Ethylene Glycol

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kelly Worner — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:08:46 GMT

Thats awfull :-( dare I ask the outcome for the cases?

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Jo Moore — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:44:55 GMT

We have just been talking about that very thing today!! After having the about the 5th case in as many weeks!!!!!!

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kelly Worner — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:24:55 GMT

Hi Alex

Thanks for your post I will def try and dig that paper out :-) it is a topic close to my heart now. It was the 1st case i'd delt with in my 4 yrs in practice and im sure it probably won't be my last just unfortunate for me that it was my own cat :-( and the outcome wasn't good.

Thanks once again

Kelly

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Tracey Louise — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:41:29 GMT

We have a cat hospitalised at the moment with the poisoning, been on i/v fluids for 3 weeks now. BUN/CREA levels were sky high on the first day, now slowly coming down but still very high, so fingers crossed for this one.

I have heard that it can take 4 weeks at least to treat.

The owners lost there other cat the night before with the same symptoms.

This is the first case in 6 years of nursing that I have seen survive.

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Alexander Campbell — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:48:32 GMT

Hi Kelly

Thought I'd pick up on your post with regard to oxalate crysalluria in ethylene glycol poisonings. Oxalate crystals can indeed be formed very rapidly in cases where significant quantities of EG have been ingested and absorbed - often with a couple of hours or so - but this is not universally the case, especially for ingestion of smaller quantities. So the scenario you descibe is not unexpected. The most important thing therefore to bear in mind is that absence of oxalate crystalluria DOES NOT and SHOULD NOT exclude Ethylene Glycol intoxication from a differential diagnosis.

There's a really good paper on feline toxicological emergencies by Tobias Grave and Amanda Boag recently published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (2010) vol 12, pp849-860 which does cover ethylene glycol amongst other intoxications (lilies, permethrin, paracetamol etc) which you might like to track down and read.

Cheers

Alex

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kelly Worner — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:43:48 GMT

I was glad to hear that your Kitty recovered but sad to hear about the others that didn't. I lost a cat to the horrible stuff in August this yr he was only 7 yrs old :-( heartbroken does not come close. He was on high fluid rate but despite this we couldn't get his renal parameters anywhere close to normal. We did a cysto on him 8hrs after symptoms occured but found no Oxalate crystals when we first did it but then as he was insured I refered him and 48 hrs after the onset of symptoms the referal centre found Oxalate so not sure why we didn't as if im right in thinking they are present pretty quick after ingestion??? also if I got him on fluids pretty quick after ingestion could that have slowed the production of the crystals??? Not sure how he got hold of the stuff but wish they would do something to make it so appealing to them :-(

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Alexander Campbell — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:29:13 GMT

Hi Kathryn

Very sorry to read your latest post and I entirely concur with your sentiments about malicious poisoning. This is one of the substances we are very careful about releasing toxicity data about in case it encourages these malign people.
At VPIS we hear about spates of poisoning all too often - if you want to refer your local press to us for stats to support any article please feel free to refer them to me if you think that might help.

Alex

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kathryn Dyson — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 14:32:11 GMT

Well I have had another terrible few weeks. Pumpkin came home on the 30th Oct and is doing fantastic, her kidney parameters are nearly normal (with Phos being well within normal range ) but later that evening our other cat Wispa began vomiting and shaking. A very rushed journey to vets now confirmed he too had been poisoned. He is still with us, his kidneys again are in a bad way but he is drinking, eating and urinating so again all good signs. There were obvious oxylate crystals and casts in his urine so we are almost certain that it must have been some form of antifreeze that they were poisoned with. He is home with us at the moment, still on iv fluids but he was so depressed at work we decided to give him a go at home, which he is very happy about.

I have contacted the RSPCA and i have had the local police around several times and although they seem very keen to persue the case, there is not much to go on at the moment. Since i last posted there has been another 2 cats and a puppy also poisoned. One cat is again still on fluid therapy but the other cat and puppy have not made it I have also contacted all my local papers to see if they would be interested in writing an article to warn other local residents and i am still waiting to hear from them.

I just cannot believe that people still do this torture to animals in this day and age. I said to my husband that i would have just preferred the sick twisted individuals to have just killed them outright rather than a slow and painful death.

Anyway just thought i would update you all. This is not really the stress that i need at the moment being 5 months pregnant and I have my L3 theory exams on thursday eeeeek!

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kathryn Dyson — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:55:20 GMT

Sorry i have not replied to any of you guys. I am pleased to inform you that Pumpkin should be coming home for the weekend if her hydration status remains good for the rest of the day. Her kidney parameters have improved vastly (still not normal but much better than they were). She is now off iv fluids which she is very pleased about as she is getting so sore.

We did confirm it was antifreeze poisoning. There was calcium oxylate crystals in her urine, and 2 other cats local to me have been found dead/pts due to being poisoned.

I am aware that she is still not out of the woods and by the looks of things she will probably be on renal food to the rest of her life but i am just so happy to see her smooching around, fussing everyone and begging for food and cuddles

Thanks for all your support guys and will keep you updated.

