Although not all dogs are sensitive to the toxic effects of grapes and raisins, there is no way to predict whether your dog may be affected. As susceptible dogs can experience gastrointestinal upset followed by life-threatening kidney failure, all grape and raisin ingestion should be considered a serious potential threat.

Despite research done by the Animal Poison Control Center team and others (Morrow, 2003), the toxin in grapes and raisins remains unknown. It has been determined that all grapes should be considered a risk; whether they are home-grown, commercially-grown, seeded, seedless, or even right off the vine.

Dogs must ingest a fairly large quantity of fruit to become ill. The lowest documented amount of grapes or raisins to cause kidney failure is 0.32 ounces per kilogram of body weight (Mazzaferro, 2004). This equates to approximately 1 grape or 10 raisins per pound of your dog’s body weight. There have been no cases of kidney failure documented by the ingestion of just one grape.

Susceptible dogs usually experience vomiting or diarrhea within two hours after eating grapes or raisins. Signs of acute kidney failure develop within 24 hours to several days after ingestion and include lethargy, depression, increased drinking, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and death.

The best treatment is prevention—keep grapes and raisins out of dogs’ reach. If you observe your dog eating grapes or raisins, seek veterinary attention immediately. Your veterinarian will induce vomiting to remove as many grapes or raisins as possible and then administer activated charcoal to help inactivate any remaining toxin. Depending on your dog’s condition, intravenous fluids may be recommended for 48 to 72 hours to help prevent acute kidney failure from developing.

Your dog’s prognosis will depend on how many grapes or raisins they eat, how sensitive they are to the toxin, and how quickly supportive care is initiated.

If you think that your dog is suffering from grape and raisin toxicity visit www.aspca.org/apcc for more information.

References:

Mazzaferro EM, Eubig PA, Hackett TB, Legare M, Miller C, Wingfield WE, Wise L. Acute renal failure associated with raisin or grape ingestions in 4 dogs. Vet Emerg Crit Care 14(3): 196-202, 2004.

Morrow C, Valli V, Volmer P, Eubig P. Canine renal pathology associated with grapes or raisin ingestion: 10 cases (abstract). Annual Meeting Am Assoc Vet Lab Diagn: 128, 2003.

Dr. Donna Spector , DVM, DACVIM
Dr. Donna Spector is a board-certified veterinary internist who practices in New York City. She has written and lectured extensively on nutrition, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders and other animal health issues.

Do you need vet advice? Post a comment with your veterinary questions and we will send them to Dr. Donna Spector to be answered in a future column.

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