ferret - Articles
Acetaminophen toxicity
Introduction
- Cause: ingestion of acetaminophen, a pain reliever for humans for control of fever, headaches, joint or muscle pain.
- Signs: hepatic necrosis, methemoglobinemia and acute renal failure (rare).
- Diagnosis: blood biochemistry: alanine aminotransferase, serum alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin and albumin.
- Treatment: emesis and/or activated charcoal, N-acetylcysteine, cimetidine, ascorbic acid.
- Prognosis: poor.
Presenting signs
- Initially there may be lethargy and anorexia.
Cost considerations
- Treatment may be prolonged and expensive in some cases.
Pathogenesis
Etiology
- Ingestion of acetaminophen (tablets or liquid), a pain reliever for humans for control of fever, headaches, joint or muscle pain:
- Europe: paracetamol.
- USA: acetaminophen.
- In ferrets, glucuronidation of acetaminophen is relatively slow in the liver compared with all other species (except the cat). This makes ferrets (and cats) more vulnerable to acetaminophen toxicosis.
- Ferret red blood cells appear to be sensitive to oxidative stress and may be prone to the formation of methemoglobinemia with exposure.
- Hepatic damage may also occur; liver necrosis and resulting fibrosis may compromise long-term liver function.
- Pulmonary edema and liver and kindey congestion may be seen.
Predisposing factors
General
- Owners dosing their ferrets or ferrets gaining access to and ingesting acetaminophen.
Timecourse
- Clinical signs are expected 12-48 h after ingestion of acetaminophen.
Diagnosis
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Treatment
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Prevention
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Outcomes
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Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Court M H (2001) Acetaminophen UDP-glucuronosyltransferase in ferrets: species and gender differences, and sequence analysis of ferrets UGT1A6. J Vet Pharmacol Therap 24 (6), 415-422 PubMed.
Other sources of information
- Fox J G & Marini R P (2014) Eds. Biology and Diseases of the Ferret. 3rd edn. Wiley Blackwell, USA. pp 835.
- Mayer J & Donnelly T M (2013) Clinical Veterinary Advisor: Birds and Exotic Pets. Elsevier, USA. pp 752.