Fw: [bmg] IMPORTANT ABOUT DOGS
Sarah
happen to them.
Plese, if you don't have a dog, pass this message to your friends who do...
Hey WMA Pheasant hunters,
See the message below about a dog being poisoned by eating raisins. Attached is a short article from National Geographic listing
foods that can poison
a dog. Let's be careful of what we feed our dogs.
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2007-10/dog-poisons.html
Hope you are having a great time this fall hunting pheasants.
If y ou have a dog... PLEASE read this and send it on. If you don't have a dog, please pass along to friends who do.
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 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 I V fluids at 1 1/2 times maintainance 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.
Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them.
Confirmation from Snopes about the above...
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp