Dog owners know which foods are poisonous for our canine companions. The list includes apple seeds, the pits from pitted fruits, chocolate, garlic, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, onions, walnuts, and xylitol, which is found in sugarless gum. I am fully aware of the list and am careful whenever cooking with foods that are on it.
One Saturday evening, I came home from a client’s house. My husband was out of town. The house and the dogs were all mine. Tired from a long day of teaching classes and working with clients, I had a craving for a comfort food. In this case, it was oatmeal raisin cookies, which I love.
Putting a few on the table, I headed to my office to retrieve a book. When I returned, the unthinkable had happened. The paper towels were still on the table, but the cookies were gone.
I could not believe my stupidity and immediately knew a trip to the emergency vet was in order. But which dog of the four had eaten the cookies? Or had two split the bounty?
Luckily, two of my dogs are not known for counter surfing or stealing food from the table. They could be eliminated.
This left the two most likely culprits. My terrier is a well-known purveyor of food left on the table. He easily jumps into a chair and grabs what he can. However, the paper towel was still on the table. He would have taken that as well and enjoyed shredding the evidence.
The second possible culprit is a stealth counter surfer. She can make it to the kitchen without being noticed. Her flaw is not refining her skills at getting up to the counter. We usually hear her when she puts her front paws on the counter. She has refined her skills at taking the food and leaving napkins or paper towels unscathed.
So which dog? No time to investigate further.
I know from a previous experience – yes, this is the second time one of my dogs ate an oatmeal raisin cookie – that induced vomiting alone will keep my dog out of danger.
Grapes and raisins can cause acute renal failure in dogs. The mechanism of action is unknown. What is known is the sooner you get your dog to a veterinarian, the better the prognosis. There is a 2-hour window after ingestion that is important. During this time, the vet can induce vomiting to eliminate the grapes or raisins from the dog’s stomach. The vet may administer activated charcoal to further eliminate the toxin. The dog will be given intravenous fluids for 36-48 hours.
Off to the emergency vet I go with two dogs. As luck would have it, based on the stomach contents of each dog, only one dog ate the cookies. Unfortunately, the one dog did ingest a great deal of raisins. Who knew some cookies are tremendously loaded with raisins?
For the next 36 hours, my terrier received fluids. And, thankfully, he did not show any ill effects of the raisin ingestion.
Needless to say, I have decided that oatmeal raisin cookies are not allowed to enter my home. As Dr. Amy Walsh-Endler pointed out to me, some dogs will do their best to get the cookie. My terrier appears to be one of these dogs. Incidentally, he was the dog that ate the cookie the first time this happened.
In the end, it really does not matter how expensive the oatmeal raisin cookie turned out to be. The life of my dog is worth every penny. From now on, however, no matter how inexpensive oatmeal raisin cookies may be, it is not worth bringing them home to enjoy.
Teaching your dog to leave it can be invaluable. Interested in learning how? Contact Pawsitive Companionship at www.pawscompanion.com/contact.