Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with bleeding and breathing trouble from phenprocoumon poisoning
By Lutze, G et al.·Published in DTW. Deutsche tierarztliche Wochenschrift·2003·Institut fü·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: [Case report. Phenprocoumon (Marcumar, Falithrom) as an unusual reason for coumarin poisoning in a dog].
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old male West Highland White Terrier was brought in with breathing problems and a general decline in health, which turned out to be due to coumarin poisoning. The dog had a large accumulation of blood in the chest (hemothorax) and showed signs of severe bleeding. After giving him vitamin K1, his condition improved quickly. Tests confirmed that he had been poisoned by phenprocoumon, a medication typically used in humans, rather than the more common warfarin. The dog recovered well after treatment.
People also search for: dog breathing problems · West Highland White Terrier coumarin poisoning · vitamin K treatment for dogs
Abstract
Coumarin poisoning in dogs is not unusual and is in most cases caused by warfarin, a coumarin derivative which is used as a rodenticide. Competitive inhibition of vitamin K with an incomplete synthesis of the coagulation factors II, VII, IX and X can lead to a significant bleeding tendency. We observed a 3-year old male West Highland White Terrier with a reduced general condition and dyspnoea together with a massive haemothorax. Administration of vitamin K1 (3 mg/kg) led to a rapid improvement of the condition. Coagulation analysis revealed a prolonged activated recalcification time (ARCT), prothrombin time (PT) and aPTT with uncharacteristic thrombin time (TT); factor II, VII and X activities were reduced while factor V activity was normal, all of which are characteristic for coumarin poisoning. HPLC did not reveal the presence of warfarin but of phenoprocoumon, a drug used for thromboembolic prophylaxis in humans. This observation has not been described for dogs to date.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12596669/