Dog Health Warning

[Freebird]

OK...I'm probably the only one here who didn't know this but I'm willing to reveal my ignorance on the subject if it helps anybody else.,   Last night, we were watching TV in bed when my wife went downstairs and brought bad a bowl of grapes. In a few minutes, we notice our 13 year old Sheltie grab and swallow about 4 of them.  I didn't think it was a big deal but my wife Googled it and found out that a single grape can be fatal to dogs.  They don't know why and some dogs are more sensitive to them than others but the rule of thumb is that more than 1 grape per 10 lbs of body weight is considered toxic and cause immediate kidney failure in many cases.  We called and were told to immediately take her to the MedVet emergency center. We did sol. They induced vomiting and gave her a IV.  We were there for about 6 yours, got home after midnight last night and $482.00 poorer.  They managed to recover about 1 1/2 grapes as near as they could determine. She is home now but it will be 48 - 72 hours before we know. If Kidney toxicity occurs, she will likely not survive.

I knew that chocolate and some other things were toxic to dogs but had no idea about grapes.  We are usually very careful as to what we feed her and she never even gets table scraps.

[XV1100SE]

Hopefully they got enough out that there are no problems.

It is tempting to give dogs "human" foods but always need to remember that there are foods they cannot have.  Hard to stop them when they help themselves.  

[saddlebum]

Thank you for sharing. Like wise we wish you all the luck. Having gone through a similar incident our family fully understands the trauma you went through. Some years back our previous Airedale Jake,  got into a box of chocolate when nobody was home, only to be found lying on the floor shaking severely. He also had to be taken to the vet, were his stomach was pumped out and he was fed charcoal. Fortunately he survived and recovered to his full normal self and lived another 3 years passing away at 14 years of age which is the normal life span for an Airedale.

We did know that chocolate was bad for dogs, but we then learned this threat also takes in grapes, raisins and onions.

Edited February 20, 2023 by saddlebum

[Argo]

Freebird,

 

Hopefully everything will turn out well.

There was a story floating around that this was discovered by Ben of Ben & Jerry’s. Supposedly his girlfriend at the time liked grape flavor and he was experimenting to develop grape ice cream. Long story short, he gave a discarded sample to his girlfriend's dog which you know isn't good.

 

Argo

[M61A1MECH]

Not just grapes, raisins (dried grapes) are just as toxic to animals, my granddaughter is a vet tech and while we were visiting a grape fell on the floor, she has two dogs and a cat, she immediately dove on the floor to retrieve it before any of the animals could get to it. She explained what the issue is, but I forget the details, suffices to say, grapes and raisins are bad for vats and dogs.

Don, Hoping for the best results for your Sheltie.   

[Freebird]

Well I'm happy to say that Gracie appears to be fine.  I called my regular vet first thing Monday morning and was told that I needed to bring her in and that she be put on an IV for at least one day and night.  So I took her in on Monday morning and they gave her and IV until I was called to pick her up Tuesday afternoon.  They said all of her blood work looked good and though there was still somer danger for another 24 hours, they felt that she was going to be fine.  So I bough her home and this morning she appears to be her normal self.

So watch those grapes and other forbidden fruit for your animals.  Those, probably 4 grapes, ended up costing me $482.00 for the first visit on Sunday night and then another $830.00 for the visit on Monday/Tuesday.  So a total of $1312.00.  Money well spent to save our baby but would have been avoided had we known about the danger that grapes, raisens, and a number of other things present to our pets.

[M61A1MECH]

Good to hear she will be OK.

[BlueSky]

I didn't know about grapes being toxic to dogs but I haven't owned a dog for about 27 years.  Before that though I had a dog most of the time.  I'm surprised my kids didn't give our dogs some grapes when they were growing up.  

[skydoc_17]

This is GREAT news, Don! We lost one of our two Bichons last year. (The female) She had Diabetes, which up until then I didn't know a dog could get. Fortunately, my wife Jean is a retired nurse and was able to give her the Insulin shots. We have not fully recovered from the loss, so I am VERY glad that everything turned out OK with your Fur Baby! Coming from a farm/wildlife background  I never thought I would be so attached to an animal. NEVER! When our male Bichon passes, I am not sure what the future holds for my wife and I as far as animals are concerned. It was as bad as losing a child! I still find my wife weeping from time to time because of a picture, toy or feeding dish left from our female dog. 

Very Glad that this all worked out Don,

Earl and Jean.

[Skid]

Yes we had to google that info not too long ago. One grape hit the floor and was gone. Our dog swallowed it before we had a chance. Luckily one didn’t hurt him but he had us worried for a while. Plus he has ate several items just to puke then back up a couple days later. One being the girls tampon.