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Before we get into the nitty-gritty of can dogs eat grape jelly or not. Here’s the quick, concise answer.
Dogs shouldn’t eat grape jelly or any form of grape at all, in fact. Grapes are toxic to dogs and can quickly induce kidney problems or kidney failure altogether.
Studies haven’t yet uncovered the exact cause of this or what it is about grapes that cause this reaction.
However, research does show that around 32 grams per kilogram of your dog’s total weight can cause fatal results.
This reaction occurs if your dog ingests grapes by themselves, grape jelly, grape juice, raisins, currants, or anything else in the grape family.
It is also known to occur with any type of grape, whether green, red, purple, or seedless.
For this reason, you must always make sure that you clear away any grape jelly that’s spilled and never offer any to your dog, even if it accompanies other foods.
Are Grapes Bad For Dogs?
Yes, grapes are extremely toxic to your dog. You should avoid any number of grapes, raisins, grape jelly, wine, and grape juice in your home to prevent your dog from getting ahold of them.
Even a small number of grapes can cause vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and seizures due to the toxins contained in them.
When grapes are digested, these toxins are absorbed into the kidneys, making it difficult for your dog to process any foods through their system.
This means that they will struggle to take on fluids or other sources of nutrients, eventually resulting in severe dehydration, nerve damage, and mass organ failure.
If your dog eats grapes and isn’t immediately treated, it could even be fatal.
How Do I Know If My Dog Has Eaten Grapes?
The toxic effects of grape ingestion can begin as soon as 6 hours after they’ve been eaten. Initially, you’ll notice vomiting and diarrhea which might occur within the same day of ingestion.
The day after this, due to the vomiting, your dog may appear dehydrated, seem weak and unsteady on its legs, and may even be prone to seizures.
Other common symptoms, if your dog has ingested a large number of grapes would be grape skin in the feces, excessive thirst, tremors, and signs of pain or tenderness around the abdomen.
If you notice any of these symptoms you should consult your vet immediately.
What To Do If My Dog Ate Grape Jelly
If you see your dog eat grape jelly, the best thing you can do as soon as possible is try to make your dog vomit. You can do this in the same way as you would make a person vomit, by using two fingers to the back of the throat.
Some sources suggest that, if you manage to make your dog vomit within 15-20 minutes of them eating the grape jelly, this can minimize the absorption of the toxin.
Even if your dog does vomit, you should still take them to the vet as soon as possible as they will still need to flush their system to get rid of any remaining toxin.
Can You Cure A Dog That Has Eaten Grapes?
Dogs that have eaten grapes can make a full recovery. But this is entirely dependent on how quickly you act after you realize they’ve eaten them.
If you realize within the first 20 minutes of the dog ingesting grapes, you may be able to make your dog vomit up most of the matter before it’s digested.
This will mean that it’s not absorbed into their system. Even if you do manage to make your dog vomit, you will still need to take them to the vet for assessment.
If you realize within the first 2 hours of your dog ingesting grapes, take them to the vet, they may use medicated charcoal to bind the toxin in your dog’s stomach. This means that the majority of it doesn’t pass through to the kidneys at full strength.
After 2 hours, your dog may have reached a more critical stage. Your vet will work with you to get fluids into them via an intravenous drip. This will flush their system of the toxin before the kidneys absorb too much.
If you haven’t managed to catch this in time, your dog may be required to stay on a drip for up to a week.
Remember that you MUST go to the vet immediately as soon as you realize your dog has eaten grapes.
If you leave it assuming they’ll be fine, you could do them much more damage.
Can Dogs Eat Raisins?
Dogs should never eat raisins. Raisins are dehydrated grapes and carry the same toxin that grapes do which can be fatal to dogs.
While it’s clear that dogs can’t eat raisins at all, it’s often much easier for a dog to get hold of a raisin than it is for a grape.
Raisins can be left around your home for baking, but most often, dogs get hold of raisins because they are already baked into cakes, cereal bars, or other snacks.
You may be extra careful not to give your dog anything that contains raisins. However, your guests may not realize the severity of offering your dog a tiny piece of cake if they come around begging at the table.
You should always make your guests aware that there may be raisins in the bread, cake, or snacks that you’re offering so that they know your dog isn’t allowed.
Better still, just don’t buy or cook anything containing raisins in your home.
Will My Dog Be OK If He Ate One Grape?
Although no amount of grapes should be fed to your dog, an accidental feeding of a very small amount may not cause too much or any damage.
According to research based on grape poisoning fatal cases, it appears that the result of grape ingestion is determined by the overall weight of your dog.
While 32 grams per kilogram of your dog’s total weight can be fatal, a smaller amount may not kill your dog as long as you act quickly.
This means that a single grape may do much more damage to a small dog than it would do to a larger one.
This is just because the kidneys of a larger dog are better equipped to digest more. They also carry more fluid, which means that the toxin isn’t as concentrated.
How Soon Will A Dog Show Signs Of Grape Poisoning?
Remember that your dog may acquire grapes from a number of sources.
This could be from the fruit bowl, in baked goods that happen to have raisins in, or even wild grapes if you happen to grow them near you or have a vineyard.
You should always take precautions to move any grapes, no matter which forms they’re in, away from your dog.
If you suspect that your dog has eaten grapes, you should take action straight away. They won’t usually start to show symptoms until around 5-6 hours afterward. By then it could already be too late.
How Much Jelly Can Kill a Dog?
This depends on two things:
- The type of jelly you use.
- And the amount of jelly your dog eats.
Your dog should never eat grape jelly under any circumstance. Grapes are toxic to dogs and even small amounts can be fatal.
Other jellies can be acceptable in small amounts, such as strawberry jelly. However, due to the high sugar content in this, you should never use this as a regular food source.
It could damage your dog’s liver and kidneys over time and could contribute to diabetes.
Some studies suggest that some jellies are acceptable to feed to your dog. Though again, these should always be in small quantities and never as part of their actual diet.
You could try blueberry, peach, or pear jelly. Although these do contain sugar, they have a lower sugar content and less citric acid than strawberry or grape jelly.
The amount of jelly that you feed your dog can mean the difference between your dog being totally fine and a fatal incident.
Your dog should never eat more than a tiny finger full of jelly at any one time. Try not to do this more than once per week. This ensures that the natural sugars in the jelly aren’t detrimental to their health.
So, how much jelly can kill a dog?
If it is grape jelly, a single finger full can kill a dog if left untreated. Other sugary jellies should only be fed once per month as a treat and only in small quantities.
Larger amounts could be fatal over long periods of time due to the other health issues they cause.
Jellies that are less sugary and less acidic can be fed as a treat slightly more often. They cause little to no detriment to your dog’s health.
Can Dogs Eat Strawberry Jelly?
Dogs shouldn’t eat strawberry jelly regularly or in large quantities. Although your dog may love the taste of strawberry jelly as a sweet treat, you shouldn’t make this part of their normal diet.
Strawberry jelly is full of citric acid, pectin, and lots and lots of sugar, especially if it is store-bought. This means that it doesn’t actually provide any health benefit to your dog.
It can also cause a lot of damage in large quantities as the sugar content can eventually cause obesity and heart problems. It can also worsen diabetes.
The citric acid in strawberry jelly could also cause stomach upsets, diarrhea and may eventually result in dehydration.
That said, a small lick of strawberry jelly off your finger, or to disguise the taste of any medicines that they’re taking, won’t hurt them long-term.
You should never feed them strawberry jelly regularly. You can have too much of a good thing!
Resources
- Wagwalking.com
- Dogleashpro.com