Emergency Care and Managing Toxicoses in the Exotic Animal Patient

The poisoned exotic veterinary patient remains a significant challenge to the clinician. A patient presenting with the history of exposure to a toxin or poison should be considered to have a potentially life-threatening problem. This article details the ABCs of emergency medicine including fluid therapy and discusses the principles of neurologic management. The last part of the article provides the clinician with guidelines for decontamination and critical care management of some of the more common toxicoses in exotic animals.