A GAINSBOROUGH veterinary practice is warning owners to keep raisins locked safely away from pets after a greedy Labrador needed emergency treatment.
Poppy wolfed down a 750g bag of raisins which can be highly toxic to dogs, potentially causing catastrophic kidney failure even if eaten in small amounts.
After discovering what she’d done, her worried owner Connor Pugh rushed his much-loved pet to Raoul Dowding Vets in Gainsborough – and vets have praised his swift actions for saving his pet.
After arriving at the practice in Spital Terrace, vets induced vomiting, so Poppy brought up a huge pile of raisins.
Raoul Dowding Vets Clinical Director Nicole Blyth said: “Grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants are so tasty for dogs, but are all potentially poisonous and, in serious cases, can cause massive renal failure.
“Luckily, Poppy’s owner lives close by and were able to get her to the practice quickly and, within a very short time of her eating the raisins, she’d brought them all back up and was able to go home.
“Any longer and it could have been a different story as she would have had to be hospitalised, and it would be a week before we’d know the extent of the damage.”
Poppy came across a bag of raisins for birds on a table in his back garden. In a freak occurrence, the window cleaner accidentally knocked them to the ground with his hosepipe – and Poppy swooped on the unexpected treat.
Connor, who lives in Gainsborough, said: “Poppy thought Christmas had come early and scoffed the whole packet. As soon as I realised, I had to rush her to the vets as we know how raisins shouldn’t be fed to dogs.
“We’ve always kept raisins or anything containing them out of reach as we look after our dog like she is a child. She ate a huge quantity so we had to act promptly, and Raoul Dowding Vets gave her very prompt treatment that may have saved her life.”
Raoul Dowding Vets, which is part of VetPartners, a group of veterinary practices and animal health care businesses across the UK and Europe, often treats pets that have eaten raisins or currants in hot cross buns, Christmas cake or mince pies over Easter and Christmas.
Nicole added: “We strongly advise people keep raisins safely out of reach of dogs. If you think your dog has eaten even a small amount of raisins, contact your veterinary practice. Even if you’re not sure if they’ve eaten any, it is better to be safe than sorry.
“We want to praise Poppy’s owner for acting so quickly when they realised she’d eaten the raisins as it might well have saved her life.”