Health & Nutrition

Antifreeze anecdote offered by licensed veterinarian, Marcia Van Brunt, DVM: I found one source of good information that clearly states the use or oral ethanol (highest concentration ethanol is in Everclear). Antifreeze is Ethylene Glycol. The minimum lethal dose in dogs is 1.4 ml/kg body wt. (11 pound dog weighs 5 kg so lethal dose is 7 mls (1.4 teaspoon). Immediate treatment is manatory for survival. After 3 hrs post-ingestion, complete absorption has already occured. Peak concentration is 3 hrs). The preferred treatment is 4-MP (4-methylpyrazole) which inactivates alcohol dehydrongenase without the side effects of the ethanol - which must be used carefully. The following is an except from a proceedings: Treatment/Management/Prevention: SPECIFIC 1) Decontamination procedures (induction of vomiting, gastric lavage, and administration of activated charcoal) are not usually not beneficial due to the rapidity with which EG is absorbed. 2) Fomepizole or ethanol treatment must be administered within 8 hours of ingestion in order to be effective. Once azotemia, oliguria, or anuria are present, the prognosis is poor to grave without long-term peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis regimens. 9 3)Fomepizole or 4-methylpyrazole (Antizol Vet® by Orphan Medical): 20 mg/kg (slow IV over 15-30 minutes), then 15mg/kg (slow IV) at 12 and 24 hours, and then 5 mg/kg is given at 36 hours.3 This is the preferred treatment for treating ethylene glycol toxicoses in dogs 5-7 but it is not effective at this dose in cats. 8 Dogs that present by 5 hours or less following ethylene glycol ingestion can usually treated as outpatients. 3Fomepizole is an ADH inhibitor, rather than a competitive substrate, and does not induce CNS depression, diuresis, or hyperosmolality at the recommended dosage. Adverse clinical signs are rare. 3 4) Ethanol: Ethanol has several unfavorable side effects because it enhances many of the metabolic effects of EG. Both ethanol and EG are central nervous system depressants, which include CNS depression, hyperosmolality and metabolic acidosis. The central nervous system depression produced by high serum ethanol concentrations mandates hospitalization and intravenous fluid therapy for at least 48 hours. Bolus injections may increase serum ethanol concentration to the point of suppressing respiration so monitoring is in order. Several different treatment regimes have been described; see Special Considerations regarding how to make 7 % solutions. Fluid of choice is 5% dextrose in 0.9% NaCl. Make a 7 % ethanol solution and give 8.6 ml/kg slowly IV followed by a CRI of 1.43 ml/kg/hr for at least 36 hours although 48 hours is probably better. If the EG test was positive initially, then you can check it before you stop treatment; discontinue treatment if it reverted to negative. The half-life of ethylene glycol in UNTREATED dogs is 2.5-3.5 hours. By treating with either ethanol or 4MP we decrease the metabolism and therefore increase the half life, so we need to treat longer than the normal 5-7 half lives we normally use as our gauge. Make a 20% ethanol solution and give dogs 5.5 ml/kg every 4 hours for 5 treatments then every 6 hours for 4 treatments. 3 Administer 1.3 ml/kg of a 30 percent ethanol solution as a bolus, followed by constant intravenous infusion of 0.42 ml/kg/hour for 48 hours. 3 If IV administration is not possible, ethanol can be given orally, but gastric irritation may result in vomiting. An effective dose is approximately 2 to 3 ml/lb of an 80 proof (40% ethanol) alcoholic beverage. 3If oral ethanol is used as an emergency antidote, activated charcoal should definitely not be given since absorption of ethanol is significantly inhibited by charcoal. 5) If azotemia or oliguria/anuria are present, neither ethanol or fomepizole will be successful. Dialysis treatment is required. 9 That concludes the portion of the article on treatment of antifreeze toxicity. I hope this helps. Good luck. I would paraphase the above info. (oliguria/anuria means little or absence of urine production.

Plants Toxic To Cats And Dogs Aloe Vera Amarylillis Apple (seeds) Apple Leaf Croton Apricot (pit) Asparagus Fern Autumn Crocus Avacado (fruit and pit) Azalea Baby's Breath Bird of Paradise Bittersweet Branching Ivy Buckey Buddist Pine Caladium Calla Lily Castor Bean Ceriman Charming Dieffenbachia Cherry (seeds and wilting leaves) Chinese Evergreen Christmas Rose Cineraria Clematis Cordatum Corn Plant Cornstalk Plant Croton Cuban Laurel Cutleaf Philodendron Cycads Cyclamen Daffodil Devil's Ivy Dieffenbachia Dracaena Palm Dragon Tree Dumb Cane Easter Lily (especially in cats!!!!) Elaine Elephant Ears Emerald Feather English Ivy Fiddle-leaf fig Flori! da Beauty Foxglove Fruit Salad Plant Geranium German I vy Giant Dumb Cane Glacier Ivy Gold Dieffenbachia Gold Dust Dracaena Golden Pothos Hahn's Self-Branching Ivy Heartland Philodendron Hurricane Plant Indian Rubber Plant Janet Craig Dracaena Japanese Show Lily (especially cats !!!) Jeusalem Cherry Kalanchoe Lacy Tree Philodendron Lily of the Valley Madagascar Dragon Tree Marble Queen Marijuana Mexican Breadfruit Miniature Croton Mistletoe Morning Glory Mother-in Law's Tongue Narcissus Needlepoint Ivy Nephytis Nightshade Oleander Onion Oriental Lily (especially in cats!!!) Peace Lily Peach (wilting leaves and pits) Pencil Cactus Plumosa Fern Poinsettia (low toxicity) Poison Ivy Poison Oak Pothos Precatory Bean Primrose Red Emerald Red Princess Red-Margined Dracaena Rhododendron Ribbon Plant Saddle Leaf Philodendron Sago Palm Satin Pothos ! Schefflera Silver Pothos Spotted Dumb Cane String of Pearls Striped Dracaena Sweetheart Ivy Swiss Cheese Plant Taro Vine Tiger Lily (especially cats!!!) Tomato Plant (green fruit, stem and leaves) Tree Philodendron Tropic Snow Dieffenbachia Weeping Fig Yew