VPT 421: Veterinary Toxicology (2+0)

SOURCES OF IRON POISONING

• Iron is an essential mineral, but when a large amount is ingested, it can also be lethal.
• Ingestion of 20 to 40 mg of elemental iron/kg of body weight may result in toxicosis. Ingestion of > 60 mg/kg is potentially serious and oral dose of >200 mg/kg is roughly estimated to be lethal. This kind of acute poisoning occurs primarily in dogs owing to, their often indiscriminate eating habits.
• Ingestion of large doses of soluble iron overwhelms the body’s protective defence mechanism and results in free circulating iron, which causes severe tissue damage.

Sources

• Iron is used as an anti-anaemic agent.
• Injectable iron preparations include iron carbohydrate complex like iron-dextran or iron-dextrin and oral preparations include ferrous sulphate, ferrous fumarate and lactate. Soluble salts of iron pose the greatest risk of toxicosis.
• It is available as over the counter (OTC) drug, in multivitamin mineral preparations and gestational iron supplements. Since most of these preparations are sugar coated, dogs have a tendency to swallow more tablets.
• Iron is also used in fortified lawn and garden fertilizers.