Dogs and Onions

[JTull]

I remember seeing a post in this group regarding onions and aplastic
anemia in dogs. Does anyone know if this applies to onions that have
been cooked, especially in water? The reason I ask is my mother makes
large batches of soup stock from turkey and vegetables (including
onions). She cooks them together for a few days,keeps the broth and
passes the turkey and vegies on to my girlfriend and me to feed to our
3 dogs (the smallest one is over 50lbs.) who love the stuff. Since
seeing the warning concerning onions, we have been very careful to pick
out out all the onions. However, is this really necessary? What is it
in onions that causes the anemia and how? Does cooking it denature
this "toxin"or does soaking it in water remove it? I am a medical
doctor (MD) and, while familiar with human pathophysiology, prefer to
seek the advice of others when it concerns animals. As a result, I
would appreciate it if someone could provide me with more information
on this condition in dogs and tell me whether cooking the onions may
make a difference.

Thanks in advance.

Trevor D-H, M.D.

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[buglady]

Its hemolytic anemia or heinz body anemia. A large dog would have to eat a
big onion and keep eating onions to cause a real problem. That said,
puppies and dogs with anemic problems should not eat anything in the onion
family. Leeks are actually worse than onions.

Here's an old post about onions:

The following information came from an article in the now defunct Natural
Pet
Magazine, written by Gregory L. Tilford, who is an herbalist. "When misused
in excessive amounts or over an extended period, garlic may cause Heinz-body
anemia, a potentially life-threatening blood disease. Scientists theorize
that two chemical compounds contained in garlic may contribute to this
disorder: S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide and n-propyldisuldhide, which are
believed to deplete a naturally occuring glucose enzyme, Glucose 6-phosphate
dehydrogenase, also called G6PD. This enzyme's special function is to
protect the cell walls of red blood cells. Depletion of G6PD causes
oxidative damage of these cells, which leads to the formation of "Heinz
bodies" and triggers the body to reject them from the blood stream (usually
via dark-colored urine). If left unchecked, this process of dumping
continues until the total number of red blood cells is lowered to the point
at which the animal becomes anemic and eventually dies. This nightmare is
easily prevented with common sense and a few precautions. Animals with
pre-existing anemic conditions should not receive garlic internally, in any
quantity. Puppies should not receive garlic either as they don't begin
producing new red blood cells until after 6 to 8 weeks of age. In healthy
adult animals, the entire Heinz-body scenario is dose dependent - i.e. the
more garlic fed, the greater the chances of developing a problem. Most
recorded instances of Heinz-body anemia in animals involved eating large
quantities of onions and other garlic relatives, many of which are likely to
contain much large percentages of enzyme-depleting
constituents than a typical dose of garlic. Recorded cases of allium
poisoning typically involve onion doses exceeding 0.5 percent of the subject
animals' body weight. So a healthy, 60-pound dog would have to eat a whole
5-ounce onion
or several cloves of garlic just to start the Heinz-body process. Because
red blood cells are regenerated quickly from the bone marrow, this
grotesque overdose would probably have to be repeated several times on a
frequent basis to cause permanent harm. Several other foods can cause
Heinz-body anemia, as well: large amounts of turnips, kale, rape or
anything rich in vitamin K may lead to this disorder, especially in
herbivores." - Tilford

If you want to look up some info here's another reference: Biochim Biophys
Acta
1999 Apr, researchers at Laboratory of Internal Medicine, Department of
Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine,
Hokkaido University

BTW, there probably isn't much nutritional value in the solids any more -
everything is in the stock.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

JTull wrote in message <023a5bf4...@usw-ex0102-009.remarq.com>...

[JTull]

Thanks for the very detailed response. This will put our minds at
ease. Thanks again...