If you 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 , OH     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 & 1/2 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 increase 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 grap es 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. Onions, chocolate, cocoa and macadamia nuts can be fatal, too.

I got this letter from my favorite vet today. He is my mentor of sorts. I learn from him all the time. And I have long since known about the dangers of dog food. I have already written about it here on my blog. But stil, even my closest friends, resist the truth. I tried to convert one dear friend who is feeding her recently adopted 10 year old dog food with these very ingredients discussed here at the end of this article.  He is also very overweight. She hadd been gone for 2 months so when the dog saw her one can only imagine the emotinal expereince for the dog. Naturally he thought she was long since gone forever.  And imagine what this dog has been through in his past. She has him only becuase he was abandoned and in a shelter. She started to foster him and now has fallen in love. But, he needs care. He missed her . She is home. He started diarrhea . He has been on a new good food for 1 week at that point with no problems. But now he starts to poopin. She blames it on the good food and puts him back on the old bad food. I sent her numerious reports. Yet, she will not listen. She is sold on the name brand. It is the same one that vets sell. And now, from the mouth of a vet whose dog died of cancer. Here is what he has to say.

Later check out his supplement for SUPERIOR HEALTH ALTERNATIVES;

 www.thedogsupplement.com/cmd.php Read more

Pet Food Recall Update
The Pet Food Recall lawsuit designedto compensate many of the THOUSANDS of pets affected by tainted food is still NOT yet settled.

Here’s the story: Read more

What are the most important ingredients to have available at ALL TIMES in your DOGGIE MEDICINE BAG?

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