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Heinz bodies are frequently missed on routine blood films as they tend not to stain well. However they are easily seen on slides stained with new methylene blue and with Wright-Giemsa stain. <ref name="CVT"></ref>
Heinz bodies are frequently missed on routine blood films as they tend not to stain well. However they are easily seen on slides stained with new methylene blue and with Wright-Giemsa stain. <ref name="CVT"></ref>
Healthy cats may have up to 10% Heinz bodies <ref name="Lab_methods">Willard and Tvedten (eds) (2012 )'''Clinical diagnosis by laboratory methods Sixth edition''' Elsevier p. 52 </ref> Higher numbers of Heinz bodies may be seen in cats with underlying diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism and lymphoma but anaemia is not severe in these cases. In contrast, cats suffering from oxidative ingestion will usually have severe anaemia accompanying the Heinz bodies. If a smear is examined more than about 2 days after the oxidative insult, allowing time for a regenerative response to be mounted, reticulocytosis and polychromasia will usually be evident.
Healthy cats may have up to 10% Heinz bodies <ref name="Lab_methods">Willard and Tvedten (eds) (2012 )'''Clinical diagnosis by laboratory methods Sixth edition''' Elsevier p. 52 </ref> Higher numbers of Heinz bodies may be seen in cats with underlying diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism and lymphoma but anaemia is not severe in these cases. <ref name="CVT"></ref> In contrast, cats suffering from oxidative ingestion will usually have severe anaemia accompanying the Heinz bodies. If a smear is examined more than about 2 days after the oxidative insult, allowing time for a regenerative response to be mounted, reticulocytosis and polychromasia will usually be evident.
Dogs do not normally have Heinz bodies present in their circulation and therefore if they are identified the patient history should be reviewed to try to pinpoint the oxidant exposure.
==Treatment==
If the source of the oxidant is still present (eg Zinc-containing foreign object, onions in stomach) it should be removed as soon as possible.
N-acetylcysteine (Mucomyst) should be given as soon as possible after drug exposure as it is only effective within the first few hours. It is thought to increase glutathione synthesis, which provides more substrate for the detoxification of the reactive metabolite.<ref name="N-acet"> Lauterburg et al (1983) '''Mechanism of Action of N-Acetylcysteine in the Protection Against the Hepatotoxicity of Acetaminophen in Rats In Vivo''' J Clin Invest. April; 71(4): 980–991</ref>
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