Treatment of Pieris Ingestion in Goats with Intravenous Lipid Emulsion

Seven goats and one ram presented with clinical signs including regurgitation, obtundation, anorexia, apparent pain, and bloat. The animals had escaped from their barn, and it was discovered that they had ingested leaves of Pieris japonica, Japanese pieris, a grayanotoxin-containing plant. Animals were treated with antibiotics, calcium borogluconate, B vitamins, and activated charcoal within the first 24-h postexposure, which was followed by the recovery of the ram and two goats and the death of two goats. Approximately 36 h after Japanese pieris ingestion, one of the three remaining anorectic goats was dosed with intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE). This goat recovered within a few hours. The remaining two goats were given ILE the next day and appeared to recover, but one died a week later of aspiration pneumonia.