Abstract

ZEINSTEGER, P. et al. Intoxicación por Brunfelsia australis en caninos. Confirmación mediante identificación del vegetal en muestras biológicas. Rev. vet. [online]. 2016, vol.27, n.1, pp.51-57. ISSN 1669-6840.

Domestic animals are exposed to toxicants that may cause mild to severe poisonings. Poisonous plants are a common threat to large animals and from time to time ornamental plants affect pets. Veterinarians are not always familiarized with the poisonous species in their geographic area and the potential damage they may cause. Brunfelsia sp. ("yesterday-today-and tomorrow", Solanaceae) is an attractive shrub with flowers that change from purple to white. The plant is poisonous due to the presence of tropane alkaloids. In this work we present a fatal and a non-fatal case due to the ingestion of Brunfelsia australis in two dogs. In the first case, the animal showed neurological signs and vomit with plant material consisted of fruits and small brown seeds. In the second case, the dog showed neurological signs as well and had green diarrhea with small pieces of stems and leaves. Both vomit and diarrhea samples were submitted to our laboratory. Their macroscopic and microscopic analysis together with the comparison of patterns in our database allowed the identification of the plant materials as part of B. australis. The examination of biological samples can be considered a complementary diagnostic method when a poisoning due to plant ingestion is suspected. For B. australis it can be stated that the ingestion of fruits is dangerous with a possible fatal outcome, and that the ingestion of leaves and stems is in general less harmful. Veterinarians must be familiarized with the morphology and chemical composition of poisonous ornamental plants present in their area, in order to establish an appropriate treatment.

Keywords : dog; poisoning; ornamental plant (Brunfelsia australis).

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