Xref: kermit rec.gardens:272372

In article ,
wrote:

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 13:43:33 GMT, wrote:

these are the same ninnies get their shorts all twisted over feeding
grapes to dogs.
Needless to say, there is absolutely no scientific evidence grapes are
poisonous, all
they got are a few anecdotal incidents.

It is my understanding that there is scientific evidence sited in the
literature that grapes can cause maybe a type of anemia (i'm not sure
of the actual condition) in dogs. It is a cumulative effect. so,
don't be so quick with your labels!

I'd never before heard that grapes might harm dogs & seriously doubted it
could be true; at first blush it seems ridiculous, & I immediately thought
it was a "transference" myth from the warnings not to give babies grapes
which can lodge in the throat.

Yet a quick googling finds a lot of fairly credible stuff about dogs
getting liver damage if they eat LOTS of grapes. Most of the web sources
are "pop" rather than scientific & could easily be dismissed as the sort
of web-spread-mythology one often sees in lieu of case studies & science,
& googling for answers to medical topics is nowhere near the same as a
Medline search or a trip to a Health Sciences Library, & googled medical
advice of any kind is rightly taken with a grain of salt. But the
assessment of the Animal Poison Control Center at least seems credible,
with enough cases of renal failure in dogs who ate a shitload of grapes in
the APCC database that it seems probably really to be toxic to dogs --
even though no toxin has as yet been identified.

Checking dates of the articles, in 2002 the APCC was still saying the
evidence was not in on the harmfulness of grapes despite that belief in
their harmfulness was already widespread. But their latest bulletin dated
2004 seems relatively certain the case studies are adequate to issue a
warning.

Surprises me, but I haven't had a dog for a long while, so not keeping
abreast of doggy things. Been visiting the pound a lot as a volunteer
dog-walker though, & would've come home with one by now if they weren't
all such large dogs. It's so sad that so many of these huge intelligent
dogs lose their homes, but only the occasional small to medium-sized dog
is instantly placeable with a new home. Sad, sad, sad-eyed dogs locked in
their cages all day, day in & day out, & by no means certain to eventually
have a good life. If the heart can stand it, everyone should volunteer a
least a day out of each month to go dog-walking, the dogs' overt
appreciation level is overwhelming.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/