Have any of you heard of Raisin Toxicity in dogs? I had heard of it in Birds before, but not dogs? Any thoughts on it?

Grapes, yes - so raisins would be a natural follow-through, I think. Grapes and chocolate... no-nos for our canine pals.

Apparently lorraine, now here is the weird thing you can give grapes to birds ( in low quantities) but not raisins. Now how off the wall is that. I didn't know about no grapes for dogs. Hmmmmmmm the things you learn.

I found this for you dals

Grape Toxicity In Dogs

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holly Tillotson D.V.M.

Recently there has been a lot of talk about grape and raisin toxicity in dogs. While there is no published data to date, there is mounting anecdotal evidence that this is a serious problem.

What is known:

Dogs affected will vomit with a few hours of eating either raisins or grapes. Then within 24 hours they may become anorexic and have diarrhea. These clinical signs can last for days to weeks.

Some dogs will develop kidney damage in the first day after exposure. As this damage progresses the dogs will produce less and less urine until they stop producing urine all together. Once that happens death will follow.

Dogs that are treated early and aggressively have a reasonable chance of recovery. If treatment is delayed the prognosis becomes very poor.

What is not known:

It is yet to be discovered what the actual toxin is. There has been speculation that it may be the grape itself, or possibly pesticides, heavy metals (zinc or lead), or perhaps fungal contaminants.

There does not seem to be a critical dose that the dogs need to be exposed to before seeing signs of toxicity. Some dogs eating a few grapes regularly can be affected, as can dogs that consume a large amount one time. There seems to be equal cases in dogs eating grapes as there are dogs eating raisins.

There does not seem to be a breed, age, or sex of dog that is more affected.

Until more information becomes available it would be advisable to stop feeding grapes, raisins, or any food with grape extracts in them. If you would like more information on grape toxicity the animal poison control center has a good website at www.apcc.aspca.org. I am not an expert in this field but if you have any questions you can email me at hollytillotson@shaw.ca.

Thanks Pd for posting that. My mentor sent a cross post to her yahoo list.

There are so many toxic things to be on the lookout for. Grapes, chocolate, gum, garlic, onions and plants. Now-a-days im scared to feed anything to my dogs but dogfood.

Not to mention macadamia nuts (believe it or not) and beware those holiday poinsettias (or pointsettas, depending on one's preference).

I know of some well known dog foods that have grape seed in them. I always thought it weird that grape seed was thought good while the grapes themselves were believed to be toxic.

Well Dals you was talking about it and when I look it up that caught my eye. I am glad it was useful for you

No problem Pd, it was informative as the forwarded email didn't contain the stuff that you posted, it was pretty much just a warning about it. And hopefully what you posted will also warn others of it. I mean who would have ever thought that raisins would be toxic?

Great information. Thanks gals.

yeah who would had though. before I came here I was not aware that bones could have hurt my canine family

quote:

Originally posted by Dals4ever:
Apparently lorraine, now here is the weird thing you can give grapes to birds ( in low quantities) but not raisins. Now how off the wall is that. I didn't know about no grapes for dogs. Hmmmmmmm the things you learn.

Makes sense when you really think about it though. What is a raisin but a dried up grape. What does water do? Water dilutes toxins... Just like the water in canned cat foods diluting the minerals for a UTI prone cat...

quote:

Makes sense when you really think about it though. What is a raisin but a dried up grape. What does water do? Water dilutes toxins... Just like the water in canned cat foods diluting the minerals for a UTI prone cat...

No rat it doesn't really. If you can't give a dog a grape why can you give a bird a grape?