Vet Warnings
(The following article is written by a veterinarian)
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 4:30 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 ½
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 incr ease 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.
Laurinda Morris, DVM
Danville Veterinary Clinic
Danville , Ohio
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