Dogs and Raisins
 

This thread might belong in "sick and injured" or "health and diet" or even "our Yorkie Brothers and Sisters" because it's not about a Yorkie but I'd like as many people as possible to see it. Admin - if you feel it should be moved, then please move it.

Last Saturday night I had a friend over to watch football. I took her home at about 12:45am. I put Sadie and Beemer in their playpen but I left our small lab mix (Marley) downstairs because I wasn't going to be gone long. I was gone less than ten minutes, but when I got home she had gone on a raid of the pantry. She was on the sofa with raisin boxes all around her. Two were empty. I knew grapes and raisins were bad for dogs, but I had no idea to what extent. I put her to bed, expecting yucky surprises to greet me in the morning, put on my pajamas and went to bed. I got on the internet to do a little research about raisins and what I read scared me. I called the emergency animal hospital and they advised bringing her in. We got their approximately an hour after she ate what I thought was two 1 1/2 oz. boxes of raisins. When I got to the clinic they induced vomiting. They said that there were two more empty boxes in her stomach as well as a stomach full of raisins. She had apparently a total of 6oz of raisins (49 pound dog). The vet told us that it was definitely enough to kill her and that we were very fortunate that we brought her in so quickly. She said that once symptoms start, it is often too late.
She also told us that not all dogs react toxically to raisins but there is no way to know which ones will and won't. Raisins can cause acute renal failure in a dog, often with necrosis of the kidneys. They kept her in the hospital and gave her activated charcoal as well as IV fluids to flush her out. They and my vet followed the standard protocol of 48 hours on IV fluids and another 24 hours of observation with blood tests for kidney function every 24 hours. She never got sick but she just got home late this afternoon. We have to take her back for one more blood test on Friday. If everything is still good at that point we will be able to relax and believe that she is going to be fine. That's the other thing with the raisins - they don't always react immediately.

The reason I'm posting this is just to get the word out on how serious this really is. If 6 oz of raisins can kill a 50 pound dog, imagine how little it would take for a 4-5 pound yorkie! The other thing I wanted everyone to understand is how important it is to react quickly. What if I had just gone on to sleep assuming that it was just going to give Marley a tummy ache? Or - like so many of us do - wait for symptoms before reacting? It scares me just to think about it.

By the way - I'm calling this Marley's $1,500 meal of raisins.

Thanks for listening!
Karen

Oh, scary story and glad that you researched and got your baby in for fast treatment. You no doubt saved her life! I am so glad to have this good information though sorry I had to get it this way from you. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing this story and I am happy that you had a positive outcome (even if it was costly). I too am very, very careful with raisins, chocolate and nuts around Romeo and I don't let him wander in the kitchen or dining room unless I personally clean the floor (of any food crumbs). As you so correctly pointed out, a bit of preventive care is better than waiting for symptoms which could tragically be too late.

Hope your baby's health continues to improve.

Wow!!! Poor you!! I'm glad you posted!! I have a list of "no no" foods on my refrigerator just to remind everyone everyday to be oh so careful!

I'm so glad marley is ok and that are such a great mom to her!!
I hope her test Friday is great!!!

Sorry about her eating raisins but I am glad you got her to the er vet when you did hopefully everything will be ok in her blood work on Friday. I will keep her in my prayers.

That was an expensive snack. I'm glad Marley is going to be ok.

I am so glad that you were able to get your baby to the vet. Hope that all of the tests come out good.

Thanks everyone! We feel pretty confident that we got her there in time. The test Friday is just the last step to be sure. The main reason I wanted to get this out there is just to make everyone aware how important it is to be proactive with these little guys. It likely saved Marley's life.

Marley is so happy to be home. Last night she couldn't snuggle in enough on the couch. You could just see it in her eyes. The emergency vet loved her though. She really didn't feel sick at all. They don't often have dogs that feel great. They told me that she wanted to love on everyone there. She almost acted like it was all just a big adventure. We just hope that this adventure is just about over!

Thanks for posting the reminder. Your quick acting saved her life. I know it was worth the expense to still have her with you.