08/06/2025
This week we had 2 patients come in within a couple days of each other that had eaten grapes or raisins, Addy and Archie. Grapes, raisins, and currants can cause acute kidney injury in dogs & cats. It is rather common in dogs but uncommon in cats because they rarely eat grapes. All types of grapes are implicated in toxicosis; commercially grown, organic, homegrown, seeded, seedless and red & white varieties. The mechanism of injury is not certain; it could be tartaric acid which varies by grape, an individual's inability to metabolize certain components of the fruit, or chemicals or mycotoxins on the fruit.
Acute kidney injury can occur within 24 hours after ingestion. Treatment is decontamination, intravenous fluids if indicated, baseline bloodwork and follow-up bloodwork to monitor for kidney issues. Signs of kidney injury would be inappetence, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, abdominal pain, uremic breath. Initially there may be excessive drinking and urination but would eventually lead to no urination as the kidneys shut down. The prognosis for recovery varies depending on decontamination and treatment and the pet’s response to treatment. Since the mechanism of injury is unsure, a toxic dose can not be determined and all cases of ingestion should be treated as as potentially toxic.
Both Addy and Archie are doing well now. 🐶
