What to do if a dog eats a grape or raisin

[RachelC]

The other day, my dog found a raisin in the shared hallway of my building.

She thankfully dropped the raisin, and I made sure there was none left in her mouth, but I wanted to ask about this for the future. I know even one raisin or grape can be very dangerous to dogs -- what should you do if a 34-lb dog eats one raisin?

Thank you,

Rachel

 

[GinnyW]

Good dog! I would not be concerned. Someone please tell me that one raisin is a problem. I'd go ahead and feed a wet meal big enough to surround a raisin or overwhelm a grape...

 

[Dr. Christina]

I agree with Ginny.
Most dogs are still fine with eating grapes and raisins and even some great holistic vets do not even limit them at all.
I tend to be on the safe side and say do not plan to feed them, but some are fine.
Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Great question Rachel!

I agree with Ginny and Dr. Christina and your question raises the super important question about susceptibility/sensitivity to anything in the environment that has the potential to do harm to us or our dogs.

IMHO reducing that susceptibility is key to having a healthy life full of freedom and flexibility.

For example, Archie occasionally eats my chocolate covered raisins and I don't worry too much about this even tho these are both *potentially* toxic.

That susceptibility is related to everything to which she is exposed throughout her life:

The role of the exposome in promoting resilience or susceptibility after SARS-CoV-2 infection - Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology

www.nature.com

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

No worries, Rachel!

One grape or raisin is not a concern. WIth grapes, raisins, and currants, it seems to be more of an individual susceptibility as well as a dose issue. The toxic factors are tartaric acid and potassium bitartrate, which are found in high concentrations in grapes. For grapes, as little as 0.3 ounces of grapes per pound of body weight can be toxic. For raisins, the toxic dose can be as little as 0.05 ounces of raisins per pound of body weight.

From what I can tell, the main depot of tartaric acid and potassium seems to be the flesh of the grape, and not the seeds or skins. Grape seeds contain a lot of antioxidants, so grapeseed oil is fine... except that grapes are heavily contaminated with pesticide residues. So be sure to buy organic!

One bright spot is that malbec and pinot noir grapes (my personal faves) are low in these compounds, so if your dog steals a swig out of your evening glass of red wine, it's okay! I had a cat who loved wine, and she would drink quite a bit! She would, however, be disappointed to learn that her preferred white wine contains between 0.7% and 0.9% acid, but red wine is around 0.6 to 0.8%.

With chocolate it is a concentration and dose-dependent toxicity; a big dog would have to quite a bit of very dark chocolate or baker's chocolate for enough theobromine to be affected.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Wow, thanks for sharing the awe-some info Jean! ?