From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2009-06-16 20:31:40 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Hoping to get an article to read
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, Sukie Crandall <sukiec@...> wrote:
>
> These have also caused acute kidney failure in ferrets
> so I am curious what factors have been found since to
> date the cause has been a mystery.
>
> Vet Rec. 2009 Apr 4;164(14):430-1.
> Factors influencing outcome of Vitis vinifera (grapes, raisins,
> currants and sultanas) intoxication in dogs.
> Sutton NM, Bates N, Campbell A.
> Veterinary Poisons Information Service (London), Medical Toxicology
> Unit, Avonley Road, New Cross, London SE14 5ER.
>
> PMID: 19346542
Many thanks to Pam who got this to me.
The article is about the treatment of such poisoning and what
is more likely to result in survival. Basically, rapid treatment
makes a huge difference as do emetics. Repeated doses of
activated charcoal are recommended. All need fluid therapy
at double maintenance rates for at least 48 hours.
The VPIS, which is a 24 hour animal poisoning help service
in England, also had reports of such poisonings in cats and
in a ferret as well as dogs. In the U.S. all three have also
had such poisoning situations.
Among dogs the amount which is poisonous varied among
individuals. It did not correlate to the size of dose nor to the
size, breed, age, or gender of the dogs in this new article.
At this point it is not known if some individuals are more sensitive
or if some of the fruit simply has worse concentrations of
whatever caused the kidneys to fail.
Hypotheses which have been advanced over the last 8 years --
some of which have been at least partly investigated -- have
included:
* tannin overload
(Tannins occur naturally in plants and some can have medical
benefits such as the ones in cranberries, blueberries and possibly
in bilberries that prevent bacteria from sticking to the wall of
the urinary bladder. Others, such as the ones in oak leaves and
those which must be soaked repeatedly from acorns to make them
safe to use for flour, are poisonous. What is poisonous can also
vary among types of animals, a topic that has some up here in the
past when people accidently poisoned their ferrets with drug store
meds that are safe for humans.)
* mycotoxins
(These are poisons that fungi such as molds produce.)
* pesticides
(I think that I recall seeing some studies into some of these in the
past without success.)
* heavy metals
(Boy, are heavy metals turning out to be a hot topic recently
on the FHL.)
* sugar overload
* Vitamin D poisoning
(This is a topic that has come up before. In humans we often
do not get enough D but are more prone to overloading on A.
In dogs and it appears from some nutrition studies also in ferrets
there usually is not too much A -- perhaps not a surprise for a
type of animal who ancestors regularly ate liver -- but they can
more easily over-do Vitamin D with health consequences. Again,
perhaps not a surprise since the ancestors denned in daylight.)
*"idiosyncratic reactions due to enzymatic differences"
So, no answer yet for why these poisonings happen, but more info
about what to do when they do occur.
PLUS, people in Britain might want to look up the contact info
for this service and share it to help others in case a poisoning occurs.
I've so often heard that there is no service like the ASPCA's Animal
Poison Control hotlines in nations other than the U.S., but obviously
there is at least one but it is just not well enough known. If people
would post the contact info for animal poison control in their own
nations it would be handy in the Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
for those who need it.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
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