RAISEN TOXISITY--A VERY SAD STORY

Dearest friends,

This is not the post we planned on posting tonight. It was gonna be a funny one but when Mommy got home she had received this from a friend who asked us to pass it on

You may have known about this , BUT it never hurts to hear it again.

PLEASE read and send it on, Please pass along to friends who do or don't have a dog.

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 1 AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't

call my emergency service until 7 AM.

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 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, avocados

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
.

Mommy hates raisins, always has, but she loves grapes. She knew about raisins and grapes being bad for us and has always been careful not to let us near any but she never knew exactly why and or what would happen. Angel Samantha had renal failure and Mommy still remembers what her sweet girl went through the last 6 months of her life. Mommy said she might never eat grapes again.

{{{huggies}}}...Mona & Weenie