Alpha-chloralose poisoning in cats: clinical findings in 25 confirmed and 78 suspected cases.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the clinical picture in cats with alpha-chloralose (AC) intoxication and to confirm AC in serum from suspected cases of AC poisoning. METHODS: Suspected cases of AC poisoning were identified in patient records from a small animal university hospital from January 2014 to February 2020. Clinical signs of intoxication described in respective records were compiled, the cats were graded into four intoxication severity scores and hospitalisation time and mortality were recorded. Surplus serum from select cases in late 2019 and early 2020 was analysed to detect AC with a quantitative ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis, and the AC concentration was compared with the respective cat's intoxication severity score. RESULTS: Serum from 25 cats was available for analysis and AC poisoning was confirmed in all. Additionally, 78 cats with a clinical suspicion of AC intoxication were identified in the patient records, most of which presented from September to April. The most common signs of intoxication were ataxia, tremors, cranial nerve deficits and hyperaesthesia. The prevalence of clinical signs and intoxication severity differed from what has previously been reported, with our population presenting with less severe signs and no deaths due to intoxication. The majority had a hospitalisation time <48 h, irrespective of intoxication severity score. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study describes the clinical signs and prognosis in feline AC intoxication. There were no mortalities in confirmed cases, indicating that AC-poisoned cats have an excellent prognosis when treated in a timely manner. Recognition of AC intoxication as a differential diagnosis for acute onset of the described neurological signs in areas where AC exposure is possible may influence clinical decision-making and help avoid excessive diagnostic procedures. A severe clinical picture upon presentation could be misinterpreted as a grave prognosis and awareness about AC poisoning may avoid unnecessary euthanasia.

Development and in-house validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, T-2 and HT-2 toxin, ochratoxin A and fumonisin B1 and B2 in vegetable animal feed.

Animal feed can be contaminated with various mycotoxins. To ensure animal health and safe food and feed production, the European Commission has recommended increased monitoring of the co-occurrence of deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, fumonisin B(1) and B(2), T-2 and HT-2 toxin in feed. Thus, there is a need for an analytical method that enables their simultaneous detection and quantification. This paper describes the development and in-house validation of such a method, in which the mycotoxins were extracted from spiked and naturally contaminated cereal-based compound feed, corn and wheat. The extracts were divided into two aliquots where one was diluted and then analysed directly and the other was cleaned by using MultiSep(®)226 and then diluted and analysed. Separation and detection was achieved with LC-ESI-MS/MS by using a triple quadrupole instrument in the SRM mode. The precision (in terms of intra-day repeatability and inter-day reproducibility), accuracy, linearity, apparent recovery and expanded measurement uncertainty in feed, corn and wheat were evaluated. The LODs ranged from 1.0 to 72 µg/kg, and the LOQs ranged from 2.5 to 115 µg/kg. The apparent recovery was higher than 86% for all the mycotoxins, and the precision was better than that defined by the Horwitz equation for all concentrations. Proficiency test materials were analysed to assess the accuracy of the method, and the results were satisfactory for all seven mycotoxins. The method will be used to monitor the occurrence of these mycotoxins in products intended for animal feeding in Sweden.

Estimation of multi-mycotoxin contamination in South African compound feeds.

A total of 92 commercial compound feeds from South Africa were investigated for various mycotoxins. The data reveal the highest incidence of feed contamination for fumonisins (FB) (range: 104-2999 µg/kg) followed by deoxynivalenol (DON) (range: 124-2352 µg/kg) and zearalenone (ZEA) (range: 30-610 µg/kg). The incidence of ochratoxin A (OTA) and aflatoxins (AF)-contaminated samples were generally low, i.e., 4% and 30% of samples with levels ranging between 6.4 and 17.1 µg/kg (mean: 9.9 µg/kg) for OTA and 0.2 to 71.8 µg/kg (mean: 9.0 µg/kg) for AF. No samples contained T-2 toxin or HT-2 toxin. However, all samples analyzed were contaminated with at least one mycotoxin with a majority containing several mycotoxins. In particular, 3 of 4 positive samples mainly cattle feeds that had relatively high contents of OTA (ranging from 7 to 17.1 µg/kg) also contained high amounts of AF (>27.5 µg/kg) together with FB, DON and ZEA. Apart from a few samples, the levels of mycotoxins may be regarded as safe for livestock production in South Africa. However, the persistent co-occurrence of mycotoxins in samples, especially those at high concentrations, i.e., AF and OTA, together with other mycotoxins studied, may elicit synergistic or additive effects in animals. This should raise concern as multiple contaminations may pose a risk to livestock production and health.