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8/29/08 1:16 A

Rough - I'm so sorry you lost your buddy. It's always so hard to go thru that, but we all have & will again, many times unfortunately. Joanie's right...do not beat yourself up!

I've had dogs all my life & each & every one has eaten things from time to time that were bad for them, including grapes. I had a beagle who ate an entire 1 lb chocolate fish (don't ask)...he got sick but he lived. And we've already established in previous posts that they eat all kinds of poop, dead things, etc. I don't believe your Mastiff died due to eating grapes. A Mastiff is a BIG dog & it would take more than a few grapes to have that kind of effect. I'm sure it's a coincidence. That dog would have to have eaten a heck of a bunch of grapes to even make a dent in his belly. Obviously, something extreme caused such a sudden collapse, but I don't see how it could have been the grapes.

We love our animals enough to be on a team about them, so obviously we would never intentionally harm them. But we're human & we can't always do the right thing. My heart goes out to you for your loss, but it was not your fault.

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8/28/08 9:42 P

Roughneckswife - don't beat yourself up. I agree with your husband in that the grapes were probably not the cause of your dog's death (which I'm very sorry to hear). Unless you had a necropsy done, you'll probably never know - and I'm not a doctor, but it sounds like there was something else that might've going on that was probably beyond your control. Please don't beat yourself up -- I've done that before with ALL of my animals' deaths and it's no good for your mental health.

The only thing you can do going forward is remember to check the ASPCA's poison list and keep those items away from your dogs. You certainly didn't give grapes with an intention of harming your baby - keep the happy memories with you during this stressful time.

BTW - to all who were wondering about Rita's updates: I had more bloodwork done today as her creatinine levels were still high last week. They've gone down, but the doctor wants me to bring her back again next week to have it checked because, while it's still in the normal limits, it's still high. They want me to watch her appetite and see if she vomits.

True to her heritage, she's a Lab and has an iron stomach. She is eating and drinking fine, playing fine and drinking plenty. She's not lethargic or had any vomiting episodes. I'm still cautiously optimistic at this point, only because I still keep needing to get her blood tested. But once we figure out what her normal levels are, I'll stop worrying (even though I'm sure she's fine, because she would've been exhibiting symptoms before now).

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8/28/08 1:30 A

Hi,I Just joined the boards.
This post was a COLD slap in the face.
3 weeks ago I lost my Mastiff. He was in terrible pain, and having some kind of horrible fit. He ended up losing all control of his muscles and organs.
When our ordeal was over it hit me like a ton of bricks, the day before, My lab, mastiff and myself were eating grapes. I told my husband and he didnt think it was the cause.
I had never given them a grape before and had no idea it could kill them.
No I just hate myself

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8/22/08 6:39 P

Horse poo isn't the only thing they eat -- mine love rabbit poo (and cat poo). Thankfully, they're not like some other dogs who eat other dogs' (or their own) poo! I make sure that if mine have a snack that wasn't given to them by me (i.e., the litter box buffet), they certainly don't get to touch me with that tongue!!

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8/22/08 1:10 A

Pearl - Oh yeah, they sure do love rolling in dead, stinky things, including other dogs' poop! I don't know of any way to stop them. Another really gross thing they do is eat horse manure. My vet said it's because of the sweet hay that horses eat & that eating the manure won't harm the dogs. Um well, what about when they want to give me a big old kiss? Yuck!

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8/21/08 12:12 A

Pearl - I think the only way you can prevent them from rolling in dead things is to catch them in the act. I don't have a very big yard, but when the earthworms are around, both of my dogs are always rolling on them. There's something else in my yard that's unidentifiable, but DEFINITELY stinky. I only know it's around when the dogs come back with black splotches on their fur. I read somewhere that the reason dogs roll in dead stuff/smelly stuff is to hide their scent (a trait that has been passed down from their ancestors).

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8/20/08 4:16 P

SO happy to hear Rita is ok...its so hard when our babies aren't well..can't imagine being separated from my "kids" for days like you were. Hope all is well.

Charlie- OMG an entire chicken?!?!?! Thats so something my littlest one would do!

Along the lines of the dead animals that some of you have been chatting about...anyone know how to make them stop ROLLING on and in dead, stinky things? My male Hendrix keeps rolling in something...I can't catch him in the act but we live in the country and lord knows what it could be. He needs nightly baths the last couple days because he is stinking up the house! HELP...any suggestions welcome :)

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8/20/08 2:03 A

Joanie - I'm so glad Rita's back home & seems to be doing fine. Guess we all need to be much more careful about what we leave within the reach of a tall dog.

