WARNING - raisins/grapes

Written by:
Laurinda Morris, DVM
Danville Veterinary Clinic
Danville, Ohio

This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at
MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5-year-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 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 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 d og 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-handlers. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.

Laurinda Morris, DVM
Danville Veterinary Clinic
Danville , Ohio


What a tragic story - I know some people feed their dogs grapes and raisins with no problems, so obviously the senstitivity varies from dog to dog - but personally I wouldn't take the risk...

Thanks Nicki, I keep telling people and they still look at me like I'm being silly or fussing

I've never given ours raisins or grapes but will be sure to keep the chinchillas raisins out of the boys reach - Thanks for the warning Nicki

merlinsmum said:

I've never given ours raisins or grapes but will be sure to keep the chinchillas raisins out of the boys reach - Thanks for the warning Nicki

Click to expand...

You have chinchillas too. I have two females and they love their raisins, but raisins can be deadly to them too... more then one or two a day can get really sick.

Thanks for the warning, grapes always seem like the perfect thing to toss for them to catch.

We have two standard grey girls - litter sisters - Lolly and Chi. - They are 7 years old in May.

Raisin treats are very few and far between as are sunflower seeds - to many of either could kill them.

we are very lucky as when indy was a puppy i had never heard that grapes and raisins were toxic. only onions, garlic and chocolate. we used to give him grapes and he would hold them in his mouth for a while, then crush them and eat them. thank God he must not have been very sensitive to them!

for some reason i can't find the link at the moment, but there is an excellent concise list of toxic foods, lots of which are new to most folks, around somewhere.

oh my god what a said story.
i did know that grapes/raisins where toxic but to read exactly what can happen to poor dogs when they eat them is just terrible.the worst thing is i caught my mam giving lewi her charley boy a piece of a grape the other day!!she tends to give him a piece of everything she eats as hes her spoilt little lap dog.i told her dont do that because there toxic and she siad ooh but he likes the juice!i told her how would you feel if that killed him it would be your fault for feeding him it!iv feel iv got to watch her more than the dog!!

Here's the ASPCA's list of toxins ... good to get familiar with.

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_poisonsafe

merlinsmum said:

We have two standard grey girls - litter sisters - Lolly and Chi. - They are 7 years old in May.

Raisin treats are very few and far between as are sunflower seeds - to many of either could kill them.

Click to expand...

I have a tiny tiny standard grey and then a huge light tan with pink eyes.


This scary how many harmless sounding thing are dangerous.

o.k I went to the site where it lists all the bad foods, and I was very surprised garlic is on the list. I thought garlic was o.k since a "breeder" told me is was better to fed this to my dog then to give them the flee stuff (i.e. chemicals)... This is very interesting... And the other ingredient - salt.. almost everything has salt.. hmmmm...
Anyway, sad story, I will print this list and keep it handy, just to make sure we are all aware of the "danger" foods.:yuk:

Garlic is ok in small quantities - ie not more than one small clove daily for a Cavalier...