Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Puppy with severe vomiting and jaundice from zinc poisoning
By Gandini, G et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2002·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical and pathological findings of acute zinc intoxication in a puppy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A young puppy was brought to the vet after experiencing four days of severe vomiting and diarrhea, along with yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice). Unfortunately, despite intensive treatment, the puppy passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital. A postmortem exam revealed a metallic object in the stomach that was mostly made of zinc, which caused significant damage to the liver and kidneys. The puppy's blood showed extremely high levels of zinc, indicating acute zinc poisoning.
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Abstract
This report describes the clinical and pathological findings in a case of acute zinc poisoning in a young dog. The puppy suffered four days of progressively more severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Jaundice and pale mucous membranes, severe haematemesis and haemoglobinuria were other findings. Despite intensive therapy, the dog died a few hours after hospitalisation. Postmortem examination revealed a metallic foreign body in the stomach, catarrhal gastritis, hepatomegaly and enlarged, dark kidneys. Histology showed hepatic centrilobular vacuolar degeneration, haemoglobinuric nephrosis with early tubular necrosis, haemosiderosis and extramedullary haematopoiesis, as well as neuronal damage. The foreign body was mainly composed of zinc. Plasma zinc values were markedly raised (34.5 microg/ml; normal range 0.8 to 1.0 microg/ml). Pathophysiological mechanisms of zinc poisoning are discussed.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12489742/