WARNING - Apple Pips

[Traceysjasper]

I have had a total nightmare. Jasper who is now one started being sick last Monday. Not normal sick 3 piles of it at a time just bile looking. Took him to vet and he had slight temperature and had injections of anti biotics, anti sickness etc. To cut a long story short we thought he had eaten something as we know what he is like but couldn't find anything which would make him ill. He went downhill rapidly last week even though on medication and had to be admitted Friday for further investigations. Bloods and scans came back relatively normal so they had to operate to check there wasn't something stuck in intestines that hadn't showed up on x-rays. He was in theatre for 5 hours with the vet checking every part of him, taking biopsies etc, nothing in there still waiting for test results. He was kept in on iv drips etc until Monday, he lost a kilo of weight in 2 days. We still were not sure what had caused this until last night. Somebody has thrown a red eating apple over fence and he had been eating it under our garden table so I didn't even spot it - it was only that he is being watched like a hawk at the moment as he is on the vets special diet and cant eat anything else until results come back that my daughter crawled under table and found last remaining bit of apple left with no pips left on it. I didn't realise that apple pips were so toxic to dogs, it has shocked me. Apparently pips are cyanide to dogs so we poisoning him. Please everyone take care about this, I could believe a fruit (well the pips) can be so dangerous so I wanted to warn everyone on here who also didn't know so their beloved dog doesn't go through what Jasper has had to. Not nice at all x

[bluegirl]

What a nightmare and I'm so glad he's pulling through.

Its things like this that remind us about the dangers some foods and plants can pose to our dogs.

Thinking of you all.

[MaggieR]

Glad he's on the mend and thanks for the heads up.  I thought they had to have quite a lot of pips for them to have an adverse effect but seems not - will have to  be extra vigilant in the summer when the apples drop from the tree!!!

Hugs to the little fella x

[scott0904]

Oh my!

I had no idea apple pips could do this to a dog!... you must of been so worried.

Floyd sends all his clumsy puppy cuddles and hope for a speedy recovery for your boy!  Its awful when pups are ill and lose weight, they just have no reserves whatsoever and very quickly turn into a bag of bones 


Im actually terrified now when Floyd goes outside as his nose is permanetly on the ground.  *note to self - get a muzzle today* 

[silly milly]

glad he is on the mend!

i had no idea about this.  milly is often given our apple cores to eat and she devours them.    thank you for highlighting it.   i will only give her slices from now on!

[Traceysjasper]

Thanks everyone for your kind replies. Yes he is perking up a bit now - has nice scar to show for it, so annoyed as if I had found the blinking apple before he would not have had to go through it all but it was only as I saw this programme on animal planet at the weekend and it said about apples did I put two and two together yesterday when I found it under the table. They most upsetting thing is that it wasn't even our apple, someone must have thrown it over the fence - little bu**ers!!!!
Maybe it doesnt affect all dogs, but honestly I would rather warn you all that it really isnt worth taking the risk. x

[Helen]

That's really scary    Did the vets confirm from the bloods that he had cyanide poisoning from the apple pips?

[floydlennon]

OMG did not know this floyd likes an apple to no more hear ty for lettin me know hope all is well at your end xxx

[Traceysjasper]

No still waiting for final results - he did bloods 1st thing on Friday morning and said only a couple of samples looked a bit funny but he didnt go into any details what he meant. Surely they would have done toxicollogy on them wouldnt they??? I have left a message for him to call me after morning surgery so I can find out more x

[Nicola]

That is really scary and I'm so glad Jasper is ok now I'd also be interested to know if it's definitely cyanide poisioning from apple pips though as everything I've read on this indicates that dogs have to eat a very large amount of pips and have to actually crunch them up to suffer any poisoning effects. My dogs eat apples and apple cores all the time, they're Tilly's favourite treat. We have about 15 apple trees in our garden and she spent most of last autumn poking around the garden eating apple after apple with no ill effects at all.

[Sharon]

I always thought apple pips were only poisonous when basically eaten by the sack load (slight exaggeration there) but in large quantities, my dogs always eat apples, next door have a tree that hangs over our garden.

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Poor you and Jasper, really hope he's fully on the mend now

That's really scary    Did the vets confirm from the bloods that he had cyanide poisoning from the apple pips?

I'm wondering this too - Apple pips do contain low levels of cyanide but generally a dog would have to eat an awful lot of them for it to effect them... wonder if Jasper is unusually sensitive to them? Otherwise, I'd be very surprised if it is this that's caused his problems. All my dogs have eaten apples and apple cores at one time or another (scavenging - I never feed them cores because I'm aware they're not the best thing for them) and they've never been in the slightest bit affected.  

Really hope the vets are able to get to the bottom of it all for you

ETA: Posted at the same time as above 2 posts!

[Annette]

That is really scary and I'm so glad Jasper is ok now I'd also be interested to know if it's definitely cyanide poisioning from apple pips though as everything I've read on this indicates that dogs have to eat a very large amount of pips and have to actually crunch them up to suffer any poisoning effects. My dogs eat apples and apple cores all the time, they're Tilly's favourite treat. We have about 15 apple trees in our garden and she spent most of last autumn poking around the garden eating apple after apple with no ill effects at all.

Almost exactly what I was about to write.

Buddy has an apple core every day, and in autumn manages to snaffle a whole apple from the evening walk as well.

I would be very insistent that your vet shows you the evidence that this was the cause.

In the meantime, I wish poor Jasper a very quick recovery, poor boy.

[jann]

I'm very sorry to hear about poor Jasper's illness and glad to hear he's improving now 

I feed apples to my 2 but always try to remove most of the pips as I knew they were toxic if  eaten in large quantities , but I'm sure a few must have slipped through the net with no obvious consequences.

However  I don't think it has been proved yet that  they are the cause of Jasper's illness  ( correct me if I'm wrong)  I would also think it unlikely from one apple unless Jasper is particularly sensitive to the pips. 

Wishing Jasper a speedy recovery, I will be interested in what your vet says about the blood test results.

Take care

Jann, Flo and Barnaby 

[bajoleth]

glad he is on the mend!

i had no idea about this.  milly is often given our apple cores to eat and she devours them.    thank you for highlighting it.   i will only give her slices from now on!

Belle does too the kids take a bite or two out of an Apple so I give them to Belle to chew, slices only from now on, glad Jaspers on the mend and thanks for the advice