I love my dogs. From playing games to sleeping on the couch next to them, they are always constantly by my side when I'm home. Being pet owner, you have to make sure that the food you eat is not harmful for them. That said, many people will think of all the times they gave their pet food under the table, when they got those "puppy eyes."
Harmful dog food
Once, after throwing a grape on the ground, my aunt scolded me and warned me to grapes can cause kidney stones to the dogs. I had never imagined that this fruit, which is so healthy for humans, would be so harmful to dogs.
Grapes are beneficial to humans, as contain many vitamins and mineralss, plus fiber. They are even essential for the prevention of heart disease, heart attack and stroke, as grapes contain flavonoids, which help lower cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease.
Having said that, grape toxicity can be deadly to dogsas it can lead to something as extreme as acute renal failure. Less deadly symptoms that arise when dogs consume grapes include:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Lack of appetite
- Weakness
- Abdominal pain
- Dehydration
- Death
Between 1999 and 2001 a study was done in which 10 dogs were given large amounts of grapes and as a result, the grapes caused the dogs to have acute gastrointestinal disease and kidney toxicosis.
For misfortune, he biological mechanism of intoxication It is very difficult to determine, but here is a list of possible toxins that include:
- Nephrotoxin in grapes and raisins
- Fungicides, herbicides, pesticides or contamination of grapes
- Heavy metal contamination
- High concentrations of vitamin D
- Fungus or mold on the fruit.
A statistic says that between 50% and 75% of dogs die from kidney failure as a result of eating grapes.
50% to 75% of dogs die from kidney failure
More studies have concluded that the relationship between grape consumption and kidney failure is apparently not accidental, since 10 grams to 57 grams of grapes consumed by dogs cause kidney failure.
Once again, the toxic mechanism that causes these kinds of horrible actions to occur is a mystery, since it seems that after the consumption of grapes, kidney failure appears from 24 hours to 72 hours, suffering symptoms such as vomiting and dehydration that become more frequent in as little as 6 hours after consumption.
In 1999, reports of acute kidney failure came to the attention of the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
After that, a study was conducted in 43 dogs, where 28 dogs ate raisins, 13 dogs ate normal grapes, and 2 dogs ate both. The mean quantity of grapes eaten was 448 g and the mean quantity of raisins eaten was 19,6 g / kg. Of the 43 dogs that ingested the raisins and / or normal grapes, 23 survived and recovered, while 15 were euthanized and 5 died.
Grapes are toxic to dogs
In short, the signs point to the fact that grapes are terrible for dogs. That said, the toxic mechanism for why grapes are so dangerous has yet to be discovered, but there is reason to believe that the correlation between grapes and dogs is causal due to these results.
From now on it is very important that you place this type of food in places away from your dogs and isolated and remember not feeding your dogs the food you eat, since this type of food in many cases can be harmful to them.
Prevent your dog from eating sweets, since these cause intestinal problems and pain in them.