PSA: Raisins are toxic to dogs

[divingbiker]

Since many people don't know this, I thought I'd share. Don't let your dog eat raisins! How do I know this? My dog is in the emergency clinic on a IV in hopes that he doesn't go into kidney failure.

My 1.5 year old cocker spaniel Sammy got my pet sitter's raisins off the counter and ate some before she caught him. They were the little boxes, and based on how many were left, she estimated that he ate 16.

She called the vet, and they told her to give him a tbsp of peroxide to induce vomiting. That didn't work, so she got him to drink and then tried the peroxide again. That still didn't work, so she took him to the vet.

16 raisins is about half the toxic dose for a dog Sammy's size, but apparently the reaction to raisins varies from dog to dog so they recommended treatment since it causes kidney failure.

The vet got him to vomit, but no raisins came up. So they put him on an IV and gave him activated charcoal. Because my vet isn't staffed 24 hours, he was taken to the emergency vet to be on the IV until tomorrow. The kidney damage will show up in 48 hours.

So I wait. I'm visiting a friend out of town, but fly home tonight so I can pick him up tomorrow. He was having such a good time with the pet sitter, going to a dog park for the first time. He'll be crazy after two days in a cage.

The silver lining is that I have pet insurance for Sammy. This escapade will be over $2000 I'm guessing, so we'll see if the insurance premium was worth it.

This has been quite a week. I just had to euthanize my older dog AJ on Monday. He had a tumor on his ear that wouldn't stop bleeding, and he couldn't have surgery because of his heart disease. :-( I'm ready for a bit of peace.

[ClockworkOrange]

Am so sorry to hear about Sammy, special hugs to him and hope he will soon be up and about wagging his tail.

BTW I never knew about raisins being harmful/toxic to dogs, I am going to make sure I tell any of my friends who have dogs about this.

What a sad week for you, so hugs to you too.

Clock

[OakLeaf]

(((((divingbiker & Sammy)))))

I'm so sorry for your loss of AJ. Hope Sammy is feeling much better soon, and thanks for the heads up!

[7rider]

Oh, no....:(
So sorry to hear about Sammy. He is such a rascal. I hope he's okay.
And I didn't know about AJ. That's too bad. You did so much for him.
(((Hugs)))

[Bike Chick]

Oh, Diving, you've had an awful week! So sorry about AJ AND Sammy. Hope he gets better and you get him home.

[DebSP]

So sorry about AJ. Hope Sammy comes through this fine! Hugs to you. And thank you so much for the warning. I think my husband has fed our dogs the odd raisin that has fallen on the floor. Probably not enough to harm a 45 lb. dog but I will give him the heads up!

[bmccasland]

((((((Divingbiker))))))
Hope Sammy pulls through. Please keep us posted. Sorry about AJ. :(

[shootingstar]

Wow, may Sammy pull through.

Didn't know about the raisins, chocolate, grapes, onions as highly toxic to doggies.

[Roadtrip]

Chocolate is not as toxic to your critters as something like raisins, but keep in mind another VERY toxic item for your pets is sugar free gum, in particular Zylitol which is the artificial sweeter. It can cause massive liver damage in as little as half a pack of gum for a 70-80lb doggie. I've heard some of the little guys only eaten a few sticks of the stuff and was enough to be fatal.

Please keep your gum up and away from your furry family members.\

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp

Shannon

[Eden]

I hope Sammy is OK.

Don't forget that all of these items are toxic to cats too - and they generally weigh less, so in smaller amounts.

[NbyNW]

Hope Sammy comes out of this okay!

[nancielle]

Sorry to hear you've had such a difficult week with your dogs :(.

I hope that Sammy (and you!) pull through this ordeal ok.

Lots of things, I've learned since becoming a pet owner, can be toxic to our animals. Here are a couple of links that list some of the more common items:

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/foods_poisonous_to_pets.html

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=1030

[emily_in_nc]

divingbiker,

Will be sending healing thoughts Sammy's way -- hope he'll make a full recovery, but I know how stressful and scary these kinds of things are.

