We are often warned not to feed grapes, sultanas, raisins and chocolate to dogs but why grapes should be so toxic to our canine friends has often surprised me.
Ingestion of grapes and thus raisins too causes severe kidney toxicity leading to kidney and renal failure and an inability to produce urine known as anuria.
In the USA, about 150 to 200 cases of dogs being poisoned by grape consumption occur annually although not all cases can be clearly attributed to this. No matter the type of grape, the effect is always the same.
The toxicological reasons are not fully understood either. Some vets speculate that a mycotoxin is involved which is specific to damaging dogs. The pathology is necrosis of the proximal renal tubules of the kidney. In some cases and brown pigment is often found in renal epithelial cells.
Symptoms
Kidney failure following ingestion usually occurs about a day to three days after ingestion. The dog usually vomits and suffers with diarrhoea including blood in its stools.
Key Web-Sites
The PDSA has a comprehensive examination of this type of poisoning including symptoms and what to do about it if your dog eats grapes.
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