SCIENTISTS STUDYING GRAPES/RAISINS POISONOUS IMPACT ON DOGS
The ASPCA
Animal Poison Control Center warns
dog owners that large
quantities of grapes and raisins apparently can poison dogs.
"This is a relatively recent revelation, one that is painfully close to my
heart," said CT subscriber Sherry M. Gottlieb,wordservices.com. "I had a
healthy, young 70-lb male Irish setter die of complete kidney failure
within 24 hours of eating raisins. He ate a 14-oz box he snuck out of my
grocery bag."
According to the ASPCA, the grapes and raisins involved to date in
poisonings came from boxed, vine and a variety of other sources. The dogs
exhibited vomiting and diarrhea and then signs of kidney failure starting
about 24 hours after ingestion of the grapes or raisins.
Between 9oz. and 2 lbs of grapes were eaten. This is between 0.41 and 1.1
oz/kg of body weight.
According to the ASPCA, two dogs died, three were euthanized due to poor
response to treatment and five dogs lived.
Aggressive treatment is now being recommended for any dogs thought to have
eated excessive amounts of grapes or raisins. Those treatments include
induced vomiting, stomach pumping and administration of activated charcoal,
followed by intravenous fluid therapy for at least 48 hours or as indicated
based on the results of blood tests for kidney damage.
When Sherry M. Gottlieb contacted the ASPCA, she learned that the
organization is in its very earliest stages of studying grape/raisin
toxicity in dogs. Not much is known at this time.
As a result, Gottlieb told CT that the ASPCA wants to be contacted by
owners of dogs who have died from grape and/or raisin ingestion.
"I just got off the phone with them, providing them what data I could for
their database," said Gottlieb. "They were very grateful and wonderful to
work with."
The phone number to the ASPCA is: 888-426-4435 Call 24-hours per day, any
day of the week.
While there is no charge to call and provide them data, phone consults for
help with a current case are charged $45/hour.
Michael Richards DVM said he has fed his dogs "a few grapes every now and
then for years, so I don't think there is a need to panic if a dog eats
three or four grapes but if the whole bunch is missing from the table one
day, it would be good to think about watching for any signs of a toxic
reaction."