I feel bad because for several years I had no idea that raisins were toxic to dogs, and fed our first Boston Terrier, Pepper, her phenobarbital dose twice daily hidden in a raisin. I wonder if the two raisins a day she got for several years until I was alerted by a caring friend to their toxicity might have contributed to her demise -- she had kidney problems and incontinence later in life, but still lived til 3 months shy of her 15th birthday.

So sorry for your loss of AJ, too. What a horrible week you're having. :( Please keep this thread updated about Sammy....

[lph]

Yoicks! Best of luck to Sammy and may you have some peaceful days soon!

This was an eye-opener, 'cause I just discovered twenty minutes ago that Lyra likes chocolate... she had jumped on the table and pinched a square, and was headed outside in a hurry. (She's not a very savvy chocolate eater, though, so she got most of the square stuck up in the roof of her mouth between her teeth and was quite stressed and put out by the time I caught her and prised her mouth open to help work it out... :rolleyes:)
So I did the math for cats from one of those links above, and came up with that 2 small squares (about an inch across?) of milk chocolate could give mild symptoms, and 4-5 squares could give severe symptoms.
I'll have to keep a close eye on the chocolate from now on, and not just because of longfingered youngsters.

[JennK13]

Out of curiosity, what symtoms did Sammy exhibit after eating the raisins?

Our golden retriever ate an ENTIRE chocolate cake off the counter while we were out. She's 65 lbs. I looked online and called the vet (Like you, I had been at the vet the day before to put my 17 year old cat down), and I did not want to have to go back to the vet. What they told me was that, while chocolate is toxic to dogs, it's not necessarily the chocolate that would make her sick. The SUGAR from eating an entire cake was far worse for her and could cause her to go into pancreatic shock. Since I didn't want to go back to the vet, I told them I saw I could enduce vomitting with H2O2 and asked how much to give her. I had a large, plastic "syringe" from a bar (some sort of shot came in it), and I pulled up about 1/2 cup of peroxide and shot it in the back of her throat to make sure she got it down. It didn't take long! Not 5 minutes later she was threw up CHUNCKS of the cake - I literally could have arranged the pieces back into the original cake!!! She doesn't really chew anything and just bit off pieces small enough for her to swallow whole (about the size of a fist each). We just kept an eye on her and she was fine - no stomach or anything; but we were fortunate enough to catch it in less that 2 hours after ingestion and were able to get her to vomit.

Unfortunately, she will eat anything, and the kitten thinks it's funny to watch her and knocks stuff off the counter for her to get (so now we have to keep it in the pantry and cabinets). She ate about a dozen chocolate chip cookies once without any issues (that amount of chocolate wasn't enough for a dog her size), but after the cake and knowing about how sugar can affect them, we probably should have done something then, too.

[lunacycles]

The H2O2 advice is good. My dog, as brilliant as she usually is, ate her own LEASH when she was in the back of the car, apparently in frustration that I had "contained" her when there were guests in the back seat. The H2O2 (I was told, about a tbsp the first time, if it doesn't work, can repeat one more time without harm...) caused her to throw it up quickly, and that literally saved her from a seriously invasive procedure.

Thanks for the links to the lists. I have a friend who insists almonds are fine (and good for) dogs, but I read online abt someone's dog eating a lot of almonds and then developing pancreatitis (due to high fat content). I have always heard raw eggs are good for dogs, so that is interesting.

My previous dog (lived to 16, aka the garbage disposal), a border collie/lab mix, ate at least 3 full sticks of butter (left to warm! sudden dexterity from a dog who otherwise couldn't reach the counter) over her life time, and a whole bag of chocolate Halloween candy, and was somehow no worse for the wear... She did develop some rather impressive lipomas on her belly which were named "stick of butter 1" and "stick of butter 2." She ended up dying after she fell down a couple of steps when she was really handicapped already from arthritis (she got out of my sight for just that instant...) and couldn't ever get her legs okay underneath her after that. Her kidneys failed her within a week.

So, point being, don't get too worried. A lot of dogs can be very resilient!

