WARNING for Dog Owners!!!!!
If you have a dog... PLEASE read this and let
other know about it. If you don't have a dog, please pass along to
friends who do.
Written by: Laurinda Morris, DVM Danville Veterinary Clinic Danville , Ohio
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 1AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7AM.
I had heard some where 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 blood stream. 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 the 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 have 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 elevatedand 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 ourex-handler's. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.
Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them.
Confirmation from Snopes about the above...
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp
Written by: Laurinda Morris, DVM Danville Veterinary Clinic Danville , Ohio
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 1AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7AM.
I had heard some where 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 blood stream. 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 the 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 have 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 elevatedand 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 ourex-handler's. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.
Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them.
Confirmation from Snopes about the above...
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp
8 people like it
Comments (15)
Darlene Isberg
7
Internet User
I sent this article to my son. They have a dog and the dog eats all fruit, including oranges so...
Von Myers
5
Internet & Marketing
Will pass this to people i know
Theresa
6
I am glad a friend sent me this information, as i didn't know myself... and have tossed my pooch a few raisins here and there... I often wondered about the iron content, since too much iron is not a good thing for anyone.
Lisa Lomas
11
Thankyou
I knew about Chocolate and some bones for dogs but not the raisins and grapes.
thankyou so much my pooch says thankyou too. He is a German Shepherd and fluffy
and beautiful so the more I know and the more you can tell me I am eternally grateful.
Thank you
Margaret Elmendorf
7
Well my vet had told me about the raisens and the grapes so I did know they were bad for dogs. I used to feed one of my dogs grapes until my vet told me not to. I was lucky that nothing happened to her but I only have her 2 or 3.
I did not know about raw bread dough. But that makes sense.
Fishie, great subject. Well done. Thanks.
Margie
Theresa
6
he he, cootsy-- It is like a raw bread dough .... it GROWS!!
I am learning a lot here :-)
Arthur Webster
7
Just plain honesty
Hi, MKWeb,
Raw dough is often over-looked as dangerous, also, to humans.
I think a major problem with bread dough is that it swells and can rupture the stomach or intestinal walls.
Sometimes the dog or person might just get 'dough-bound' - and that can create a whole new raft of problems.
fishie - what have you started?????
Arthur Webster
7
Just plain honesty
Hi, sherpas,
I do not take this article lightly but I do keep a sense of proportion.
This article was written OVER THREE YEARS AGO!
There has not been another reported case anywhere in the world that I or my vet can find since then and not one before it either.
Mark Hultgren
7
Wordpress Specialist
Don't forget about raw bread dough either! Thier system cannot handle the yeast in the dough.
Nancy Bertoni
3
This shouldn't be taken lightly. I have also mentioned that raisins and grapes are dangerous in some of my articles within the pet groups I participate in.
While there will always be dogs who have a higher tolerence factor to some foods considered toxic for them, do we really want to take that kind of a risk with our loving pets?
Dogs are pack animals decended from wolves, and wolves are carnivorous. They eat meat. We have intorduced vegetables and grains into our dogs diet, fruit too thin
Arthur Webster
7
Just plain honesty
Living in Spain with two dogs that I love dearly, I was very surprised to read this article.
Scamp, a bitch I have had for ten years loves grapes and eats them off the vine (Strangely, she won't eat them if they have been bought from a shop. I wonder if she knows something I don't.) The only time she was sick was when she ate some grapes that had been sprayed the day before.
I never fed her onions because I had read that they were poisonous but have since found out that this is not so wit
Theresa
6
thanks Mizrae!
We gotta take care of our little puppers :)
Rae Steinbrink
6
I did not know this either. Good thing we don't eat a lot of raisins around here anyway, but I AM GOING TO PASS THIS INFORMATION ON.
Theresa
6
yes, onion, chocolate and cocoa are all dangers...but the grape/raisin thing is new to me as well.
Lisa G.
9
Health Wellness & Wealth Consultant
Gosh, thanks so much for posting this info. I have never given my dog any raisins, fortunately, but I did not know about this. I have given him a grape or two, he loves them and begs for them. Not anymore. Wow, thank you!
I did know that chocolate for a dog can be fatal.
I also heard not to give them onions or garlic. I have not researched this info though.