A dog at a scientist’s lab work. The scientist then wrote a report about the dog eating the scientist’s lab work. The report is:
“Thallium toxicosis in a dog consequent to ingestion of Mycoplasma agar plates,” Birgit Puschner [pictured here], Marguerite M. Basso and Thomas W. Graham, Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, vol. 24 no. 1, January 2012, pp. 227-30. The authors, at UC Davis, report:
“A 1-year-old dog ingested a mixture of blood agar and Mycoplasma agar plates. The Mycoplasma agar plates contained thallium acetate, which resulted in an estimated minimum dose of 5 mg thallium acetate/kg bodyweight. Clinical signs over the course of 2–3 weeks included vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, alopecia, dysphonia, ataxia, paresthesia, intension tremors, megaesophagus with subsequent aspiration pneumonia, and several seizure episodes. The dog was treated with intravenous fluids and placement of a gastric feeding tube…. This case of thallium poisoning following ingestion of mycoplasma agar plates demonstrates that unusual sources of thallium still exist and suggests that thallium toxicosis should be included in the list of differential diagnoses in dogs presented with megaesophagus, especially if alopecia and other unexplained peripheral neuropathies are present.”
[via Frank Swain]