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I have just finished reading this book and I noticed that Dr Billinghurst suggest you can give your dog sultanas (page 276). I thought these were toxic to dogs. Please correct me if I am wrong. Wonderful book full of great info with regard to BARF diet.

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I have just finished reading this book and I noticed that Dr Billinghurst suggest you can give your dog sultanas (page 276). I thought these were toxic to dogs. Please correct me if I am wrong. Wonderful book full of great info with regard to BARF diet.

Isn't it raisins that are toxic? I could be wrong though......

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From memory grapes definitely are, as they thin the blood or something like that. So one would think 'tanas are too :laugh: I doubt he would suggest feeding them though if they were!

This is why I am confused. He writes " Add honey, yoghurt, dried fruit such as raisins or sultanas....."

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I also just finished this book and found that bit confusing too. Every other book I've read (inc the sheet I was given at puppy class) says that saltanas/raisins etc are toxic to dogs. Maybe this is only in large amounts :laugh: I just avoid them anyway, there are plenty of other fruits you can use instead.

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A whole lot of things are toxic to some dogs in some quantities - not to ALL dogs in ALL quantities.

Bit like peanuts and people - some people have no reaction, some people die from inhaling the residue of the oil.

Personally I'd have no problems giving a 10+kg dog one of those little 'kiddie packs' of raisins on occasion, but I don't see the need to when there's plenty of other things you could feed them.

We've been buying seedless grapes lately and if there's any yucky ones on the bunch the dogs get them. They're still alive. Start with ONE and see how the dog reacts, don't feed them a whole bunch of grapes or a kg of raisins and be surprised if it turns out badly.

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Why take the risk? :laugh:

A couple of years ago, I read about 2 GSD's getting into a packet of sultanas from the pantry. 1 died within the hour, 1 in a coma. I can't remember if the 2nd one survived or not or any long-term consequences.

Until I read about this, I occasionally gave my dogs 1 or 2, whilst I was eating them, with no ill effects. But not now, not any, ever. And it is on the list, in my puppy-folders, of things never to give your dog along with cooked bones, onions - raw or cooked, and chocolate.

Green grapes = sultanas

Red grapes = raisins

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Why take the risk? :laugh:

A couple of years ago, I read about 2 GSD's getting into a packet of sultanas from the pantry. 1 died within the hour, 1 in a coma. I can't remember if the 2nd one survived or not or any long-term consequences.

Until I read about this, I occasionally gave my dogs 1 or 2, whilst I was eating them, with no ill effects. But not now, not any, ever. And it is on the list, in my puppy-folders, of things never to give your dog along with cooked bones, onions - raw or cooked, and chocolate.

Green grapes = sultanas

Red grapes = raisins

Thanks Clankaree and everyone else for clarifying that sultanas and raisins are toxic. I have never fed them to my dogs because I had heard that they were toxic to them BUT after reading this book (which seems to be quoted a lot here) I was extremely confused. I just hope that no-one who buys this book and doesn't have the knowledge with regard to these two ingredients feeds them to their dogs.

my2boys

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I have to list Macadamia Nuts in my care-sheets also.

I knew about them, advised my son about their toxicity to dogs when he bought a house with a big tree in the backyard (he cut down the tree, his Staffies will chew on anything and it wasn't worth the risk) and I planted my trees in the fenced-off area of my gardens. But for some unknown reason, I haven't listed them on my care-sheets.

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When I first read Billinghurst, I took a lot of things as true and did feed my dogs both raisins and sultanas, not in huge quantities, but more than a few. No sign of poison. A friend of mine did the same. Must be that some dogs are strongly affected and others not.

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When I first read Billinghurst, I took a lot of things as true and did feed my dogs both raisins and sultanas, not in huge quantities, but more than a few. No sign of poison. A friend of mine did the same. Must be that some dogs are strongly affected and others not.

Regardless, most people know Grapes are a definite hazard to dogs, so one would assume sultanas are as well, which possibly calls in to question other aspects of Billinghurst's products and suggestions.

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When I first read Billinghurst, I took a lot of things as true and did feed my dogs both raisins and sultanas, not in huge quantities, but more than a few. No sign of poison. A friend of mine did the same. Must be that some dogs are strongly affected and others not.

Regardless, most people know Grapes are a definite hazard to dogs, so one would assume sultanas are as well, which possibly calls in to question other aspects of Billinghurst's products and suggestions.

Actually, until a few years ago no one had ever told me grapes were poisonous to dogs. Aesop's fable of the fox and grapes gives a general sense from early childhood that dog-like animals like grapes (though not sour ones). And I saw dogs snacking on vines in my childhood with no apparent ill effect and no attempt by the owners to keep the dog from eating grapes.

I agree, though, Billinghurst presents a lot of ideas with anecdotal evidence only . . . I don't regard him as a reliable veterinary reference.

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Our neighbours had grapes growing over the fence and D (GSD) as a pup used to eat them

luckily when he eats stuff he's not supposed to he doesn't get sick, could have to do with being such a big dog, we are always more careful with the maltese x, being so small.

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When I first read Billinghurst, I took a lot of things as true and did feed my dogs both raisins and sultanas, not in huge quantities, but more than a few. No sign of poison. A friend of mine did the same. Must be that some dogs are strongly affected and others not.

Regardless, most people know Grapes are a definite hazard to dogs, so one would assume sultanas are as well, which possibly calls in to question other aspects of Billinghurst's products and suggestions.

Actually, until a few years ago no one had ever told me grapes were poisonous to dogs. Aesop's fable of the fox and grapes gives a general sense from early childhood that dog-like animals like grapes (though not sour ones). And I saw dogs snacking on vines in my childhood with no apparent ill effect and no attempt by the owners to keep the dog from eating grapes.

I agree, though, Billinghurst presents a lot of ideas with anecdotal evidence only . . . I don't regard him as a reliable veterinary reference.

I hadn't known grapes were poisonous either, when we used to give them to our lorikeet, the dogs would hang around until we gave them some. And when I 1st bought Billinghurt's 1st 2 book back in the late '90s I once put a handful of sultanas in the vegie mix while I was making it up.

I often wonder about giving dogs pork bones?

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If you chase down the references you find that around 150 "suspect" cases of grape/sultana/raisin poisoning were reported in the USA in one year and there were a handful of fatalities (not clear what happened to the others -- could merely be that they puked a few times). I would guess that there are at least 10 million dogs in the USA. So I wouldn't be surprised that careful research will show that the handful of fatalities were a fluke. I'm not about to give raisins/sultanas to my dogs by the kilo, but I remain pretty comfortable with giving them a few grams from time to time.

Personally, I'm not giving up peanuts just because some people go into antifalatic shock from eating them. I suspect the dogs/grapes thing is of similar nature.

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