Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog deaths after surgery from zinc poisoning by penny ingestion
By Meurs, K M et al.Ā·Published in Veterinary and human toxicologyĀ·1991Ā·Department of Companion Animal and Special Species MedicineĀ·View original on PubMed ā
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Original publication title: Postsurgical mortality secondary to zinc toxicity in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A dog was brought in after accidentally swallowing a copper-coated zinc penny, which can be very toxic. Unfortunately, this dog, along with two others in similar cases, faced severe health issues after surgery, leading to two deaths shortly after the operation and one dog being euthanized five days later due to worsening condition. This highlights the dangers of zinc poisoning from pennies and the need for improved treatment options to help affected dogs recover after surgery.
People also search for: dog zinc poisoning symptoms Ā· dog swallowed penny treatment Ā· post-surgery complications in dogs
Abstract
Zinc may be extremely toxic when absorbed from a metallic foreign body retained in the stomach. The most common cause of zinc toxicosis in dogs appears associated with accidental ingestion of copper-coated zinc pennies minted after 1982. In a retrospective literature search, zinc toxicosis due to penny ingestion was reported in 5 dogs, 2 of which died postoperatively, and 1 was euthanatized due to severe multiorgan system failure. In this report, we describe 3 additional cases of zinc toxicosis due to penny ingestion that resulted in a fatal outcome. Two dogs died during the early postoperative period, and another dog was euthanatized 5 d postoperatively due to continued deterioration. These cases emphasize the potential of perioperative complications associated with zinc toxicosis due to penny ingestion and suggest the need for better treatment options to decrease postsurgical mortality associated with this disease entity.
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Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1808836/