Clostridium perfringens enterotoxicosis in two Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis)

Two 6-yr-old male sibling Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis) housed together at the Pittsburgh Zoo presented for acute onset of diarrhea with no changes in appetite or behavior. Heat-fixed modified Wright-stained and Gram-stained fecal smears revealed a mixed bacterial population with a larg e number of gram-positive Clostridium perfringens-like spores (> 20 per hig h-power oil immersion field). In addition. C. perfringens enterotoxin was i solated from one leopard at 1:256. confirming the presence of C. perfringen s enterotoxicosis. Treatment with oral metronidazole. tylosin tartrate. and psyllium fiber was prescribed. with return of more normal stool by the thi rd day of treatment. Fecal consistency steadily improved and was considered normal by the time all prescribed treatments were complete. Diarrhea has n ot recurred. Partially thawed meat in the leopards' diet may have precipita ted the production of an endogenous clostridial enterotoxicosis by disrupti ng digestive tract flora with resultant clostridial overgrowth and sporulat ion.