I received this message from my daughter today. She has 3 dogs of her own and she tells me that this message is for real.
If you have a dog... PLEASE read this and send it on. 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 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 I V fluids at 1 1/2 times maintainance 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 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 incr ease 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 o ver 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.
Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them.
This actually happened. Please take note of this warning and keep raisins as well as chocolate out of a dog's reach. It is a poison to them and can be fatal.
Gary:
Glad I could help!
Susan:
As soon as I received the e-mail from my daughter, I figured I'd get this out to as many people as possible. I'll do anything to save an animal.
Never knew or suspected raisins could cause this to happen to a dog. I do own a dog. I never fed raisins or grapes to her and now I never will. Thanks.
Sal:
This is the first I've heard of it. Thanks for passing the word along.
Jennifer:
You never know what can be fatal to the different animals. You find out as you go along.
Derrick:
We learn something new each day. I never thought of feeding a dog raisins, but dogs will eat practically anything.
Glad I could help.
Linda:
I know how it feels to lose a pet. I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Hope this was the cause and Rusty will live for many more years to come.
BLR Guy:
This was news to me, too. As soon as I received the e-mail, I thought I would get the word out. Anything to help our fellow pet lovers!
We almost lost our cocker mix last year at Thanksgiving due to pork fat. Our vet called it "the holiday effect" because of people eating Turkey and Ham as holiday meals. Something about them not being able to metabolize the fat overload shuts down their pancreas. Several hundred dollars and a week of ivs got the little thing back onto water, then slowly food. She is not a garbage dog, we believe the cats dragged out some fat trimmed off of ribs to her and force fed her! She has never dug in the garbage, but our two felines will. Another food we never thought of, thank goodness my daughter was concerned about her being off her feed for a couple of days, she was close to renal failure apparently..
Victoria:
I am glad to hear that your cocker mix survived. It's good to know about the foods that you would never consider to be fatal when fed to animals.
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Georgina:
I'm glad I could be of help. I will do anything to help our loved pets.
Debra:
Glad to hear your Rottie was OK after the chocolate episode. My daughter's dog loves chocolate and has eaten it. She had taken him to the vet ASAP and it turned out he was OK.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Debbie:
Each animal has different types of common foods that are fatal to them that we could never imagine. Like for example, tomatoes are poisonous to horses.
Jennifer:
You need to be careful feeding people food to animals. Their systems are different from ours and treat food differently.