A few days ago, I was sitting at the reception counter eating grapes. Suddenly, I was struck by a realization: I need to make sure these grapes always have their lid on them when I walk away. If not, I could be responsible for the illness of one of our patients.
Grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs and cats. Recognized 12 years ago by the Animal Poison Control Center (run by the ASPCA), ingestion by animals can make them very sick and even kill them if enough are eaten. Even after 12 years of evidence, it still in unknown exactly what it is about these fruits that hurts them, or even why some pets are affected much more severely than others. What is known is the fact that the pet can go into kidney failure.
How do we treat it? Well, if the ingestion was recently, as in the past 2 hours, the first step is usually to induce vomiting. Bless the owners who will do this themselves at home, for it is a messy undertaking. Usually, we will have the pet come here. We also may give activated charcoal, which helps absorb some of the toxins. We may give subcutaneous fluids, to make sure the pet can keep urinating.
After these in-hospital treatments, we will send the pet home with medicine to protect their stomach, and sometimes medication to stimulate their urine production.
I think about all these treatments and how many people feed their pets a grape or raisin without a care. They sure do like them, but for your pet's health, keep this food locked in the pantry! I certainly will not be bringing any raisins or grapes to work anymore. Next time I'll come in with some apples.
-Amy
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