California Sea Lion Suffers Domoic Acid Poisoning

The following story was shared with us by Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles.

On May 28, 2019, we received an adult, female California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) that was seizing on the beach. She was suffering from domoic acid poisoning. Domoic acid is a neurotoxin that is produced by algae and found in shellfish and fish. Animals become exposed from eating contaminated food. Clinical signs can include seizures, comas, dull mental state, aggression, and ravenous appetite.

She was given anticonvulsants as needed to stop her seizures. She eventually fell into a coma-like state so she could not eat and was losing weight every day. Weighing only 94.2 kilograms (about 207 pounds) on admittance to the hospital, she was in danger of starvation.

While sedated with anticonvulsants, we had the opportunity to gavage-feed her EmerAid Intensive Care Piscivore and water to keep her stable as best we could. She was also given subcutaneous fluids to help keep her hydrated. She continued to have seizures for 2 weeks and we gavage-fed her at every chance we had.

On June 19th she started eating fish and had not had any seizures for 24 hours. She continued to eat very well and was seizure-free. She was released on July 12, 2019, weighing 96.6 kilograms (about 213 pounds).