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kim Buckley — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 10:33:40 GMT

I have never seen one survive.

We did have three cats down one street who had ingested something (we don't know what but wasn't ethylene glycol) and they were all very ill with high renal values and one was seizuring. We managed to get two of them through with IVFT and lots of TLC. Hope your kitty pulls through!

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:19:14 GMT

I agree Sal, none of mine were not that dehydrated, I have lost cats as you know, and have read many articles etc and also know the tests I have done and should be done to confirm for this type of poisoning, I am by no means an expert, but dont want to to give newbies the wrong idea on something so potentially dangerous, that some may actually survive from this. Unless they are seen drinking/lapping this stuff, and are treated immediately....with alcohol , then they wont survive, thats my opinion, and I stand by it! unless someone has written proof to prove me wrong I will continue to think this!

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Sal the 1st — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:26:26 GMT

I am glad you posted that Sandra , I was wondering the same. The antifreeze cats that I have seen havnt usually been that noticeably dehydrated when they are presented (unless the have been vomiting a lot - in which case treating them is pretty hopeless as the kidneys will already be severly damaged). Is it possible that she could have just been shut in somewhere and that is the cause of the dehydration and kidney values are as a result of this?

anyway whatever the cause I hope she comes through it for you

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 00:35:55 GMT

I very much doubt if it was antifreeze seeing as the cat is still here, glad she is of course but that stuff kills... all the time so I would be looking at something else that may have poisoned her. Did you check her urine for calcium oxalate/casts etc or her blood calcium levels, this usually confirms antifreeze poisoning. Hope she continues to improve everything is crossed

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Phrin Vernon RVN — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:59:04 GMT

fingers crossed for her here too

Re: Ethylene Glycol

lorraine wiggins — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:39:43 GMT

so sorry to hear this its such a nasty product. i hope she pulls through and sounds like shes happier to be at home. fingers crossed

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kathryn Dyson — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:24:36 GMT

Yes she is still with us at the moment, I have brought her home for the weekend, she is on iv fluids still and ive got her in a crate, but she seems so much brighter and happier to be home. She is eating , drinking and urinating. Her kidney results are still sky high but there is no plan to retest them now until next week, unless there is any deterioration. Vet is happy to persevere with her as she seems so comfortable. I know we are nowhere near the end of the road or out of the woods yet but im just so glad to have her home for the moment.

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Saskia Quinn — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:42:08 GMT

so sorry to hear about your cat

did she pull through? x

Re: Ethylene Glycol

crian shenston — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 22:03:20 GMT

sound good,i've not seen one do that well in all the ones we've had,fingers crossed, it sound as though her kidneys are at least working ,fingers crossed.

Re: Ethylene Glycol

crian shenston — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 22:00:43 GMT

well i've gotta say if she's doing that well then she's doing better than any of the cases i've seen,they've all been pretty bad and in no way have been fit to eat or drink and definately not urinating so all good signs, fingers crossed ,keep us posted

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:02:27 GMT

I have lost 3 cats to this,and 2 were at the staggering stage, one wasnot, all had to be pts I am afraid, even after high rate fluids, one managed to last 2 days before he started fitting, the other 2 it was a matter of hours.If you dnt actually see them consume it , it's already too late.

Re: Ethylene Glycol

Kathryn Dyson — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:59:48 GMT

thanks for all you kind words and advice guys.

Ive not been at work today, been at college (and no matter how much i wanted to skip the day and go to work instead, I knew i shouldnt cos ive only got 5 weeks left eek!), but reports from work were that she is brighter, eating, drinking, urinating and wanting lots of fuss. Her blood results were the same as yesterday but im not expecting any miracles. While she seems comfortable and willing to eat i will persevere with the treatment.

I will keep you all updated on her progress and keep my fingers crossed.

Re: Ethylene Glycol

crian shenston — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:45:31 GMT

we had a few a couple of months ago and apparentely it's used as a coolant in summer also which i didnt know so its no just winter time that moggies are at risk :-(

Re: Ethylene Glycol

monkeybrains13 — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:12:07 GMT

really sorry to hear about ur cat, we are currently are having an outbreak of it here unfortunately, the rspca and police are getting involved, and to think its not even proper icey in the mornings yet....

anyways i have my fingers crossed for u

Re: Ethylene Glycol

crian shenston — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:31:09 GMT

unfortunately we've had alot of these cases over the last year or so ?someone doing it deliberately 3 of which lived on the same close, sorry to say none of them have made it.Some had ethanol i/v but it didnt help.Unless you see the cat drink it and give the alcohol i/v immediately i think the chances are slim.I wish someone would do something about this substance to make it less appealing to drink! Hope your cat is one of the few that recovers x

Re: Ethylene Glycol

thebeestingbutterfly — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:25:48 GMT

yeah i think it is pretty risky to do and im pretty sure it was an early catch!, it was during a massive outbreak of poisonings- made the paper.

It was awful!