Originally written in June 2008 but worth repeating: yes, raisins
can be toxic to your dog. Learn more about other human foods that can
harm your dog here.
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 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
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, sky rocketed 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