[OakLeaf]

I've read that it's very individual to the dog, and that even within breeds they can have different reactions. When I was a kid they used to make dog treats out of chocolate. :eek:

[Roadtrip]

BTW: Dark chocolate is much worse then milk chocolate too. Just something to keep in mind.

Shannon

[pfunk12]

So sorry to hear about AJ and Sammy, DB. I hope that you've already received good news about him.

[Possegal]

I'm so sorry about your pup, and it must be horrible to be away from him right now. And sorry about the loss of your other dog. Sending healing vibes to you both.

[IFjane]

So sorry to hear about both Sammy and AJ, DB!! Take care and I hope Sammy recovers quickly.

[divingbiker]

Out of curiosity, what symtoms did Sammy exhibit after eating the raisins?

He hasn't had any symptoms. My guess is he had either a guilty or self-satisfied look when he was caught, and that and the chewed up raisin box were the only indications of trouble.:p

The kidney failure shows up 48-72 hours after ingesting the raisins. I just talked to the vet, and his blood work today showed perfect kidney function, so hopefully it will be the same tomorrow and tomorrow night he can come home. He said that since the pet sitter and my vet got on top of it right away, the odds are much greater that he'll be fine.

The reason to treat so aggressively is the variability from dog to dog that someone mentioned. I had a dog that ate a whole Christmas stocking full of Hersheys kisses that my roommate had put out for her boyfriend. Nothing but a trail of foil wrappers was left. She was just fine.

Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone. This has been a helluva week, but hopefully it will get better and he'll be home with me tomorrow.

Here's a picture of a pooped out Sammy after his first visit to the dog park Thursday afternoon.

11953

[Dogmama]

So glad that Sammy is getting better! What a scare! One time, my German Shepherd counter-surfed & got the cat's food - unfortunately it was in a glass dish. I came home to shattered glass & no kitty kibbles. Off to the emergency vet who told us they can't see glass on an x-ray but he didn't seem uncomfortable when they palpated his abdomen. He turned out to be OK & kitty now eats out of plastic.

Pancreatic problems are often seen after Thanksgiving when people let their dogs lick up the fat-laden roasting pan or give Fido the fat parts that nobody eats.

[Aggie_Ama]

Hope he heals up with no lasting effects of his little binge.

My dog ate a whole Kit Kat, wrapper and all, we had to get the vet to induce vomiting. She also got into chocolate icing once, the on-call vet at A&M said baker's chocolate is worst. She was okay with a small lick of chocolate. I have heard milk chocolate is the worst, baker's is the worst, dark is the worst. So if it is chocolate I will call my vet, no use chancing it. She is so quick to grab a dropped item I hate having grapes in the house, luckily onions she walks away from.

[smilingcat]

dogs can't process theobromine in the cocoa, starting ingredient of chocolate. See wiki for more information. Higher the cocoa content of chocolate higher the content of theobromine.

Sooo... Dark chocolate 82% pure cocoa would have more theobromine than a 60% dark chocolate in turn has more theobromine than a milk chocolate. Most white chocolate really isn't chocolate so doesn't count.

Regardless, its not good idea to feed your dogs chocolate, raisins, grape... And dogs being an omnivore like human have sweet tooth. Cats are strict carnivore and do not have the sweet receptor, no sweet tooth. Cats are less likely to indulge in chocolate.

you should not feed your cat any chocolate, raisin, or grape either.

[badger]

I hope Sammy will be okay, and good on you for having pet insurance!! And so sorry about AJ.

My dog got into a box of cheap milk chocolates once. The vet pretty much said that the amount of chocolate that's in there was so minimal that there wasn't much to worry, and she was right. He lived to a ripe old age of 14.

That said, my dog LOVED garbage. He would knock you over to get at a bun covered in green fuzz. Combined that with him having inflammatory bowel disease, it was to say the least, explosive.

He ate some unidentified fungus that I had picked off the ledge in my sunroom once. Knowning how deadly some mushrooms could be, the peroxide went in out came the mushrooms.