Carry - When my dogs do something gross, like drag a dead animal in the house, my DH freaks out & asks me what the heck is wrong with them. I tell him I have no clue why they're acting like animals. LOL No matter how much we like to humanize them, they are still descended from wolves.

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8/16/08 5:39 P

I am glad she is ok and home.

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8/15/08 5:49 A

Yeah Rita...thanks for the update, glad she is doing awesome!!!

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8/14/08 10:25 P

I was able to visit Rita earlier this afternoon, and my husband picked her up this evening. She's home now, and doesn't seem worse for wear (except for a bandage where her catheter was). I need to bring her back tomorrow for another blood test (her creatinine was still high, but within the normal limits). Depending on what the results are, she shouldn't need any more treatment (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

Thank you all again for the well wishes and consolation. I know it happens to everyone, but it's so hard if they get sick because they can't tell you.

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8/14/08 8:36 A

Joannie I am glad Rita will be alright. I hope she comes home today.

Connie-Katie is awful about that stuff. We walk along a walking trail that is kind of out in the woods and we will be walking along and all of a sudden she will have something dead in her mouth. I am taking something out at least once a trip. She is such a brat. LOL! Thank goodness that is the only bad habit she is teaching Abby. We can handle that one.

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8/14/08 12:20 A

Joanie - I'm so glad Rita's okay. Hope she gets to come home tomorrow. Like the others have said, we all have our stories of no-no foods our pets have gotten ahold of (& we won't even talk about the garbage cans). As careful as I am, Bosco still manages to outsmart me a couple times a year. It happens to the best of pet owners.

MISSVY - OMG, how awful about your poor kitties! I'm so glad they'll be okay. Come to think of it, my vet puts Frontline in little white envelopes for all 3 of my pets. They could easily be mixed up & my cat could get the 100 lb dog's dose. I'm gonna be very careful about reading the labels in the future after reading what happened to you.

Carry - LOL about the dead animals. Bosco would certainly steal a steak if he could, but give him a freshly killed bunny or mouse (courtesy of "his" cat) & he's in heaven. I joke, but it's actually a very serious thing. Bosco was diagnosed with Hepatitis about 2 years ago, ideology unknown. I'm convinced it came from some dead animal(s) he ate. But what can you do when you can't be around to watch them 24/7? They have a doggie door, so if the cat deposits anything wounded or dead in the yard, my guys will find it. Yuck!

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8/13/08 8:05 P

Charlie -- I read about Abby and the cooked chicken. In fact, that story was one of the first that came to my mind when I saw that Rita ate grapes (after thinking that she could die, of course). I have a co-worker whose dog got into chocolate Santas (I believe it was a one-pound Santa) and she thought the only thing that would happen to him was vomiting.

Still, she's my baby and I want to make sure that she's OK. She listens well and doesn't counter surf when I am home, but obviously she's not THAT well behaved when she's alone. Financially, I'm still reeling from Fenway's hip surgery in March -- he's OK, but I'm still paying for it! This expense was something that was preventable, but I was a total bonehead.

I may be able to take her home tomorrow, depending on the doctor's progress report in the morning. I was told her creatinine levels were a little high (whatever that means) and it was nothing to worry about, but it was enough to keep her in the hospital another day.

Edited by: JOANIEGRANOLA at: 8/13/2008 (20:05)

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8/13/08 7:24 P

Glad she is doing great!!!!

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8/13/08 7:01 P

If there is food around a Lab will find it. Recently I posted about my Abby who ate an entire cooked chicken! I was frantic! But she too seems to have an iron stomach and suffered no ill effects. At Christmas she ate an entire batch of fudge. We all know how bad chocolate is for dogs. Again, she was just fine. I'm sure we all have stories about how careless we have been with leaving food where the dogs can get to it. Don't beat yourself up. Thank goodness she is OK. Labs are little Houdini's when it comes to getting food.

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8/13/08 6:03 P

Toby and Katie must be kin. lol He has never been bad about getting food or other things off the counters. Now if you have it in your hand and it gets near him, believe me, he will relieve you of your snack. lol

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8/13/08 5:57 P

Joanie I hope everything turns out alright. I didn't know they were toxic either. Katie has never wanted to eat one so I never thought about it. She doesn't counter surf either. I could leave a huge steak on the counter and she wouldn't touch it unless I told her she could. A dead animal is another thing. Hang in there. It is awful having a sick child.

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8/13/08 5:17 P

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and consolation. I heard from the doctor today and Rita's doing fine. She's eating well and resting, but she vomited a little of the charcoal mixture that they gave her (several hours aftward), so they're keeping an eye on her.

