Abstract

The present case study reports a secondary case of hyperlipidemia during the routine blood examination in a female snow leopard aged eleven, weighing almost 31 Kgs, housed at the captive breeding center of Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling. The animal showed no visible symptoms and the diagnosis was based on the visual assessments of serum that was observed to be milky-white, followed by laboratory tests that confirmed high triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Further, the absence of a creamy layer on overnight refrigeration of the blood sample suggested that the lipemia and subsequent hyperlipidemia were caused due to elevated levels of either VLDL, LDL, or HDL. Medication with drugs such as Saroglitazar tablets at a dose of 4 mg/day for thirty days was prescribed, apart from reducing the feed quantity. Blood samples were recollected after a month of treatment, and the serum sample was observed to be normal, straw-colored. The serology reports were also found to be within the reference range prescribed by Species 360. Since disease-related threats to snow leopards are crucial yet less known, our study can be useful to the zoo clinicians for future references, while maintaining these vulnerable species under various captive facilities.

Keywords: Captive Snow Leopards; Milky White Serum; Cholesterol; Triglycerides

References

1. Evans E.W., et al. “Proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates”. Duncan and Prasse’s Veterinary Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Pathology. 4^th Ames, Iowa State University Press (2003): 171-179.
2. Jain KS., et al. “The biology and chemistry of hyperlipidemia”. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry 15 (2007): 4674-4699.
3. Johnson MC. “Hyperlipidemia disorders in dogs”. The Compendium on continuing education for the practicing veterinarian, 27 (2005): 361-364.
4. Kawasumi K et al. “Age effects on plasma cholesterol and triglyceride profile and metabolite concentrations in dogs”. BMC Veterinary Research 10 (2014): 57.
5. McCarthy T., et al. “Panthera uncia. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017” (2017): e.T22732A50664030.
6. Pillai AS. “White, opaque fluid in a blood draw. Hypertriglyceridemia”. American Family Physician 79 (2009): 699-700.
7. Ramírez-Hernández A., et al. “Molecular detection of rickettsia felis in different flea species from Caldas, Colombia”. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 89 (2013): 453-459.
8. Raturi M., et al. “Deciphering the reasons for milky- white blood donor plasma”. Transfusion Clinique et Biologique 27 (2020): 259-261.
9. Rogers WA. “Lipemia in the Dog”. Veterinary Clinics of North America 7 (1997): 637-647. 
10. Watson TDG., et al. “Lipoprotein metabolism and hyperlipidemia in the dog and cat: A review”. Journal of Small Animal Practice 34 (1993): 479-487. 
11. Whitney MS. “Evaluation of hyperlipidemias in dogs and cats”. Seminars in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery 7 (1992): 292-300.
12. Xenoulis PG., et al. “Investigation of Hypertriglyceridemia in Healthy Miniature Schnauzers”. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 21 (2007): 1224-1230.
13. Xenoulis PG., et al. “Canine hyperlipidemia”. Journal of Small Animal Practice 56 (2015): 595-605.

Citation

Citation: Joy Dey., et al. “A Case Study on an Unusual but Remediable Incident of Hyperlipidemia in a Female Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) Housed at Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling Category: Case Study". Acta Scientific Veterinary Sciences 3.11 (2021): 61-64.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Joy Dey., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.