and vestibular (head tilt, circling) signs.
• C. CN II and III are intact here: normal vision and pupils point away from cortical or optic disease such as polioencephalomalacia or lead poisoning.

Answer: B — Desmopressin acetate 1 mcg/kg SC

Desmopressin (DDAVP) releases stored von Willebrand factor from endothelial cells, raising plasma vWF for a few hours. The usual dose for type 1 vWD is 1 mcg/kg SC (or diluted IV) about 30 minutes before surgery. Repeat doses lose effect as the stores run out, so blood products such as cryoprecipitate should still be on hand.

• A. 1 mg/kg is a 1,000-fold overdose; the trap is mg versus mcg.
• C. Vitamin K1 replaces vitamin K-dependent factors (II, VII, IX, X), as in anticoagulant rodenticide toxicity. PT and aPTT are normal here, and vWD is a defect of primary hemostasis.
• D. Prednisone does not raise vWF; corticosteroids are used for immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, and this dog's platelet count is normal.

Answer: A — Aortoiliac thrombosis

Exercise-induced hind-limb lameness that resolves with rest, a cool limb that does not sweat, slow saphenous filling, weak distal pulses, a reduced iliac pulse on rectal palpation and muscle atrophy all point to reduced arterial flow from a thrombus at the terminal aorta or iliac arteries. Transrectal ultrasound of the aorta and iliac arteries confirms the diagnosis.

• B. Thrombophlebitis is a venous problem, usually of the jugular vein after catheters or injections; it does not reduce hind-limb arterial pulses, and this horse has no such history.
• C. Bacterial endocarditis brings fever, a murmur and systemic illness, none of which are present.
• D. Exertional rhabdomyolysis (tying-up) causes stiff, painful muscles with high CK and AST after exercise, but peripheral pulses and saphenous filling are normal.

Answer: B — Congestive heart failure from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Maine coons are predisposed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and this cat has a history of a murmur. Pleural effusion is a common way congestive heart failure shows in cats, low body temperature is frequent in feline CHF, and a murmur can soften or vanish when effusion muffles the heart or output falls. Stabilize with oxygen and thoracocentesis, then confirm with a focused echocardiogram (left atrial size) or NT-proBNP.

• A. Idiopathic chylothorax is possible, but a chylous effusion in a cat can itself be caused by heart failure, and the breed and murmur history make heart disease the better first explanation.
• C. Pyothorax usually follows bite wounds or aspirated foreign material in outdoor cats and is often accompanied by fever; nothing in the history points to it over heart disease.
• D. Mediastinal lymphoma typically affects young cats (often FeLV-positive) with a cranial mediastinal mass and a non-compressible cranial thorax, which is not described.

Answer: C — Report a suspected foreign animal disease to the State Veterinarian or USDA APHIS right away and stop animal movement

Vesicular diseases in pigs cannot be told apart clinically: foot-and-mouth disease, swine vesicular disease, vesicular stomatitis, vesicular exanthema and Senecavirus A look the same. Any vesicular lesion in a cloven-hoofed animal is treated as possible FMD and reported immediately to state or federal animal health officials, who send a Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostician to collect samples. Meanwhile animal movement stops and you follow strict biosecurity when leaving the farm.

• A. Samples are collected by a Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostician and sent to national reference laboratories; shipping them yourself through routine channels delays the response and risks spreading virus.
• B. The lesions point to a viral vesicular disease; antibiotics do not treat it, and a 48-hour delay before reporting could let FMD spread.
• D. Depopulation is decided by state and federal authorities after diagnosis, not by the attending practitioner as a first step.

Answer: B — FeLV at least 30 days and FIV at least 60 days after the bite

Infected cats test negative early in infection: most become FeLV antigen-positive within 30 days and develop FIV antibodies within 60 days. The AAFP therefore advises retesting a minimum of 30 days after the last possible FeLV exposure and 60 days after the last possible FIV exposure. Keep the cat away from other cats until it is retested.

• A. Three days is well inside the window before FeLV antigenemia or FIV antibodies develop, so a negative test now cannot rule out infection.
• C. Fourteen days is still too early for either test to turn positive reliably.
• D. This reverses the windows: FeLV antigen appears first (about 30 days) and FIV antibodies later (about 60 days).