Something to be aware of

kibob

kibob

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Just been sent the following e-mail, thought I would paste it on here as it is something all dog owners should be aware of:-

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 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 t he ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give I V 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 the point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a urinar y 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 decr eased 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

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I never knew that, thanks so much for posting it on here. When my dog goes round to my parents house my mum sometimes gives him a grape because he likes to play with them, she won't be doing that anymore!!
 
I remember seeing a list of foods that you should never give dogs, must try and find it as I was shocked to see grapes were on the list as Beastie used to love a grape. She never gets them now.
 

Yup, Ki used to love playing chase the grape too. An alternative I have found is "chase the ice cube" - only effective on hard floors though, would make a carpet pretty soggy
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Mine likes ice cubes too!! But doesn't play with them an awful lot, just tends to eat them!! Which is useful when it's hot in the summer as he sometimes 'forgets' to drink so I feed him them!!
 

That'd be great if you could find it, maybe we could pin it at the top of the dog page so it is always there.

PMSL at beastie and her peeled grapes
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My boy just wolfed 'em down whole, don't even think they touched the sides
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Mine pushes them around with his nose and then crunches them, very noisily
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My sister lives in Thailand, it was she who gave me the idea cos her boys love them when the weather is hot.
 
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