Barium Toxicosis After Ingestion of Snake Fireworks in a Cat

To report a case of barium toxicosis in a cat as a result of ingestion of black snake fireworks and to highlight the important clinical signs associated with intoxication.

A 2-year-old neutered male domestic shorthair cat presented to a referral emergency center with reports of acute onset ptyalism, bradycardia (130/min), and respiratory distress. Additionally, the cat had hypokalemia of 2.2 mmol/L (2.2 mEq/L; reference interval 3.5-5.8 mmol/L [3.5-5.8 mEq/L]), respiratory acidosis with PvCO₂ of 13.10 kPa (105 mm Hg; reference interval 3.86-5.60 kPa [29-42 mm Hg]), and luminal metallic opacities within the small intestines on abdominal radiographs. The cat was kept indoor only and the history included no known toxin exposure. In less than 10 h, the cat became progressively less responsive and neurologically inappropriate. Point-of-care abdominal and thoracic ultrasound were performed in addition to a whole-body computed tomography scan, with no obvious identifiable cause found for the observed clinical signs. The owner elected for humane euthanasia due to the unknown cause of signs and thus the cat's unknown prognosis. Upon returning home, the owner discovered partially masticated black snake fireworks in a pile of vomitus on the floor. A heavy metal analysis performed postmortem found increased levels of barium (10.8 mg/kg [10.8 ppm]) within the submitted liver samples.

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of barium toxicosis in a cat and the second veterinary report of barium toxicosis resulting from ingestion of household fireworks. Signs of barium intoxication in this cat were similar, both clinicopathologically and in disease progression, to the two previously reported cases of canine barium toxicosis.