Raisin the Woof

UPDATE: read below.

Who knew? There are three human foods that when a pet eats them they can potentially cause great harm or even kill your pet without instant intervention?

These foods are chocolate (especially dark chocolate), grapes and raisins. Personally, I knew these foods were toxic to animals. It’s pretty common knowledge among true pet lovers that these foods are to be avoided. However, until Saturday, August 22nd, when for some reason, Kota pawed a box of raisins off my kitchen counter and ate some, I did not truly know how toxic raisins could be.

Thankfully, I caught him at the beginning of the act. I hustled him outside, threw the raisins and the box in the trash, grabbed up my cell phone, found the Pet Poison Hotline, and dialed. By the way,  even though this is an emergency hotline, you don’t get to talk to a human until you agree to pay $89 to speak to a specialist and pay with your credit card. I had to go through about a 10-minute process to get all that done before I spoke to a human. The cost is one time. You can call them repeatedly after that for any questions you might have or to get additional guidance.

While I was sorting all this out. My mind was racing. What did I have on hand to induce vomiting? Doing a mental check: activated charcoal? Nope! Unopened box of baking soda? Nope! Hydrogen peroxide? Bingo! Grabbing a large feeding syringe, a small bowl, a set of measuring spoons, and a 3% bottle of hydrogen peroxide, I joined Kota in the backyard.

Finally connected to a calm, controlled voice belonging to Brianna. She instructed me that I needed to give Kota 17 teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide. Their formula is one teaspoon per five pounds of weight.

He must’ve been feeling pretty punky at that moment, because he put up with me syringing this harsh chemical into his mouth. I was told to put it gently between his gums. He didn’t like that program. Clenching his teeth, I ended up having to carefully shoot the solution through his teeth and down his throat. I stepped back, and here it came. He tossed his cookies ten times within ten minutes. That’s when the treasure hunt began. I will spare the details, but I could not locate any raisins. 

Brianna then told me I had to do it again. I called Kota over, convinced he wouldn’t come. But he surprised me so we went at it again. This time, he vomited until there was nothing left. Again the treasure hunt ensued, with no visible results.

Should this ever happen to you and your pet - I pray it does not - here is the breakdown of symptoms within the first six to 24 hours after ingestion without intervention inducing vomit: additional vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, dehydration, abdominal distention with pain, excessive, drooling, lethargy, swollen and uncoordinated limbs.

After that time, the same symptoms will remain, but others will come on board which are way worse. I was told unequivocally, to get him to the vet first thing in the morning. Sunday morning we found ourselves at an emergency vet clinic. We were there at 9 o’clock in the morning. We got home at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

They will not allow you to accompany your pet into the room. I know that Kota has extremely bad separation anxiety when I’m not with him. I tried to give them my T-shirt to take with him, but they refused. We waited with bated breath while they did bloodwork. They do it in-house so the results take maybe ten minutes.

Thankfully, his kidney values were normal! They did tell me, though I needed to take him to the vet on Monday, and have the bloodwork redone, even if it comes initially back normal. I would have to return to my vet on Thursday and have it done again. Once that comes back with the values normal, we’re golden. There’ll be no chance he has any toxic waste in his system. So we can’t quite breathe easy yet.

Kota is totally tapped out today. He is crashed on his bed, which doubles as a loveseat. I know how he feels. I have fed my outdoor cats and my indoor cats. That’s all I feel like doing, but we have a vet appointment at 3 o’clock today. We will have another follow-up appointment on Thursday at 2:20.

They have given him medication to soothe his stomach, reduce the inflammation of his throat and his gums. Sunday morning when I woke up, it looked like someone had injected Botox into his lips. I knew it was a reaction to the chemicals in the peroxide, so I gave him a small bowl of whole milk. He drank it all up and his swelling eventually reduced. 

Other medication is to eliminate any chance that he will develop an ulcer. Note to anyone who is reading this: if you don’t have to use hydrogen peroxide, please don’t. It’s not the best choice, but when the alternative is possible death, you’ll have to use it.

Who knew that eating more than five raisins could easily take down a dog of Kota’s size without getting professional advice. I didn’t. I do now. I am thoroughly educated. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone or their pet. Pass the word along; this is some serious sh**.

UPDATE: The second round of bloodwork was a bit disconcerting. Kota’s kidney levels are fine; however, his liver values are skewed. The doctor said that could mean either that he has a mass, or it could be the exposure his body had to the hydrogen peroxide that I gave him. We are retesting Thursday at 2:20. I would appreciate any prayers flying our way. If they find that the values are still skewed, they will do an ultrasound on him immediately to determine if he has a mass or not.