Tests and procedures for diagnosis of poisoning in sheep

Poisoning cases in sheep must be addressed with special consideration, due to the particularities of this species, taking into consideration the epidemiology of the habitat area and the diet selection. The investigation must encompass a wide range of expertise and should lead to piecing together of a ‘diagnostic puzzle’, which would include: determination of a complete case history, clinical signs, clinicopathological findings, post-mortem findings, results from chemical analyses and, occasionally, bioassay findings. Although these diagnostic tools are not much different than diagnostics currently available for other animal species, special care must be taken when sampling for a suspected toxicant in sheep.