A discussion of the signs of lead poisoning in Issue 11: Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 20:51:13 -0000 From: "Dr. Bruce Williams" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Lead Poisoning question A blood lead test would be helpful in this case, but I am not thinking lead as the likely cause of his symptoms. Lead may do a number of things in the body, but clotting dysfunction is generally not though of as one of them. Acute lead poisoning is not commonly seen, most cases are the result of a chronic intoxication. Plus this ferret would have to ingest significant amounts of paint chips. Simply being in a room with lead based paint is not generally enough. In most cases of poisoning in small animals, anemia is the most common presenting sign, followed by neurologic dysfunction. Lead interferes with the development of new red blood cells. GI signs can be seen in acute ingestion of large amounts of lead. A cursory review of the literature does not reveal a documented case of plumbism (lead poisoning) in ferrets - not to say that it has never happened. Bloodwork would be very helpful - a CBC to document anemia, a platelet test, and a chemistry to screen the other organs. We would be very interested to hear the results of the blood lead test. With kindest regards, Bruce H. Williams, DVM Join the Ferret Health List at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list [Posted in FML issue 3343]