Vet Alert! Foods Which Are FATAL to Dogs!!

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The following foods can be FATAL to your dog:

 

RAISINS, GRAPES, ONIONS, COCOA, CHOCOLATE & MACADAMIA NUTS

 

 

Written by:

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 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 Centre 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 litre 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 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.

 

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