Vet Times

Tag: Toxicology

  • Rat bait’s sneaky trick: bleeding into the dorsal tracheal membrane

    Rat bait’s sneaky trick: bleeding into the dorsal tracheal membrane

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    Most of us are familiar with anticoagulant rodenticide toxicosis and the range of clinical signs it can present with, but there is one potentially fatal manifestation of coagulation pathology that is perhaps not as widely known… Dogs with severe clotting problems will occasionally bleed into the dorsal tracheal membrane. This causes collapse of the thoracic…

  • Gastric lavage: more harm than good?

    Gastric lavage: more harm than good?

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    We all know that sinking feeling when a patient has been known to have ingested highly toxic material and all effort to induce emesis had been unsuccessful. So, the next logical step is to perform a gastric lavage, isn’t it? Maybe not…. In recent reviews of the effectiveness of gastric lavage1-3 – using animal and…

  • Catharsis, enemas and colonic irrigation for acute oral poisoning

    Catharsis, enemas and colonic irrigation for acute oral poisoning

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    Great news for those who hate enemas: you may not have to do any of these ever again. This is the consensus by both the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, and the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists. The theory behind these procedures is legitimate – reducing systemic exposure of a toxicant by…

  • Emesis: a thing of the past?

    Emesis: a thing of the past?

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    Until I started researching this Tip of The Week, I did not know the medical profession has abandoned the routine use of emesis in oral poisoning. This is based on multiple medical literatures that have proven emesis induction does not influence the clinical severity of poisoning, the length of hospitalisation and the clinical outcome or…

  • Wishing you a quiet Christmas

    Wishing you a quiet Christmas

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    I sincerely hope you’re having a very quiet Christmas. I’m not talking to all of you. For most of you, I hope your Christmas is noisy, messy, fun, occasionally frustrating, tiring and extremely bloated – just like I hope mine is. But while you are trying not to get annoyed by whichever family member most…

  • Supporting new grads: are you up to the job?

    Supporting new grads: are you up to the job?

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    As I discussed in my previous blog post, if you are a boss, partner or practice manager, it’s important to consider whether your practice is suitable for a new graduate, before taking one on. Perhaps you’re considering taking on a new grad for the first time, or maybe you’ve employed them before, but are struggling…

  • Look after yourself this Christmas

    Look after yourself this Christmas

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    When an owner walks into your consult room with his or her pet for its annual vaccination and check-up, what are the basic questions you ask? How is Fluffy? Then, if the owner does not immediately launch into why his or her darling furry friend is “just not himself”, you’ll probably reel off a list…

  • An acceptable degree of uncertainty

    An acceptable degree of uncertainty

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    The second I put the phone down and lie back in bed, the uncertainty arrives. Initially, it’s just a nagging feeling at the back of the mind, but a few minutes later it’s in full flow, whirring around my mind, stopping me from sleeping: did I say the right thing? It was a very simple…

  • RCVS council election manifesto: Thomas Lonsdale

    RCVS council election manifesto: Thomas Lonsdale

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    THOMAS LONSDALE BVetMed, MRCVS PO Box 6096, Windsor Delivery Centre, NSW 2756, Australia. T +61 2 4577 7061 M +61 437 2928 00 E tom@rawmeatybones.com PROPOSERS: Roger Meacock, Andrew Stephens 1980s – woke from vet-school induced stupor to realisation junk pet-food industry relies on bogus science and negligent vet “profession”. 1991 – Blew whistle on…

  • Festive threats to four-legged family members

    Festive threats to four-legged family members

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    Now well into December, and getting ever closer to Christmas, there will be an abundance of “goodies” around the house that are not so good for the four-legged family members. Most owners are aware of the dangers of chocolate and so are likely to rush down to the vet on Boxing Day when their Labrador…