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MickeyD'sMom
10-13-2007, 12:01 PM
Jim and I had a huge scare last night and this morning. MickeyD was trembeling and acting very strange while at the same time Peja was sneezing almost continually. We spoke to the vet last night and he was concerned over acorn poisioning (we did not know anthing about this and we have a million oak trees in our yard and millions of acorns) Well MickeyD went into the vet this morning and they drew blood work to determine if he was actually posioned. While Peja then was sedated and scoped his nose. I am happy to report that both animals are okay...had some very teary moments this morning. Thanks Bart for listening to me. Please read the following article.
http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/acorns/acorns.htm and here is another sad story: Support Information
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Pet Articles




Warning to Pet Owners

Acorn Poisoning

Hello fellow pet lovers. I want to share my heart break with you, in hopes of saving you from going through the same thing. In the past month, I have had 3 of my babies go to The Rainbow Bridge. I have lost my Yorkie mix Boo, my pug NayNay and my pug Harley. They were indoor dogs that loved to play outside. I have a fence up so I would just open the back door for them and they would play until I heard them at the door wanting in. I live in the woods with tons of trees.
Well bed time one night, all was well. When I woke up, Boo was dead. She was still in her little bed "asleep" with a little vomit around her mouth. Of course I was devastated. They have always been utd on vaccines etc. I jsu could not explain it. Well a couple of weeks later, the same with Nay Nay. I checked everything. I had even gotten paranoid that maybe some cruel person had poisoned them. So, I only let Harley out on a leash or in the back if I could stay at the window and watch. Harley seemed fine all day. Then early afternoon she started stumbling, had poor balance. I took her to our vet asap! She passed away shortly after arriving at the vet. He did not perform a necropsy but from the blood work when she first arrived, he told me that she and probably the others died from acorn poisoning. I knew that they played with them. One would take one in her mouth and the chase was on with the others. It was their game. I did fuss and tell them to drop it when I seen them. I did not even think of poisoning, I was just afraid in their excitement that they could choke. I certainly didn't know that they were chewing them up and ingesting them. I knew that squirells eat acorns, so I just never even thought that it was hurting my girls. I have searched on the internet. Seems acorn poisoning happens a lot with horses and cows, but I found some other instances with dogs. I feel so guilty, I should have known. So, I am just passing this on.

Just in case anybody else is like I was and had no clue of the dangers. Please be careful if you live around oak trees.

View the article below for more information:

Friends of Foes: North American Trees and Camelids

all4sadie
10-13-2007, 02:42 PM
OMG how scarey....thank you for posting this. I would have never known...we have a few acorn trees still on our streets....I would have never thought they could be harmful.....

I'm glad your babies are ok....

Thank you again for the VERY IMPORTANT POST......(my heart goes out to the people that lost their dogs) that is terrible....


Cindy & Sadie

Team Chloe
10-13-2007, 03:36 PM
Glad everything turned out ok....

Thanks for the good information!!!

Dave

deedclemdogg
10-13-2007, 03:51 PM
Sandra

Thanks for the information! Maybe one of our "resident message boards vets" can chime in on this topic too!

There's plenty of Oaks in WI, but my two have never shown any interest in eating the acorns--only interest in death-squeezing the squirrels that are eating the acorns! ;-)

Glad to hear the pups are good! Jim isn't eating any acorns either, is he? ;-)

MickeyD'sMom
10-13-2007, 03:55 PM
Jim has spent hours and hours today cleaning up acorns, it is also impossible as we live on 1/2 acre with about 30 oak trees they are dropping as fast as he is cleaning them. I guess I have some thoughts on trying to train them not to touch them and oh yeah right we've done so well training MickeyD to sit and stay! I was thinking of picking up a handful and then telling them to leave it perhaps we might even have to consider the E collar since this is such a serious issue. Anyone else have any ideas> Amanda why don't you cross post this on the other boards> If you don't mind. And thanks all of our wonderful friends for your care and concern.

Little Gunner
10-13-2007, 04:24 PM
Sandra,

I liked the E-collar better on Austin :-). I think everyone should have to get zapped by an E-collar before they subject their pup to that type of training.
I doubt Austin will be zapping any pups after giving that a whirl.
I have this picture in my head of Jim raking up acorns.
I am happy to hear Peja & Mickey D are ok.

BOcephus
10-13-2007, 09:40 PM
First of all Sure glad you had a happy ending to your scare.

Secondly,
I hear that OAK is going for more than $300 a cord down there!!!
I seen how many Oak tree's you got at the place. I'm sure you could get enough wood to cover a few Dog Diving trips :)
Say the word and the pups and I will throw the STIHL in the truck and log the property for ya!!! Just finished cutting and splitting up over 2 cords of Oak today(yep with this back). Can you believe it grows in WA!!
I'll bring down some evergreens to put in their place.

Bart,
Is that Austin is a character or what!!
The kid had my belly in knots the whole time in Diamond lake! GreaT GUY! Like his momma!! The dummy had that collar maxed out!! He sure wasn't in no hurry to try it again!! :)

PrinceAndyFlores
10-14-2007, 09:41 PM
Glad to hear the dogs are doing better. Toxic posinionings are so scary to have to endure. Andy got some sort of toxic posinioning like 5 months ago. It was the scariest thing ever. I was so scared. So I can imaine how you both must have felt. Anyways once again glad to hear they are better. See you in a few weeks!!!!

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Linda Hettich
10-16-2007, 06:53 AM
Sandra, thanks a million for posting such important information. So glad MickeyD and Peja are alright. Like so many others, I had no idea acorns could be so deadly. I can't even tell you how many acorns we walk past in our neighborhood. Thanks again, and see you soon!

Sassy Girl
10-16-2007, 10:51 AM
Sandra - oh my gosh...I'm so glad the boys are ok. I have a friend who has a dog who eats acorns in her back yard all the time, I keep telling her to get that damn yard cleaned up, she is playing w/danger.

Labpaw
10-16-2007, 05:10 PM
I don't consider myself a resident vet :) , but here it what I found out...

At the event this weekend, Milt with Ultimate Air was asking if acorns were toxic to dogs. I honestly didn't have an answer, as I hadn't heard anything about it nor had I read an published literature. So.... I researched it and here is what I can gather, in a shortened form.

There is a toxin, called tannins, that are found in acorns. In cattle and large animals, it can be toxic to the liver and kidneys, as well as the gastrointestinal (GI) system. The reason it is believed to be so toxic to these animals is because their digestive systems are better adapt to break down the acorn, therefore, releasing the toxins.

In dogs, it seems that the amount of acorns needed to cause kidney/liver problems would be SIGNIFICANT and very difficult to consume. A lesser amount, however, can cause some GI upset and can cause problems for your furry friend. There has been no scientific research to determine what that amount may be, but it sounds as though it would have to be an enormous amount of acorn ingestion to cause kidney/liver problems.

Having said that, I would avoid acorn ingestion anyway. I have a few patients that I have removed them from their GI tract because of obstruction, so that is a problem in and of itself! I would clean them up in your yards, if you have them, just to be safe.

I hope Mickey D and everyone is doing well!


Hope this helps! ;)