Veterinary Topics

 

 

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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 who 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 I V fluids at 1 = 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 grapes 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.

SNAKE BITES.

Snake Bites! A problem many of us would not even consider in the space of our own garden/grounds.

During the hot/dry weeks of 2006 my dogs and I enjoyed the long lazy days and late evenings. It never occurred to me to be worried about snakes in the paddocks having never seen one, but then something quite strange happened to one of my males.

Firstly I noticed he had a sore/cut food he appeared to be fine although maybe a little quiet…. On closer inspection I noticed both his back legs were very swollen. The following day I took him to the vets, the vet could not find anything obviously wrong and he was put on antibiotics for 10 days and Rimadyl and I gave him plenty of rest.

After the course finished, his legs were still swollen although his foot had healed up a lump had developed between his eyes where his stop is, and he had a sore in the corner of his eye and it would not heal. Several weeks later a very small white mark appeared quite near his eye, where the fur had come off ½ inch from the other sore, and it looked like a bite of some sort, but not a dog bite. This was very strange indeed. I decided to have a full blood test done, the results of which came back completely normal and my vet could find no reason for the swelling between his eyes. After talking to a friend who lives in the same village I found out that the previous year she had been bitten by an Adder and also one of her dogs previously had been bitten and was extremely poorly….could this have happened to my boy.

After a big improvement he returned to his kennel, I found in the mornings from lying down over night, his legs were swollen again, and during the day after a gentle exercise it would go down. I decided to give him another 7 days of antibiotics, I thought it could not do any harm, and finally he got better. . He is now back to normal and the swelling has gone, and his eye has now got better.

Again, a friend who was visiting her own vet out of my area just happened to mention about the leg swellings and his face, her vet immediately suggested a snake bite. It took 3 months for him to fully recover and my own vet ran lots of tests but did not come up with anything significant.

I think I am very lucky that my ‘boy’ was fit and healthy as I am sure the outcome could have been much worse. This summer I will find my self-having to check the paddock area.

Gee McEntee

Reported in the paper Kings Lynn today in July 2005 - http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=991&ArticleID=1082980

Emergency First Aid - http://www.petdoctors.co.uk/index.php/content/blogsection/26/120/
TEA TREE OIL - Reading the notes in one of the dog papers the Old English Mastiff correspondent writes: should you use Tea Tree Oil on your dogs do make sure it is well diluted as she had heard of a number of dogs licking it off and being quite unwell afterwards.
FIRST AID KIT - Don't ever "pooh pooh" the idea of having a first aid kit in your vehicle when out with your dogs. Hopefully the need to use these will be rare but when a first aid kit is needed for a serious incident you had better be sure it is available. The Husky correspondent of Dog World wrote that one of their dogs gashed her leg right down to the bone lifting a flap about a inch and half square. A full dressing, bandage and tape allowed them to get to the vets quickly. Without the kit they may have been struggling... The first aid kit they had was a sealed complete set and was inexpensive so these can be thoroughly recommended.....

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