Vet World   Vol.13   July-2020  Article-4

A descriptive study of ciguatera fish poisoning in Cook Islands dogs and cats: Treatment and outcome

Background and Aim: Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is an illness caused by the ingestion of fish containing ciguatoxins. Dogs and cats are susceptible to CFP, but there is little published and much unknown about the condition in these species. This study aimed to document the treatment and outcome of canine and feline cases of CFP, and to look for prognostic indicators.

Materials and Methods: Six years of medical records from the Esther Honey Foundation Animal Clinic (the only veterinary clinic in the Cook Islands during the study period) were reviewed to identify cases of CFP. Data relating to treatment and outcome were collected.

Results: Two hundred and forty-six cases of CFP were identified, comprising 165 dogs and 81 cats. The treatments most commonly administered to cases were fluid therapy and muscle relaxants. Mannitol was only given to five animals. The survival rate was >90% and almost all mortalities occurred in the first week of hospitalization. Recovery was slow, with hospitalization averaging 12.9 days. There was no significant difference in recovery times between dogs and cats. Prolonged periods of anorexia and recumbency were common in both species. Factors associated with prolonged recovery times included case severity, anorexia, and age (in dogs).

Conclusion: This article documented the treatment and outcome of animals afflicted by CFP in the Cook Islands. Therapy for CFP was primarily symptomatic and supportive. The survival rate was high, but recovery was often prolonged. The findings will assist veterinarians in giving prognoses and managing owner expectations. Keywords: cats, ciguatera, Cook Islands, dogs, outcome, treatment.

Keywords: cats, ciguatera, Cook Islands, dogs, outcome, treatment.

How to cite this article: Gray MJ, Gates MC (2020) A descriptive study of ciguatera fish poisoning in Cook Islands dogs and cats: Treatment and outcome, Veterinary World, 13(7): 1269-1279.

Received: 01-02-2020  Accepted: 12-05-2020     Published online: 06-07-2020

Corresponding author: Michelle J. Gray   E-mail: mail.mgray@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.1269-1279

Copyright: Gray and Gates, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.