# Dogs and black walnut trees



## Jim58 (Jan 16, 2010)

I knew we had to keep our horses away from our 56 black walnut trees but untill last night thought they were just a minor issue with the dogs.

I am in the process of having three large trees bordering the fenced area of our yard taken down this weekend and some of the debris fell into the fenced area and it seems the dogs decided to eat some of it. I first became aware of it when about 5 last night the WPG threw up a combination of partially digested food and what looked like saw dust from the saw.

By 8 both dogs were showing signs of labored breathing and tremors. By 9 they had both lost most if not all of the use of thier rear legs (this improved somewhat by 11:00) and were showing severe lethargy along with trying to scratch thier faces and eyes.

A quick search of the net showed that there was a possibility of the black walnut dust or mold being toxic to dogs so I made a call to the emergency vet to see what my next move was. 

Guess what I was told.. no they are not toxic to dogs and it sounded like an alergic reaction and to keep an eye on them and give them benadryl.

When the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning and there was no dog standing by the bed I knew I had an issue. Sure enough both dogs were down and not wanting to get up and go out without much coaxing and slow moving. I gave them water only and waited for my vet to get in at 8:00. A call to them was met with shock that the emergency vet would not have realized the possibility of a toxic reaction by some dogs to the black walnut dust and mold and was told to get them in as soon as possible.

To try and keep an already long story short after a series of blood work and several meds each along with a few hundred dollars they are at home trying to recover. The prognosis looks good for a full recovery with out any long term issues, we will keep our fingers crossed.

This may have been discussed on here before but I felt it should be brought to the attention of anyone who may not be aware .

Jim


----------



## dauber (Jan 11, 2010)

Wow Jim! I'd not heard of that. Good luck with the recovery!


----------



## Steelheadfred (May 4, 2004)

Thoughts and prayers Jim!


----------



## Legallyblonde (Dec 6, 2010)

Holy hell Jim that's crazy! Glad to hear they are both recovering. I knew it about horses too but didn't know it applied to dogs as well. 

Sending positive and healing thoughts your way.


----------



## Jim58 (Jan 16, 2010)

Thanks everyone. I just got back home (had to work a few hours while my wife dog sat) both are still low energy but moving around better and not throwing up. Max seems to be recovering best at this time. I had to coax Lucy out of her kennel. Wife says they both are urinating which should be a good sign.


----------



## WeimsRus (Oct 30, 2007)

Jim, thanks for the post! With a little digging I was able to find out a little on the differences between the horse and dog thing. 

Black walnuts contains a toxin called juglone which can cause a vascular disease in horses known as laminitis, but doesn't appear to cause problems in dogs. Eating black walnuts can cause gastric intestinal upset or an obstruction.

In addition, moldy black walnuts can contain tremorgenic mycotoxins which can cause seizures or neurological symptoms.

The symptoms in dogs will go away after they quit eating them from what I have seen. Some good sources of info are available by searching Juglone Poisioning. This does seem to be caused by eating the nuts or the husks of the nuts. FYI, cats don't seem to be effected by them.


----------



## michgundog (Feb 22, 2008)

Good luck. 

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## Jim58 (Jan 16, 2010)

WR thats pretty close to what the vet told me along with certain molds that can exist in the bark and rotting wood can cause even more issues. One of the trees had a double trunk with years worth of stuff between them and may be what they got into. You know dogs, the more rotten the better.


----------



## Lucky Dog (Jul 4, 2004)

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, and thanks for the heads up on something I never knew.


----------



## search48180 (Feb 11, 2012)

Curious, what treatment does your vet have them on? I'm wondering if it is similar to treatment for Zylitol poisoning (from chewing gum)? My dog was on Epakitin for 9 months to flush the toxins out. I still have a good amount left if interested. 

There are some natural methods of generally improving imune function after a toxic encountar: liquid vitamin C, chlorophyll, brewers yeast, aged garlic capsules, maybe charcol capsules?, etc. 

Hope they have a complete recovery, & thanks for the info.


----------



## milmo1 (Nov 9, 2005)

My old house had a huge black walnut that dropped hundreds of walnuts each year. I had read that the husks were toxic, but my three dogs never gave one a second look. Depends on the individual dog's curiosity I suppose.
Good to know effects are short term.


----------



## Jim58 (Jan 16, 2010)

Search due to the delay in treatment because of the info from the emergency clinic to much time had passed to induce vomiting or for charcoal treatment so the only thing left to do was to treat the symptoms and much as Weimsruss stated let it run it's course. They are on Amoxicillin, Sucralfate, Benadryl, and Neopoly dex opthalmic ointment for their eyes.


----------



## gundogguy (Oct 5, 2008)

Jim58 said:


> Search due to the delay in treatment because of the info from the emergency clinic to much time had passed to induce vomiting or for charcoal treatment so the only thing left to do was to treat the symptoms and much as Weimsruss stated let it run it's course. They are on Amoxicillin, Sucralfate, Benadryl, and Neopoly dex opthalmic ointment for their eyes.



:yikes: You just never know what might rear it's ugly head and bite. Best of luck with the continued recovery!


----------



## Jim58 (Jan 16, 2010)

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. Things are looking up this morning as both dogs were standing next to the bed waiting to get attention when the alarm went off this morning. They didnt exactly bounce around the house but they were looking good compared to yesterday morning.


----------



## grouse25 (Dec 28, 2010)

Glad everything is turning out good for you and your dogs. I had a similar situation back in April. Both of my shorthairs showed the same symptoms with the severe tremors and signs of shock. My 4 yo male spent 24 hrs at the vet and recovered fine. My 9 yo female was there 48 hours and had to be intubated and sedated. After 48 hrs she would still seize when they would take her off the gas. Eventuality she quit responding to the anti tremor meds. 4000 dollars later and a very hard decision for my wife and I we put her down. They did blood work and sent stomach contents to Michigan state and we still never came up with answer on what they got into. 
posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## dauber (Jan 11, 2010)

Good news Jim. Thanks for the update.


----------



## bcbcmatt (Jun 14, 2012)

Thank god they are showing signs of recovering. Man I hate when my dogs get sick, especially because they can't tell you what is wrong. Good luck with every thing.


----------



## #8 shot (Aug 27, 2009)

Sure am glad to here they are coming around. I had never heard of that before. Thanks for the info Jim and I hope everything clears up.


----------



## Jim58 (Jan 16, 2010)

grouse25 said:


> Glad everything is turning out good for you and your dogs. I had a similar situation back in April. Both of my shorthairs showed the same symptoms with the severe tremors and signs of shock. My 4 yo male spent 24 hrs at the vet and recovered fine. My 9 yo female was there 48 hours and had to be intubated and sedated. After 48 hrs she would still seize when they would take her off the gas. Eventuality she quit responding to the anti tremor meds. 4000 dollars later and a very hard decision for my wife and I we put her down. They did blood work and sent stomach contents to Michigan state and we still never came up with answer on what they got into.
> posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


That is truly a sad story made even worse by not knowing what the cause was. I hope your year is ending better than it started.

Jim


----------



## SteelSearchin (Apr 8, 2004)

Wow Jim, that's just crazy. I haven't checked this page in a while, so I'm glad to hear that the dogs are doing a little better. 

Thanks for posting this- my parents have some monster black walnuts in their yard. Thankfully Izzo has never given them the time of day...but I'll pay extra attention from here on out.

Best of luck with the continued recovery.

-tom


----------

