Weber Martha A, Miller Michele A, Neiffer Donald L, Terrell Scott P
Disney's Animal Kingdom, PO Box 10000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830, USA.
J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2006 Apr 15;228(8):1240-2. doi: 10.2460/javma.228.8.1240.
4 North American porcupines were evaluated because of diarrhea or neutropenia (or both) that developed after treatment with fenbendazole for intestinal parasites.
Complete blood cell count abnormalities included severe neutropenia in all affected porcupines and mild anemia in some of them. In 2 porcupines, postmortem findings included bone marrow hypoplasia and intestinal crypt cell necrosis.
Affected porcupines received supportive care including fluid supplementation and broad-spectrum antimicrobials. The 2 surviving animals recovered after 9 to 33 days of treatment.
Fenbendazole is an anthelminthic that may be used in an extralabel manner for the treatment of intestinal parasitism in wildlife species. The drug inhibits mitosis and can affect rapidly dividing cell lines, such as those in the bone marrow and intestinal crypt mucosa. Fenbendazole may not be an appropriate anthelminthic choice in North American porcupines.
