Sultanas toxic?

[toyabrooke]

Hi Everyone,

Tonight Horatio was neutered. He is doing very well at the moment sleeping in his house. Our friend Jo the vet though and I were talking and I mentioned how Ray's new treat to train him is Sultanas. She said they a lot of dogs that they get come in seriously sick are from either Sultanas or Grapes, and they have now been issued with a strict guide line of how many of each will kill a full grown dog and what amount will just make them sick and so on. She said it was the same for rabbits too, so I should stop feeding him Sultanas because of the concentrated stuff inside them that isn't good. When I go on any site though it says Sultanas are FINE for rabbits!! She isn't an exotic vet and is just a close family friend who does our animal surgeries free for us on the dining room table, so she could very well be wrong. I was shocked though!

Does anyone know if this is right or wrong or also feeds their bunnies Sultanas? Ray LOVES them and hasn't had any issues.

Any advice would be great!

 

[saidinjester]

What the heck are Sultanas?

 

[LakeCondo]

Sultanas are basically large grapes or raisins.

Maybe The Dog Bible is out of date [2005] on this, but it ways it takes quite a few grapes or raisins all at once to cause a dog problems, so a few now & then are ok, but if he gets into a whole bunch, the dog should be made to vomit or given activated charcoal or taken to a vet for a stomach pump. And this was mainly precautionary, as there was no proof of cause & effect for the dogs that were sickened after eating grapes at that time.

As to rabbits, both grapes & raisins are listed in charts of rabbit foods in Rabbit Nutrition and Nutritional Healing. It was published just a year ago & Dr Moore is expert in the area. I'd mainly be concerned about the sugar content, myself.

 

[Samara]

My rabbits get sultanas and regular raisins every day...I've never had any problems. Molly would eat my SOUL if she didn't get her daily raisin.

 

[Samara]

Grapes/sultanas cause renal failure in dogs in high quantities. Put them in the same category as chocolate. An oops here and there shouldn't be a problem, but best to avoid for the pooches.

 

[saidinjester]

Ah, I'd never heard that name before. Yes, raisins & grapes OK for rabbits, bad for cats & dogs in large quantities.

 

[toyabrooke]

Thanks so much everyone for your wise words! I'm glad I haven't been poisoning him I think Jo just thinks because it is toxic for dogs it must be for rabbits. I'm glad she is wrong though because he does really love them as a treat!

He is doing well after his surgery. Still a bit bloody and looks like he has pulled out his only stitch on one side! Grrr! He seems back to his normal self already though and is eating lots and grooming me and cuddling. Good signs I think!

Thanks again for all the advice everyone!