Did You Know?

[teko]

Thought I would share this valuable information.

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 4:30PM 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  the 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, 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 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

[peekawho]

Great, great information!!!!  Thank you!

[ginger899]

Thank you so much for this. It really strikes home to read this post. This info. is really great.
But terribly sad too.