Can Dogs Eat Grapes? When it is or isn’t an Emergency

While grapes may seem like a safe human food much like other fruits and vegetables, they are actually toxic to dogs and may even be fatal if a dog was to eat too many of them. It’s important for dogs to not eat grapes or any grape-based products including raisins and grape jelly.

What Happens When a Dog Eats Grapes?

The dog will most likely become sick but how sick they become will depend on the amount of grapes they ate as well as other factors like the size of the dog. Several things can happen when a dog eats a grape. In terms of common symptoms, they may start to exhibit a loss of appetite, show weakness, and start to vomit within a few hours of eating the grape.

In more severe cases, they may start to show signs of kidney failure (which can be fatal) or show severe abdominal pain. There isn’t an absolute number as far as how many grapes a dog can tolerate before getting sick. Smaller dog breeds may get sick after eating one grape. Bigger dogs might be okay with one or two but may get sick if they eat more grapes.

Why Grapes are Toxic to Dogs

According to VCA Hospitals, it’s not 100% known as to why grapes are toxic to dogs. There are speculations though. For example, the presence of natural chemicals like salicylate may result in a decreased blood flow to the kidneys. Grapes can also develop fungus or mold if they aren’t properly stored and this may result in further poisoning.

What to Do if a Dog Eats Grapes

Regardless of how many pieces of grapes your dog eats, it’s important to call the emergency vet immediately for the appropriate next steps. You don’t want to wait until any symptoms start to show up as it might be too late by then to help your dog recover.

How your vet treats your dog will depend on a number of factors such as the amount of time passed since your dog ate the grapes. If it’s been less than two hours, your vet might try to induce vomiting by giving the dog activated charcoal. Don’t try to do this yourself unless your vet has given you explicit instructions to do so while you are at home.

If more than a few hours have passed since the dog ate the grapes, your vet may order additional tests like urinalysis and blood work in order to check the health of the dog’s kidney. This is why it’s important to take your dog to the vet as soon as possible.