Pet poisoning with addictive agents - central nervous system depressants

Sa？etak Following previous work in which we described poisoning with food and food ad- ditives: chocolate, coffee, grapes, macadamia nuts, onions and garlic, xylitol and salt this paper described the poisoning with the most common central nervous system depressants (marijuana, barbiturates, opioids, “club” drugs-flunitrazepam and Gamma hydroxy- butyrate (GHB)). Exposure to illegal drugs is very common cause of companion animal poi- soning, of which dogs are the most susceptible. The poisoning is due to accidental ingestion, wrong dosage, but also malicious poisoning. Illegal drug ingestion presents both diagnostic and ethical challenge to the clinician and pet owners may not be aware of what the animal was exposed to. This work describes the most common central nervous system depressants in context of veterinary toxicology - sources of poisoning, toxicity, toxicokinetic, mechanism of action-clinical signs of poisoning, diagnos- tics and treatment of poisoned animals. The aim of this thesis is a detailed description of the most commonly used drugs, clinical pro- tocol and treatment of poisoned animals in order to raise awareness for animal owners in terms of preventive action and avoiding the risk of animal contact with these drugs