i would assume that quadrupeds suffer from environmental stresses like a human.  if there is a drought and the animal is severely malnurished during an early developmental period, a hypoplasia may be observed in the dentition.  this would only show up if the malnurishment occurred really early when those teeth were being developed.  malnurished individuals may also suffer in other forms of development.  long bones may retain Harris lines where juvenile bone stopped growing because the resources needed for bone growth were not available.  Harris lines are only visible in x-rays and may not be easily available to a researcher. 

good luck, adam heinrich