Killer Raisins. Sounds like something from late night TV, or maybe the name of a dried-up wine country band. Instead, it was the theme of a costly lesson for us. 

For the past five years I’ve told many stories about my intellectually challenged dog, Murry. If the typical blonde California surfer dude were packaged in the form of a dog, it would be Murry. Hair forever hanging over his eyes. Big, dopey smile. Easy going and fun. Too adventurous for his own good.

In Murry’s case, the adventurous part rarely extended to food. A cautious eater (which I attribute to early-life trauma caused by my cooking), Murry seldom begged for anything but chicken or cheese. On Monday night, though, he was struck with the munchies, and I made the mistake of leaving my purse on the floor.

So accustomed am I to having my purse rummaged by others that I thought little of seeing him nose through its contents. When he pulled out a snack-sized box of raisins, I was relieved he’d left the twenty alone. A few minutes later, when I looked over again, he’d managed to open the small box and, much to my surprise, was eating the raisins.

Soon after, as I passed my nearly-ten-year-old daughter on my way up the stairs, I mentioned Murry eating the raisins. She instantly looked horrified.

“Raisins kill dogs!” she said. “Raisins and grapes. GranJan just told me about it last weekend.”

“That’s probably one of those urban legends,” I said, not feeling the least bit alarmed. “I’ll pull it up on the computer and show you.”

I sat down at the keyboard and tapped in “snopes.com,” the premier website to debunk urban myths. But instead of seeing the “False” I thoroughly expected to find, I was shocked to see “True.”

“Unlike many of the pieces forwarded from one inbox to the next,” read the Snopes site, “this one has a good deal to it. According to the ASPCA . . . a disturbing trend began to emerge from the AnTox database used by its Animal Poison Control Center. Nearly all the dogs reported to have eaten grapes or raisins developed acute renal (kidney) failure… with the amount eaten varying widely, from over a pound of grapes to as little as a single serving of raisins.”

I immediately called the Animal Emergency Clinic in Spring Hill, fully expecting them to tell me the half-ounce Murry had consumed wasn’t enough to cause any harm.

“You need to get him to vomit immediately,” said the woman who answered the phone, who then explained how we could do that with a small amount of peroxide. Since we couldn’t quickly find the peroxide in all the boxes we’ve yet to unpack, Geoff stayed with Celeste while I rushed my bouncy blonde boy out to the car and down to the clinic to have his stomach pumped.

It seems most everyone knows about the danger of chocolate to dogs, but I’ve not talked to anyone other than Celeste, my mom, and the vet who was aware of the danger of raisins and grapes. (I’ve since learned that macadamia nuts, moldy foods, avocado, yeast dough, and coffee– especially the beans–could all be potentially deadly to dogs.)

It was nearly midnight by the time Murry and I were headed back home. Along with the pumping, he’d been given charcoal and fluids. His stomach was empty, and my credit card full.

He slept soundly that night right beside me, like always, while I attempted to sleep, my hand on his back, feeling him breathe. Terrified the treatment would not be enough. 

But it was.

The lesson had been costly, but it had not cost me my Murry. My sweet, goofy dog is just fine.

OTHER COMMON–BUT LITTLE KNOWN–DANGERS TO PETS

• Antifreeze that contains ethylene glycol has a sweet taste that attracts animals but is deadly if consumed in even small quantities. (One teaspoon can kill a small cat.)
• Cocoa mulch contains ingredients that can be deadly to pets if ingested. Making matters worse, the mulch has a chocolate scent that makes it appetizing.
• Chocolate isn’t just poisonous to dogs, but also to cats and ferrets.
• Pain-killing medications such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, cold medications, anti-cancer drugs, antidepressants, vitamins, and diet pills can be deadly to dogs. (Don’t trust childproof bottles to keep them out. Most dogs can quickly chew through plastic containers.)
• Also hazardous are onions and onion powder, alcoholic beverages, coffee grounds, the leaves and stems from tomatoes, potatoes, and rhubarbs, and anything with mold growing on it.
• Some of the most common poisonous houseplants include azalea, geraniums, dieffenbachia, lilies, mistletoe, and philodendron.
• Sugarless candy containing the sweetener Xylitol.
• Most dog owners know that chicken bones are bad because of how they can splinter, but so do the bones from cooked turkey, ham, pork chops, and veal. (Raw bones are generally considered safe.)
• Corn cobs can cause partial or complete intestinal obstruction.
• The pits from peach and plums and seeds from pears and apples can be deadly to pets.
• Plastic food wrap can cause choking and intestinal blockages.
• Homemade Play Dough (not the store-bought kind) can be deadly when ingested due to the high salt content.
• Tobacco products (cigarettes, cigarette butts, cigars, pipe and chewing tobacco, and nicotine patches or gum) can be fatal to dogs if ingested.

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