Towards the end, after years of cleaning up after his indiscretionary consumption of things off the ground, I learned to have a bottle of activated charcoal handy. It really helped. Anything suspicious, I had him eat a capsule or two and he never had an episode.


Grapes and raisins are also toxic to cats. Going off on a tangent, but one should never give pepto bismol to cats, it's quite toxic to them.

[lph]

And dogs being an omnivore like human have sweet tooth. Cats are strict carnivore and do not have the sweet receptor, no sweet tooth. Cats are less likely to indulge in chocolate.

This is interesting, because that was my impression too, that cats don't care much about sweets while dogs will eat anything. Maybe it was the fat in the milk chocolate she picked up on. I mostly eat very dark chocolate though which is very toxic to them, so I'll have to keep it out of harms way.

And still she'll eat just the head off a mouse and leave the rest under the couch. Thanks, cat.

[divingbiker]

Yay!

Sammy gets to come home in a few hours! His blood work today was normal and his kidneys are working fine.

Whew!

[Aggie_Ama]

Whew!!! So glad he does not have lasting effects from his experience. And it looks like some of use learned some information from his event. Give him a big hug from all his TE buddies!

[jessmarimba]

Yaaaaay for Sammy!

I think garlic is also toxic, as it's related to onions.

My cats eat next to no people food (their choice) but one loooves spaghetti sauce. I'm pretty sure after cleaning that up that tomatoes don't treat them too well either.

[NbyNW]

yay! glad Sammy will be home soon!

[divingbiker]

Question: are 16 packages of raisins the toxic level, or 16 raisins? That's a scarey thought if it is individual raisins.

16 individual raisins is the amount Sammy ate; 32 raisins is the toxic dose. He weighs about 30-35 pounds. This is what the vet calculated.

He's home now, and seems perfectly fine but tuckered out. We'll know for sure tomorrow afternoon.

[Blueberry]

I'd be very curious to hear how your pet insurance handles this - and if it's well, what company you use. And am so glad to hear your pup looks to be OK.

A "friend" who was pet sitting nearly killed our golden (she took him for a 2 mile "walk" in 95 degree weather and put him in heat stroke - not to mention ripping the skin completely off 3 paw pads). He spent 4 nights in the emergency vet with lots of nasty complications. Grand total bill: $5,998 (or so). Grand total pet insurance reimbursement: about $1,300. This is one of the better known major companies. I'm not feeling so good about it doing much in a real catastrophe.

[PamNY]

What a scare! I'm so glad things are looking up. Hope the good news continues.

[badger]

uncannily this moring I opened my email to a mail titled "Have you ever wondered if pet insurance is worth it?" with this link (http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/emails/LP_EPI_091610c.html)

I'm in Canada so I don't qualify, but it sounds like it might be worth it for some people.

I just put aside $50/mo on my own for "insurance". So far the only major things I've needed in the 16 years I've had my cats was radioactive iodine for my 11 year old. It was $1700, but I'm not sure how much the deductible on that would've cost, and if I were paying $22/mo (premium I was paying for the 17 year old when I first got her) for the past 10 years, well... that amounts to $2640.

***

And I believe the jury's still out on garlic for cats. I know some recommend putting garlic powder on cat food when the cat's sick and not eating to entice them. I know some cat food contains garlic, too.

I'm pretty sure my dog's eaten onion/garlic in his time. Judging by the way he went bonkers around pizza, I imagine his previous owner(s) gave him pizza. I didn't, as I know I'd have been cleaning up a lot of mess for the next couple of days.

[7rider]

Judging by the way he went bonkers around pizza, I imagine his previous owner(s) gave him pizza.

I used to have a rabbit who loved pizza. Once, when I wasn't looking, he snagged a slice off the coffee table (it was "pizza in front of the boob tube night" with an ex :rolleyes:) and went running across the room with it, tripping over this great big treasure hanging from his mouth! :p It was pretty funny, and no...he didn't get to keep his treat.

Glad Sammy appears to be doing okay, DB. That's a relief. There's only so much pet stress one can stand!

[Roadtrip]

So glad Sammy is going to be OK. Great news. I have a funny story about my Teddy and the neighbor who was caring for him.

