# Please help! My dog had grape juice...



## worriedworried (Aug 15, 2011)

My dog is a 17 year old terrier mix. 20 pounds. Suffers from seizures and a collapsing trachea. 

She's on antibiotics. They're in capsule form, given twice a day. For the last 5 days, I've been opening the capsules and giving them to her in a squirter/syringe thing mixed with Kedeem grape juice to make the taste less terrible. I didn't know that grapes are toxic to dogs. I just found out an hour ago. Her last dose with it was 10 hours ago. The total amount she's been ingesting is probably 4 ounces total daily. 

She seems to be mostly fine. She's been peeing a little more often than usual today, but she hasn't had diarrhea or vomiting.

What should I do? I feel horrible... and I'm really worried. Is this likely to have been enough to do damage to her kidneys? Is it worse that it was grape juice instead of fresh grapes? Did I shorten her lifespan?

Please help.

Thank you.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

It's possible that the grape juice is diluted enough with water and other ingredients that it might be ok, but nobody really knows what the toxin in grapes is or what the toxic dose is, so you never know. I'd ask your vet to do a blood test to evaluate the kidneys to be on the safe side, any damage should definitely show up by now.


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## worriedworried (Aug 15, 2011)

It was 100% Concord Grape Juice. According to the bottle, it's mevushal (has been boiled). Does boiling destroy the toxins in grapes? I haven't yet found any information on that. 

She's reasonably active and still has an appetite (just had a couple slices of turkey), but seems a little more unsteady than usual when she walks (she's always a bit wobbly now). She's not lethargic. I can't tell if there's abdominal pain, when I feel her stomach area it seems tight and a little hard, but she doesn't struggle or show signs of being upset (except annoyance).

I'm living on Social Security and can't afford large vet bills (I haven't been able to afford my own urgently needed root canal). I'm hoping to try and get her a blood test done tomorrow, but I don't know for sure if I'll be able to.


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

Since no one really knows what the toxic component is, there's no way to know if boiling will affect it. Also, it is not known if there is a cumulative effect.

You really should have taken her to an emergency vet last night - certainly within a few hours ofthe last ingestion of the the grape juice. They would have administered a emetic (causes vomiting) and probably an adsorbant, and started blood work. She would have been hospitalized with an IV drip and monitored for at least 24 hours. That's the safe approach.

Please get her to a vet ASAP today. Grape toxicosis is not something to fool around with. Although not all dogs are affected to the same extent, for those that are affected this can be an extrememly grave situation.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

worriedworried said:


> It was 100% Concord Grape Juice. According to the bottle, it's mevushal (has been boiled). Does boiling destroy the toxins in grapes? I haven't yet found any information on that.


No one knows. No one knows very much about how grapes are toxic at all, unfortunately.





Poly said:


> You really should have taken her to an emergency vet last night - certainly within a few hours of ingesting the grape juice. They would have administered a emetic (causes vomiting) and probably an adsorbant, and started blood work.


Unless I'm misreading, the dog's been getting grape juice for the last 5 days, an emetic and absorbent wouldn't do much at this point.


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## worriedworried (Aug 15, 2011)

I didn't know it was toxic until long after she'd had it. By the time I knew, anything in her stomach was long since digested so vomiting wouldn't have helped her anymore. 

She's been acting fine. Eating normal, drinking normal, peeing normal. Very active, strong, and cheerful this morning. Everything I've read on her having a toxic response says she should be vomiting, lethargic, in pain, etc... If she's displaying no symptoms of toxic response by now, shouldn't she be okay then?

Vet visits are incredibly stressful for her. She goes into a panic and struggles, gets aggressive, pants, and freaks out whenever vets touch her. I don't want to put her through that if unnecessary. I read about the IV drips causing the dog to pee more so I've been giving her more water than she'd normally drink via the syringe. She'll drink if it's administered slowly into her mouth. I'm very careful not to give her too much, just some extra here and there. Won't that have the same effect as the IV?


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

As has already been stated, the situation has been pretty much overtaken by events at this time.

Nevertheless, your vet may still want to see her as a checkup and have the incident recorded on her health records. Maybe have some bloodwork done as well. If there is any change in the future, you would then have a baseline to refer to. At the very least, call your vet and ask what they would recommend at this point.


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