Connie -- onions are poisonous too. More so to cats, but dogs can get stomach upset from them. The only reason I know this is because, about a month ago, I was on the ASPCA's website reading the list of toxic plants. (Surprise of all surprises, most of the plants that the former owner of my house planted are toxic to my dogs. Thankfully, neither of the dogs are interested in them.) Rita has eaten a few grapes in the past and I haven't worried, but this time she ate a whole bunch and a half of grapes! She vomited about 50 of them - which may have been all of them, but I wasn't exactly sure. That's why I took her to the emergency room - the poison control hotline doctor advised it.

For anyone interested, the link to the ASPCA's list is: http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_toxicplants

I wasn't able to get to see her during visiting hours today, but my husband will be seeing her tonight. I'll keep you updated on her progress.

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8/13/08 1:11 P

Definitely don't beat yourself up over it. I've made so many silly mistakes in the past with my pets- you just have to learn from them...


Just this week we accidentally gave our dog's flea medication to our cats and they both ended up in the emergency vet with permethrin toxicity and almost died.

It's definitely frightening when something threatens your 4-legged family, but don't be angry with yourself-

it happens from time to time..

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8/13/08 8:08 A

Ya'll are sure educating me. I didn't know that grapes were dangerous for dogs. Ours have never wanted to eat them though so haven't thought about it before. I will let the whole family know (kids and grands) so they are aware to not give any to Toby or their own pets.

Oh, the latest, we have a new 4-legged grand--a little girl (mixed breed) that younger dd in Atlanta got from the pound. That makes 4 4-legged grands now. lol (Oh, still just have 6 granddaughters)

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8/13/08 12:02 A

Joanie - Wow, what a terrible ordeal! I know grapes are dangerous for dogs, but had no idea that eating them once meant they'd need to be hospitalized. Bosco's 11 & I know for a fact he's had grapes every now & again, from people who didn't know it's the wrong thing to give dogs.

I'm sure Rita will be fine, but your DH is right, we must always remember they are animals. Bosco will gladly counter surf, so about the only thing we can safely leave out is onions. We're very careful, but a few times a year he manages to catch us off guard. The last incident was about a month ago...pack of burger rolls...ate them all!

Good luck. I'm sure everything will be okay.

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8/12/08 10:18 P

My husband pointed out to me today that since our dogs are usually so good at not getting into stuff they shouldn't get into, we forget that they're still dogs and will get into stuff when given the opportunity.

I'm going to have to follow Cesar Milan's mantra -- Rita is first an animal, then a dog, then a Labrador, then Rita. I won't be making the same mistake again.

I'm sure everything was caught in time -- she's eaten grapes before from the neighbor's yard (Concord grapes that fell off the vine), but that was before we knew they were bad for her and not quite the same quantity.

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8/12/08 9:20 P

Don't beat yourself up---I feel for you though. SOunds like things were caught in time and she is in good hands!!! Please keep us posted, sending prayers your way!!!

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8/12/08 9:07 P

Ugh - I'm sure everyone on this message board knows about the dangers of grapes/raising and dogs (they can cause renal damage/failure). Well, I'm a total bonehead because I forgot to put the grapes away this morning after I ate some for breakfast and gave some to my bunny. My girl, Rita, ate the rest of them. I can barely remember how many there were, but the only thing remaining was the stems.

I called my vet, called the poison control hotline and gave her hydrogen peroxide and took her running in the backyard to induce vomiting. The good thing is she vomited up the grapes. The bad thing is that I wasn't positive she got them all up (she ingested them sometime within a 2-hour period, and it takes dogs about 3 hours to digest), so I had to take her to the emergency room.
She's being kept at the hospital for the next two days; she was given activated charcoal and fluids to help keep the toxins out of her system and flush her kidneys. She's having bloodwork done and the doctor will let me know if they want to keep her a third day, depending on how her treatment goes.
I've heard lots of stories about dogs and raisins/grapes, and there isn't a lot of conclusive information. Some dogs can eat a lot and not have any problems, while others can eat a small amount and end up dying. From the stories, I surmise that it all depends upon the breed of dog and it's weight (and what kind of digestive system they have -- Rita has a lead stomach). I'm sure she'll end up fine, but it's worrisome nonetheless.
I'm wracked with guilt right now because I can't believe I forgot to put the grapes away. And I know that they were in a place that was not easily accessible, because as I was plucking them for the rabbit I saw her eyeballing me so I put them out of reach. Obviously, they weren't far enough out of reach.

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