Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Increased admissions occur in small animal veterinary emergency clinics during some holidays, and some of the increased caseload is due to ingestion of toxic substances. This report documents zinc toxicosis contributing to the death of a dog after ingestion of holiday tinsel garland. CASE STUDY: A mature boxer dog presented with a 4-day history of vomiting and diarrhea. Radiodense foreign material was detected in the stomach and removed via gastrotomy. The patient clinically worsened over the next several days with evidence of hemolytic anemia, severe hypernatremia, and an elevated WBC count with a suspected dehiscence of the surgical site and acute renal failure. The serum zinc concentration was moderately elevated. Postmortem findings included surgical dehiscence from the gastrotomy and enterotomy sites, hepatic extramedullary hematopoiesis, hemoglobinuric nephrosis, and pancreatic fibrosis. The foreign material removed from the stomach also contained zinc. DISCUSSION: Ingestion of holiday tinsel garland made from metal-coated plastic film has not previously been implicated in zinc toxicosis. Zinc toxicosis has a good prognosis in veterinary medicine when diagnosed and treated promptly, but the unique source of zinc in this dog contributed to the delay in diagnosis and grave outcome in this case.