α-chloralose poisoning in a cat

A five-year-old domestic cat with acute unexplainable neurological signs was presented for postmortem examination. Clinically, the cat showed an acute onset of ataxia, depressed mentation and continuous twitching/ seizure activity in the morning after having been outside overnight. Despite immediate...

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Main Authors: Grau-Roma, Llorenç, Stephens, Adam, Wessmann, Annette, Carmichael, Nick, de Brot, Simone
Format: Article
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2016
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37339/
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author Grau-Roma, Llorenç
Stephens, Adam
Wessmann, Annette
Carmichael, Nick
de Brot, Simone
author_facet Grau-Roma, Llorenç
Stephens, Adam
Wessmann, Annette
Carmichael, Nick
de Brot, Simone
author_sort Grau-Roma, Llorenç
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description A five-year-old domestic cat with acute unexplainable neurological signs was presented for postmortem examination. Clinically, the cat showed an acute onset of ataxia, depressed mentation and continuous twitching/ seizure activity in the morning after having been outside overnight. Despite immediate treatment, the cat# progressed within 24 hours to a comatose state, opisthotonus and severe miosis unresponsive to light. Given a poor prognosis, euthanasia was elected. Gross findings were disappointing and consisted of a nonspecific lung oedema and congested lungs and spleen. Surprisingly, within the stomach and intestines, fragments of cockshafers were found. Histological examination confirmed the gross findings and additionally showed evidence of mild brain oedema, but failed to identify a cause for the severe clinical signs. In a final attempt to solve the case, a urine sample was tested for toxic substances and it was found to contain a significant amount of α-chloralose. This finding was unexpected.
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spelling nottingham-373392020-05-04T17:51:32Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37339/ α-chloralose poisoning in a cat Grau-Roma, Llorenç Stephens, Adam Wessmann, Annette Carmichael, Nick de Brot, Simone A five-year-old domestic cat with acute unexplainable neurological signs was presented for postmortem examination. Clinically, the cat showed an acute onset of ataxia, depressed mentation and continuous twitching/ seizure activity in the morning after having been outside overnight. Despite immediate treatment, the cat# progressed within 24 hours to a comatose state, opisthotonus and severe miosis unresponsive to light. Given a poor prognosis, euthanasia was elected. Gross findings were disappointing and consisted of a nonspecific lung oedema and congested lungs and spleen. Surprisingly, within the stomach and intestines, fragments of cockshafers were found. Histological examination confirmed the gross findings and additionally showed evidence of mild brain oedema, but failed to identify a cause for the severe clinical signs. In a final attempt to solve the case, a urine sample was tested for toxic substances and it was found to contain a significant amount of α-chloralose. This finding was unexpected. BMJ Publishing Group 2016-05-17 Article PeerReviewed Grau-Roma, Llorenç, Stephens, Adam, Wessmann, Annette, Carmichael, Nick and de Brot, Simone (2016) α-chloralose poisoning in a cat. Veterinary Record Case Reports, 4 (e00031). ISSN 2052-6121 http://vetrecordcasereports.bmj.com/content/4/1/e000313 doi:10.1136/vetreccr-2016-000313 doi:10.1136/vetreccr-2016-000313
spellingShingle Grau-Roma, Llorenç
Stephens, Adam
Wessmann, Annette
Carmichael, Nick
de Brot, Simone
α-chloralose poisoning in a cat
title α-chloralose poisoning in a cat
title_full α-chloralose poisoning in a cat
title_fullStr α-chloralose poisoning in a cat
title_full_unstemmed α-chloralose poisoning in a cat
title_short α-chloralose poisoning in a cat
title_sort α-chloralose poisoning in a cat
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37339/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37339/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37339/