Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog vomited after acute levothyroxine overdose treated with charcoal
By Hansen, S R et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1992·Department of Veterinary Biosciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Acute overdose of levothyroxine in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A healthy 6-year-old dog accidentally ingested a massive overdose of levothyroxine, leading to vomiting and unusual eye movements within hours. The veterinarian treated the dog with activated charcoal and a saline laxative to help remove the medication from its system. While the dog's thyroid hormone levels were extremely high at first, they gradually returned to normal over several weeks. Fortunately, the dog showed no lasting damage and recovered well after supportive care.
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Abstract
An overdose of up to 850 levothyroxine sodium tablets (0.2 mg) in a healthy 6-year-old 16.8-kg dog induced an episode of vomiting and hippus within 9 hours of ingestion. The dog was treated with activated charcoal and saline (magnesium sulfate) cathartic. Initially the serum concentration of thyroxine (T4) 4,900.9 nmol/L. On the second day, serum concentration of triiodothyronine (T3) was 5.3 nmol/L. Serum T4 concentration decreased slowly and was not determined to be normal until day 36. Serum T3 concentration was found to be normal on day 6. Serum alanine transaminase activity peaked on day 6 at 345 U/L. Significant abnormalities were not found during the following 36 days. Clinical signs of thyroid hormone toxicosis in dogs and cats include hyperactivity, lethargy, tachycardia, tachypnea, dyspnea, abnormal pupillary light reflexes, vomiting, and diarrhea. High overdoses of levothyroxine sodium in dogs should be managed by initial decontamination and administration of activated charcoal with a cathartic followed by supportive care.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1612989/