Death by pumpkin pie?

[Kittenmommy]

Hi, everyone!

Not a vet, not a medical professional, nor do I play one on TV. I found these forums via a post on OTF_Wank a long time ago.

My stepmother was just telling me about her brother's daschund, who ate an entire pumpkin pie and part of a second, and then became blind, had seizures, and had to be euthanized.

Is there something in the pumpkin pie that would have caused this, or was this caused by something else and the pie binge was just a coincidence? I know dogs (and cats) can have plain canned pumpkin for stomach problems, so I figured it must be one of the spices in the pie that did it. Uh, typical pumpkin pie spices include: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Oh, and they also contain eggs, condensed milk, sugar, and flour and shortening/butter (in the crust).

And yes, I did try Yahoo! before posting this here. I'm not looking for a diagnosis; I'm just wondering if pumpkin pie is toxic to dogs or not.

Thanks in advance!

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[sofficat]

What was the time frame of the blindness, seizures and euthanization? Any vomiting/diarrhea/lethargy? What was the history of the dog (age? health history? etc)? Was there any testing done to determine the cause of the seizures? I think with a few more details we could speculate a littler better why the dachshund became so ill.

As far as pumpkin pie, you are correct in that pumpkin isn't bad for dogs but the concentration of all of the other ingredients are. That is a lot of sugar and dairy for one 10 lb dog to consume. I would be interested in bloodwork b/c of a pancreatitis issue.
Note- I am starting vet school next month. I have worked at clinics for 5 years as a vet tech. With that said, do not take what I say too seriously.... I'm not a doctor. As far as this forum goes, not too many doctors visit frequently, so it might take a few days before someone more educated than I respond. I do know that we need more answers before we can think about cause of death.
I'm sorry about the little pup 🙁

 

[Kittenmommy]

What was the time frame of the blindness, seizures and euthanization? Any vomiting/diarrhea/lethargy? What was the history of the dog (age? health history? etc)? Was there any testing done to determine the cause of the seizures? I think with a few more details we could speculate a littler better why the dachshund became so ill.

I don't know any of those details. I'll talk to my stepmother later today to see what she says.

As far as pumpkin pie, you are correct in that pumpkin isn't bad for dogs but the concentration of all of the other ingredients are. That is a lot of sugar and dairy for one 10 lb dog to consume. I would be interested in bloodwork b/c of a pancreatitis issue.

That makes sense. I don't know if they did bloodwork. I'll ask.

Note- I am starting vet school next month. I have worked at clinics for 5 years as a vet tech. With that said, do not take what I say too seriously.... I'm not a doctor. As far as this forum goes, not too many doctors visit frequently, so it might take a few days before someone more educated than I respond. I do know that we need more answers before we can think about cause of death.

Well, I certainly appreciate your taking the time to answer. Even though you're only entering vet school, you know more than I. I'm much more familiar with cats than dogs (as you may have guessed from my username!). 😉

I'm sorry about the little pup 🙁

Thanks. She was a sweet little dog. 🙁

 

[chris03333]

What was the time frame of the blindness, seizures and euthanization? Any vomiting/diarrhea/lethargy? What was the history of the dog (age? health history? etc)? Was there any testing done to determine the cause of the seizures? I think with a few more details we could speculate a littler better why the dachshund became so ill.

As far as pumpkin pie, you are correct in that pumpkin isn't bad for dogs but the concentration of all of the other ingredients are. That is a lot of sugar and dairy for one 10 lb dog to consume. I would be interested in bloodwork b/c of a pancreatitis issue.
Note- I am starting vet school next month. I have worked at clinics for 5 years as a vet tech. With that said, do not take what I say too seriously.... I'm not a doctor. As far as this forum goes, not too many doctors visit frequently, so it might take a few days before someone more educated than I respond. I do know that we need more answers before we can think about cause of death.
I'm sorry about the little pup 🙁

I am a DVM but would never (they drill this into your head in vet school) speculate on any animal I don't have access to medical records to, nor able to touch or see in person. I will say that what you describe is not something I would expect to be solely caused by the comsumption, but then again to not know the entire recipe (including exact amounts of each ingredient is also needed info.)
🙂

 

[Kittenmommy]

I am a DVM but would never (they drill this into your head in vet school) speculate on any animal I don't have access to medical records to, nor able to touch or see in person. I will say that what you describe is not something I would expect to be solely caused by the comsumption, but then again to not know the entire recipe (including exact amounts of each ingredient is also needed info.) 🙂

Thanks. I wasn't expecting an exact diagnosis. I just wondered if pumpkin pie could have caused it. I've never heard of pumpkin pie being poisonous to pets, and was curious. 😎

 

[Spartanvet4cows]

This may be a long shot, but it seems like there is a LOT of sugar and fat in pumpkin pie. That combination could have caused pancreatitis and resulting hyperglycemia from inactivity of insulin producting cells. Dogs aren't accustomed to that much sugar, and hyperglycemia can cause an increase in choroid pressure in the eye and ischemia in the brain. That could lead to the blindness and seizures.

Now, I don't know the dog's history and like I said it could be a long shot but that's just my guess.

 

[Kittenmommy]

This may be a long shot, but it seems like there is a LOT of sugar and fat in pumpkin pie. That combination could have caused pancreatitis and resulting hyperglycemia from inactivity of insulin producting cells. Dogs aren't accustomed to that much sugar, and hyperglycemia can cause an increase in choroid pressure in the eye and ischemia in the brain. That could lead to the blindness and seizures.

Now, I don't know the dog's history and like I said it could be a long shot but that's just my guess.

Well, thank you! I didn't know that lots of sugar and fat was bad for dogs. But of course, if it's bad for humans it stands to reason that we shouldn't be giving it to our pets.😛

I really appreciate everyone sharing their ideas. Like I said, I wasn't looking for a diagnosis; I'd just never heard of a dog dying from a pumpkin pie OD and wondered if it was possible.

Thanks again!🙂