We were on vacation and helping the in-laws move. We stopped by the house to pick up the second bag I had packed before heading south and I found my Teddy gimpy and hobbling around the house and looking pathetic.

I nervously called my neighbor and asked if anything was up. He said I was over this morning and all was fine. I left the number for the vet and made sure they had the cell numbers as well and asked he watch him close and let me know. No sooner had I left and got a little ways down the road my neighbor calls and says he stopped to feed Teddy and he now was out running around in the back yard.

It appears my Teddy was playing a ruse on me and just wanted attention!!!

Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks!!

Shannon

[Jolt]

Glad he's OK--what a relief that must be! Speaking of dogs eating things that arent so good for them, have any of you seen the show "My Dog Ate WHAT?" on National Geographic Wild? Some of the stories are as follows: a bulldog who ate a whole bunch of pacifiers over a period of weeks (family had triplets, pacifiers kept going missing, dog started acting sick after a while, vet discovers stomach full of pacifiers and has to remove them), a St. Bernard who accidentally swallowed the spoon when taking a pill in a spoonful of peanut butter, a bullmastiff who ate an entire leather leash (which was removed intact via endoscopy), a Cavalier who swallowed an entire pair of thong underwear on two separate occasions, and a Jack Russell who swallowed a fish hook when his owner wasn't looking during a fishing trip. There were others but those are some of the crazier ones. I also had a neighbor growing up whose yellow lab once chewed up and ate most of a Coke can (he was OK). Cats usually seem to have more sense when it comes to eating things!

[GLC1968]

Glad he's OK--what a relief that must be! Speaking of dogs eating things that arent so good for them, have any of you seen the show "My Dog Ate WHAT?" on National Geographic Wild? Some of the stories are as follows: a bulldog who ate a whole bunch of pacifiers over a period of weeks (family had triplets, pacifiers kept going missing, dog started acting sick after a while, vet discovers stomach full of pacifiers and has to remove them), a St. Bernard who accidentally swallowed the spoon when taking a pill in a spoonful of peanut butter, a bullmastiff who ate an entire leather leash (which was removed intact via endoscopy), a Cavalier who swallowed an entire pair of thong underwear on two separate occasions, and a Jack Russell who swallowed a fish hook when his owner wasn't looking during a fishing trip. There were others but those are some of the crazier ones. I also had a neighbor growing up whose yellow lab once chewed up and ate most of a Coke can (he was OK). Cats usually seem to have more sense when it comes to eating things!

I could have been on that show. My last dog swallowed a large sewing needle - complete with thread still attached! She had to have it removed from her throat, through the front of her neck, to the tune of about $3K. Ouch for both of us! This same dog used to get grapes for treats (her whole life, no issues!), ate most of a clorox drop-in tablet once and enjoyed knawing on bricks. She also got drunk by carefully drinking beer out of plastic cups lined up next to a sand volleyball court - she didn't knock them over, so she'd drunk quite a few before anyone realized she was doing it! (she also enjoyed eating the sand when I wasn't looking...). She was one hell of a dog! :eek:

divingbiker - I'm glad to hear that Sammy is on the mend!

[badger]

my dog once ate drywall. He had a hell of a time pooping the next couple of days. Same when he got into Yesterday's News cat litter. It was painful to watch him try to poop out little rocks.

[divingbiker]

Well, this is chapter is over. Sammy's kidney values 72 hours after eating the raisins were fine, so he is in the clear. All that's left is filing the insurance claim.

My neighbors have a dog who will eat anything. He's had several surgeries to remove socks, plastic bags, rocks, etc from his stomach.

Luckily Sammy (usually) just chews things up and doesn't eat them.

[ClockworkOrange]

Well, this is chapter is over. Sammy's kidney values 72 hours after eating the raisins were fine, so he is in the clear. All that's left is filing the insurance claim.


That's great news, just plenty of snuggles and cuddles for young Sammy, good ending to your story and perhaps a lesson for many of us.

Clock

[emily_in_nc]

I love a happy ending! So glad Sammy is okay! :p