I picked Lily up from the Emergency Animal Hospital at 5:00 PM last evening. Since she had made such good progress on treatment, she was able to be released a few hours early. One more blood panel needs to be taken tomorrow to be sure that remains negative. Then, she’s in the clear.
The good news: no damage to Lily’s kidneys. She looks rather exotic with 1/3 of her right front leg shaved to insert the IV catheter, her feathering hanging above and below the shaved area. But, that’s the only reminder of this entire episode, which, of course will fad away in time. What will remain are the lessons learned from this incident. Knowing that grapes are toxic to dogs isn’t enough, and trusting that a curious dog like Lily won’t reach up high into the sink and retrieve them isn’t prudent. The incident confirmed that keeping the Angell Animal Poison Control Hotline number (1-877-2ANGELL) handy and making that call immediately can help save an animal’s life. I now know that keeping a bottle of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and a syringe with the dogs’ supplies is a must. (Be sure to check the date on the bottle periodically to make sure it hasn’t expired). I didn’t have this on hand, but fortunately, my husband was on his way home and picked it up. This, of course, delayed action by 1/2 half an hour. I learned that you simply DO NOT put treatment off when it comes to grapes. All it takes is one grape to kill a dog. My vet tells me that research suggests that it is a fungus that grows on some grapes that causes the toxicity. One small dog could consume a bunch of grapes that hadn’t been tainted with the fungus and the dog would be fine. Another dog, even a much larger dog, could eat one fungus infected grape and the dog could die without speedy action taken on the part of the dog’s owner. Time is of the essence.
Lily’s story has struck a chord with many of my readers. That was the purpose of my post. We all love our pets dearly and use proper vigilance, but, human error does occur, we just need to know how to handle the situation should one occur. Proper procedure, yes, is the way to go, but, at least in Lily’s case, I feel divine intervention (or luck, if you will) had something to do with it. I was just five minutes away from leaving the house for the evening when my eyes caught sight of the half-eaten bunch of grapes on the floor…. I could have just as easily rushed right by them in my scurrying to get out the door…. Lily has a lot more work to do as a sweet, friendly Bright Spot Therapy Dog, and as our beloved canine family member.