Hyperkalemia in Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus)

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Sixty adult and yearling female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were collected in July 2008 (n530) and March 2009 (n530) from eastern North Carolina as part of a population health assessment. During July 2008, standard serum analyses revealed hyperkalemia in all deer sampled. In March, the effect of processing time as a possible source of the hyperkalemia was investigated. For a subset of deer (n510), blood tubes were centrifuged and processed at four time points (0, 30, 60, and 120 min) postcollection. Delayed centrifugation and plasma separation did not affect potassium (K + ) concentration over time, indicating that a shift in intracellular K + did not occur and the hyperkalemia was not due to improper sample handling. Potassium levels were negatively correlated with age and varied across collection periods. Also, K + levels were positively correlated with glucose and not correlated with creatine kinase (CK). No single variable indicated a strong enough relationship to explain the hyperkalemia in the study.

Capture myopathy in a corsican red deerCervus elaphus corsicanus(Ungulata: Cervidae)

“…On the other hand, biochemical analyses showed increased levels of creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and hyperkalaemia, which are often related to stress-linked muscle damage (Stringer et al 2011). In general, serum CK level increases rapidly after a stress episode and, together with potassium (K + ), is considered an important early parameter of rhabdomyolysis related to capture operations (Kaneko 1997).…”

Clinical chemistry of farmed red deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>) yearling hinds reared on grass or <i>papillonaceous</i> pasture paddocks in Hungary

“…The serum potassium concentration of deer was not pathologic, as Rosef et al 2010 provided a reference range of 5.5-6.6 mmol/l, while the International Species Information System (ISIS 2002) applies a range for K in Cervidae of 4.3±0.9 mmol/l. Interestingly, Stringer et al (2011) reported on hyperkalaemia in free-ranging white-tailed deer with unknown etiology, excluding late serum separation, dietary factors, poor nitrogen supply and premortal stress. Interestingly, CK, LDH and K were not providing a significant correlation in our study with the K concentration values.…”

Responses of white‐tailed deer and northern bobwhite food plants to a gradient of stand‐establishment intensities in pocosin pine plantations

“…Individual plants from the Lower Coastal Plain in South Carolina exhibited the lowest nutritional content when compared with plants of the same species collected in other regions of the state, and this was correlated to low mineral content in the area's soils (Thorsland 1966). In addition, all deer collected from pocosins in eastern North Carolina in summer and winter exhibited hyperkalemia (elevated blood potassium), which is linked to inadequate nitrogen intake and may reflect poor soil conditions and low forage quality within pocosins (Stringer et al 2011).…”