My Dog Ate Grapes or Raisins: What to Do Now

Call your vet now

Ring your vet immediately if your dog has eaten:

• Fresh grapes of any colour, seeded or seedless
• Raisins, sultanas or currants
• Foods containing them, such as fruit cake, Christmas cake, mince pies, hot cross buns, fruit loaf, flapjacks, cereal bars, trail mix, granola or muesli
• Grape juice or anything else made from grapes

When you call, try to have this information ready:

• What your dog ate, and roughly how much
• When they ate it
• Your dog's approximate weight
• Any symptoms you have noticed
• The packaging, if it was a product

If your practice is closed, contact an out-of-hours emergency vet. Don't wait for symptoms to appear.

Why are grapes dangerous to dogs?

Grapes and their dried forms are known to cause acute kidney injury in some dogs. For many years, the reason was a mystery. More recently, researchers have suggested that tartaric acid, which is naturally found in grapes, may be responsible, but this is not yet fully confirmed.

What makes grapes particularly worrying is that the effect is unpredictable. Some dogs eat grapes and show no ill effects, while others become seriously unwell after eating only a small number. It doesn't seem to depend simply on the size of the dog or the amount eaten, and a dog who has eaten grapes before without problems may still react another time. Because of this, vets treat any amount as potentially dangerous.

Dried fruits, such as raisins and sultanas, are more concentrated, so a small handful can contain the equivalent of many grapes.

Signs to watch for

Some dogs show no signs at first. When symptoms appear, they may include:

Timing	Possible signs
Within a few hours	Vomiting (sometimes with pieces of grape or raisin), diarrhoea
Within a day or so	Lethargy, weakness, loss of appetite, tummy pain
Over the next few days	Increased thirst at first, then passing less urine or none, bad breath, collapse

Kidney damage can develop without obvious signs at first, so don't take a lack of symptoms as a reason to wait. By the time your dog is passing little or no urine, the kidneys may already be severely affected.

What your vet may do

Your vet will assess your dog and decide on the best treatment. This often includes:

• Making your dog sick. If your dog ate the fruit recently, your vet may give an injection to make them vomit and bring up as much as possible. This is safest done by a vet, as they can choose the right medicine and manage any risks.
• Activated charcoal, to reduce absorption of anything left in the gut, in some cases.
• Intravenous fluids via a drip, usually for a couple of days, to support the kidneys.
• Blood and urine tests to check kidney function, often repeated over several days.

Your vet will explain what they recommend, how long your dog may need to stay in, and any follow-up checks. Many dogs who are treated quickly recover well.

Things not to do

• Don't try to make your dog sick at home. Salt, mustard, washing soda and other home methods can be dangerous and can cause serious harm. Only your vet should induce vomiting.
• Don't wait and see. Even if your dog seems fine, the risk to the kidneys is real.
• Don't assume a small amount is safe. There isn't a known safe dose.
• Don't give any medicines unless your vet has told you to.

Where dogs find grapes and raisins

1. Fruit bowls and lunchboxes. Grapes on the kitchen table or in a child's lunch are easy to grab.
2. Baking and festive foods. Christmas cake, mince pies, Easter hot cross buns, fruit scones and puddings are common culprits. See our guide to festive season hazards.
3. Breakfast cereals and snacks. Muesli, granola, cereal bars and trail mix often contain raisins or sultanas.
4. Dropped food. Children often drop raisins while snacking.
5. Gardens. Dogs may eat grapes from a vine or fruit dropped from a table outdoors.
6. Bins. Leftover cake or fruit scraps in an open bin.

Keeping your dog safe

• Keep grapes and dried fruit out of reach, on high shelves or in cupboards.
• Tell children and visitors not to share snacks with your dog.
• Use a dog-proof bin.
• Be extra careful during festivals and parties, when there's more food around.
• Offer safe treats instead. Our guide to treats and human foods explains what is suitable, and our toxic foods list covers other foods to avoid.

If your dog has eaten something else harmful, such as chocolate, see my dog ate chocolate.

Watch closely in the days after

Even after treatment, your vet may ask you to keep an eye on your dog for several days. Changes in drinking, weeing, appetite and energy are particularly important. Noting how much your dog drinks and eats, and how they seem each day, gives your vet useful information at follow-up appointments. Petopedia lets you log food, water, weight and behaviour, so changes in the days after a scare are easier to spot and share.