Published: February 24, 2007 12:33 pm      

Raisins are bad news for Fido

Have you ever fed your dog raisins? I read a story about a 56-pound, 5-year-old male Lab mix that found and ate half a canister of raisins. Early the next morning, he started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking. The owner called the vet and was told to bring him in immediately. While waiting for the dog to arrive, the vet called the emergency service at Med Vet and contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center.

The dog was started on IV’s and the vet needed to monitor the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours. The blood urea nitrogen level (BUN) and creatinine were both above normal and continued to go up. The dog went into acute renal failure so the vet sent him to Med Vet for a urinary catheter to monitor urine output as well as overnight care.

The dog started vomiting again and the renal values still continued to increase. The normal BUN for a dog is 27 and his rose to over 120. Normal creatinine is 1.9 and his rose to 10. His phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure skyrocketed from 150 to 220. Several medications were tried, but nothing helped at this point. The pet owners decided to euthanize their pal.

This is a very sad case. This was a great dog with great owners who had no idea what could be a toxin. According to poison control, as few as seven raisins or grapes could be toxic to your pet.

Other foods are also no-nos for pets. Chocolate can cause vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, hyperactivity, and increased thirst, urination and heart rate. Avocados can cause respiratory distress and accumulation of fluid around the heart. Onions, garlic and chives can lead to gastrointestinal upset and damage red blood cells. Moldy or spoiled food can cause GI irritation, tremors, seizures and, because it may also contain bacteria that cause severe food poisoning, it can cause death.

Alcoholic beverages can cause GI irritation, drunkenness, tremors, difficult breathing and/or panting, coma and even death.

Salt and salty foods can cause sodium ion poisoning. Symptoms include regurgitation, tremors, excessive thirst, diarrhea, high temperature and seizures. If enough salt is consumed, death can also result.

Yeast dough can be double trouble for dogs. As it rises, the dough can expand the GI tract, possibly causing the intestine to rupture. The yeast can also form alcohol as it rises, leading to alcohol poisoning.

Candy and gum that contain the sweetener Xylitol can also cause a fairly sudden drop in blood sugar, resulting in depression and seizures, especially if large amounts are eaten. Ingestion of any green plant parts of the potato, or the leaves, stem and unripe fruit of the tomato can cause GI upset, excess salivation, drowsiness, dilated pupils, and weakness.

Ask your vet for information on toxicity before feeding something to your pal other than regular dog food. You can also find information at www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dtoxin.html or www.bestfriendspetcare.com/pet_health/raisinsandgrapes.cfm.

You can call PAWS Connection at (918) 470-7297.