Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog coma from eating euthanized animal tissue on beach
By Bischoff, Karyn et al.·Published in Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology·2011·Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: An unusual case of relay pentobarbital toxicosis in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old female spayed Australian shepherd was found unresponsive after eating something on the beach. After a vet examined her, they discovered she had ingested animal tissue that contained harmful substances from a euthanized whale. The dog was treated with supportive care and recovered well, being released from the hospital three days later. This case highlights the dangers of pets consuming carcasses from euthanized animals, especially in areas where wildlife may wash ashore.
People also search for: dog coma after beach · Australian shepherd eating whale blubber · dog pentobarbital poisoning treatment
Abstract
Sodium pentobarbital and phenytoin are common constituents of veterinary euthanasia solutions in the United States. Relay, or secondary, barbiturate toxicosis has been reported in carnivorous animals that have fed from the carcasses of euthanized livestock. This case report presents barbiturate toxicosis in a dog. A 2-year-old female spayed Australian shepherd presented comatose 2 h after ingesting an unknown substance on the beach. The material was retrieved from the stomach by gastric lavage and visually identified as fish or other animal tissue. The dog recovered with symptomatic and supportive therapy and was released on the third day of hospitalization. Tissue found on the beach near where the dog walked and a urine sample from the dog were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Both samples were positive for pentobarbital and phenytoin. The tissue was consistent with mammalian blubber based on gross and histological examination. Three weeks previously, a juvenile humpback whale had stranded on the beach where the dog had ingested the unknown substance. The whale had been euthanized with a barbiturate solution, necropsied, and removed from the beach. It was not definitively determined that the pentobarbital-containing blubber ingested by the dog was from the euthanized whale, but that was the most likely source. Although attempts were made to remove the whale's remains from the beach, practical considerations made complete removal challenging, if not impossible.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21660622/