To have 5 beautiful dogs of my own, 1 of which begs for grapes when we eat them, I was totally alarmed knowing now that he could have gotten very sick or potentially died from my ignorance of the toxicity of grapes to dogs. ---
From Laurinda Morris, DVM
Danville Veterinary Clinic Danville, OH
This week I had the first case in history of raisin Toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was
A 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime
Between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking
About 1 AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7 AM. 0
I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn't seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me - had heard something about it, but... Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 & 1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.
The dog's BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and Creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the
Bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values
At 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of
Fluids.
At that point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a
Urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care. He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn't control his vomiting.
Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220 ... He continued to vomit and the owners elected to Euthanize.
This is a very sad case - great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please
alert everyone you know who has a dog of this very serious risk. Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler's. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.
Onions, chocolate, cocoa and macadamia nuts can be fatal, too.
Confirmation from Snopes about the above ...
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
11 comments:
Geez, is there nothing dogs aren't sensitive to, how have they managed to exist so long.
There are MANY "people" foods, and common plants that are very toxic to dogs.. too many for me to post here. But knowledge of this is important. Printing a poster or flyers to keep in the vets office would help people to be informed. And most people would appreciate the info.
Didn't know that. My dog sits and waits for a grape to drop if one of the kids eats them. She just loves them! Never have seen any effect on her, but she usually only gets 3-4. But she's 80 pounds so I guess she hasn't gotten a big enough dose to hurt her.
I have a good friend whose Clumber Spaniel recently got into the trash - ate a whole bag of "old" grapes. They took him to the vet, got him treated and took him home. Thought everything was fine. The next day they found him dead. Very sad and tragic.
Onions and chocolate are toxic to dogs as well
Jennifer,
I don't know about the onion thing, you may be right. I think anything that grows on a vine may be.
HOWEVER, the chocolate is not true. While some dogs may be allergic to chocolate, the only way they can die from it is if they eat their body weight in chocolate.
We have 14 dogs and have owned many, many dogs throughout our years and we have always fed them chocolate and we have NEVER once had a problem with it.
I too was afraid of it before I met my Wife and she told me it was an old wives tale. Until I saw it for myself I was a believer like you. That's changed, just so you know.
It would be most informative to
the public for The Humane Society
& all vets offices to post what is
toxic to our animals. I had just
read about raisons being toxic &
was totally unaware. There are
plants that are poisoness
as well. E. Walls
Joe
I was told it was the bakers chocolate or dark chocolate that is toxic. A little milk chocolate wont hurt them. However if a sneaky little dog gets into a bag of peanut butter cups the cats knocked to the floor it will in fact cost you close to 500 dollars to ummmmm unclog them lol
The milk chocolate that is in many candies is probably not toxic, but the dark chocolate can be. There is a higher proportion of an ingredient in the dark chocolate (I forgot the name)that can be problematic. My german shepherd ate about 8 ounces of dark chocolate and started walking like she was drunk and her pulse was almost 200 beats a minute. She survived and luckily has no after effects.
I keep a list tacked on the wall where I store their food of toxic substances for dogs. It is a good reminder for myself and whoever I leave my dogs in the care of.
Nalagirl
Thanks for the post, Joe. We're getting our new pup tomorrow. It's good to be informed. I'll pass the information on.
Here is a link to an article listing other foods that can be harmful to dogs.
http://www.petalia.com.au/Templates/StoryTemplate_Process.cfm?specie=Dogs&story_no=257
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