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Case report
Austral J. Vet. Sci.
Vol 57, e570118 (2025)
DOI: 10.4206/ajvs.57.18

Copper toxicosis with hepatic cirrhosis in three dogs: report of a safety alert

1 Laboratorio de Investigación de Ciencias Veterinarias, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad del Alba, La Serena, Chile.
2 Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile.
3 Independent researcher.
Keywords: Copper toxicity Food safety Pet food Regenerative nodules Toxicology end-stage liver disease

Submitted: 2025-07-28

Accepted: 2025-11-10

Published: 2025-12-10

*Corresponding author:
flores.carlos.vet@gmail.com

How to Cite

Flores Olivares, C. A., Oroquieta Fairlie, I., Cubillos Torres, C., Covarrubias , A. A., & Leiva-Portilla, D. (2025). Copper toxicosis with hepatic cirrhosis in three dogs: report of a safety alert. Austral Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 57(1), e570118. https://doi.org/10.4206/ajvs.57.18

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Copyright (c) 2025 Carlos A. Flores Olivares, Ignacio Oroquieta Fairlie, Constanza Cubillos Torres, Alejandra A. Covarrubias , Diana Leiva-Portilla

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

In 2020, hundreds of thousands of dogs in Chile were exposed to toxic copper levels in commercial dog food, exceeding the legal copper limit tenfold. We report three fatal hepatic cirrhosis cases after at least three months of consumption of this product. All showed advanced stage liver injury, micro and macroscopic lesions, and high hepatic copper levels.

 

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References

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This journal is published by the Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile

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