Annie Mears, 6 May 2025 Hi. Does anyone have a recommended oral vitamin B supplement for a lion with chronic neurological issues? They are on a good carnivore supplement. We have found Neurobion to be very expensive long term. This 13-year-old male white lion with a history of degenerative myelopathy has been on 0.6 mg/kg of prednisolone and Vitamin B daily for several years. He has had an episode of ivermectin toxicity in the past. There is no history of toxin exposure, as its fed largely game due to previous issues. There is now sudden onset of ataxia, paresis of all four legs, lethargy and unresponsiveness. The pupils are reactive to light and not pinpoint, it can track movement, but generally states into space, some lip-licking and hindlimb muscle tremors. The animal was hand-injected with BMM (butorphanol + medetomidine + midazolam) for sedation, treated with Intralipid’s (for what it’s worth), Cerenia, crystalloid fluids, Excede, dexamethasone (as it didn’t have steroids this morning) and Kyrovital-15 IV. I reversed the animal with naltrexone and atipamezole. A clinical pathology profile was run in house on IDEXX machine, so there may be some machine errors due to species differences. I am really not sure what I’m looking at, or if there’s any more I could be doing. Heart rate, temperature and blood pressure was all normal during the procedure. Ulf Tubessing, [6 May 2025 at 21:00:50]: Annie try Essentiale. I had a whole bunch of leopards with hydrocephalus, syringomyelia and cerebellar prolapse (Chiary type I) that responded extremely well to this treatment, but showed no response to Neurobion etc. MRI scans and follow up examinations showed a dramatic improvement! Chris Perkins, [7 May 2025 at 01:24:04]: How long was the time interval between blood collection and running tests. Considering it’s already raised, could the glucose be significant (glucose does decrease with time)? Was any urine tested? Bart Gazendam, [7 May 2025 at 06:59:53]: Annie, can he still urinate and dedicate? When he is conscious and if you give a stimulus to the paws, does he retract? Any history of recent fighting/trauma ruled out? How was the degenerative myelopathy diagnosed (and with that, how sudden was the onset with the owners in mind?) How often do they remove bones from enclosure? (is botulism an issue?). Annie Mears, [7 May 2025 at 07:26:15]: The time interval was about 20 minutes - we sent blood samples back while we were still working on him. The blood glucose patient side was 12.2 No fighting - he’s in with a female. We didn’t test his claws, but I suspect he wouldn’t retract. The other lions have eaten the same meals as him. They aren’t fed any bones as they had some serious dental work, so there’s no carcasses left in the enclosure. Ulf Tubessing, [7 May 2025 at 07:38:18]: Give the Essentiale a try. The vitamin component is low, but I suspect the essential phospholipids make a big difference! Annie Mears, [7 May 2025 at 07:53:04]: The degenerative myelopathy wasn’t diagnosed by me but on cervical radiographs by a previous veterinarian and he’s responded very well to prednisolone up until now Bart Gazendam, [7 May 2025 at 08:44:06]: I would see if you can have a look at those images somehow and possibly repeat the spinal X-rays. The best would be a CT scan, I guess! Also, rule out all toxins or infections. An MRI would be useful, but it takes long! Annie Mears, [7 May 2025 at 08:53:48]: We are unfortunately very far from the nearest MRI Ellie Milnes, [7 May 2025 at 10:17:37]: Annie, I know you said it gets the same meat as the other lions, but I have seen a very similar clinical presentation in snow leopard with barbiturate toxicosis. This was the result of a euthanised calf that it was accidentally fed. The animal was back to normal in 24h with supportive care. This does not sound like that’s the case with your lion, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Andreas Gaugler, [10 May 2025 at 07:15:33]: Ulf I also treated cheetah with success although we had no chance to do MRI, but they responded really well. Nele Sabbe, [10 May 2025 at 07:51:42]: Ulf, what dose would you give? Ulf Tubessing, [10 May 2025 at 11:19:09]: For the leopard cubs I used one capsule cut open and mixed the contents into milk twice a day, later up to 2 caps twice a day. It is more a nutritional supplement than anything else so overdose is near impossible. I would start high and see what response you get. Annie Mears, [13 May 2025 at 09:02:13]: Unfortunately, my lion went into complete paralysis. After 48 hours of no change, we euthanased him. We suspect from post-mortal X-rays that the lion had cervical degenerative issues. Apologies for not getting back to you.
