Yeast cake almost killed my dog!

[kickflip_mj]

I want to share my experience that I had yesterday after I almost killing my dog. On top of everything my father came home yesterday from heart surgery. (fun week)

Over the last month I had two 15 gallon blondes fermenting, around last Thursday I decided to transfer my beer to kegs. I proceeded to dump the yeast cakes in an area of our garden like I normally do.

Lets now fast forward to yesterday. I was washing my boat in my front yard around 7 am and my dog Winston (Winston is an 83lb boxer) was roaming around. I saw him lick the area where I dumped the cake (black and dried up in the sun) a few times and thought nothing of it. I put Winston in the house, took off and returned around 11am to find him panting like crazy, we live in California so I thought nothing of it. I just took him outside and hosed him off and he stopped panting. I proceeded to leave and come back an few hours later to find he threw up black liquid and his breakfast. He was panting harder than ever, wouldn't move and his eyes were bloodshot. I rushed him to the vet.

At the vet they were trying to figure out what it was, Winston was acting poisoned, his heart rate was normal, but his temp was up to 104.5 and he was panting extremely fast/ eyes wouldn't respond to light. They put him on an iv and tried to cool him down. Then it dawned on me, the black vomit was from the yeast cake. Looked it up and remembered hops are poison to dogs! Winston developed a condition called Malignant Hyperthermia, and if we couldn't keep his temp down it would kill him.

I called the aspca poison control center and the called the vet and gave them detailed instruction how to handle the situation. After a number of drugs and IVs through the night, plus $1000, Winston is now home safe.

So here is the crazy part, I brewed a really light blonde, pellet hops in a large hop basket, then filter on the way out. The tiny hop particles sat at the bottom of the fermenter for a month, then cooked in the sun for a few days. Winston ate about a cup of the black cake, more then I originally saw. Just a little bit almost killed my dog.

 

[JonM]

Wow - glad your buddy is okay.

 

[eadavis80]

Yeah, I remember reading on an instruction kit on Brewers Best that they have a note about hops being fatal to dogs, but I never figured a little bit from a yeast cake would do any harm. I figured it was just if they ate hop pellets that spilled or something. I normally clean my brew pot outside and dump the hop sludge in the corner of my yard where I have some overgrowth, but after reading your post, I guess from now on, down the drain it goes. If it did what it did to your 83 pound dog, my little 20-pound pug would be dead instantly!

 

[jtratcliff]

See, that's why you harvest your yeast for re-use

Glad to hear that your hound is OK... Sorry about $1K vet bill

https://www.vetlearn.com/veterinary-technician/toxicology-brief-hops-make-dogs-hot

 

[kickflip_mj]

Yeah, I remember reading on an instruction kit on Brewers Best that they have a note about hops being fatal to dogs, but I never figured a little bit from a yeast cake would do any harm. I figured it was just if they ate hop pellets that spilled or something. I normally clean my brew pot outside and dump the hop sludge in the corner of my yard where I have some overgrowth, but after reading your post, I guess from now on, down the drain it goes. If it did what it did to your 83 pound dog, my little 20-pound pug would be dead instantly!

This is exactly what I thought, I read the reaction is different for every dog. I wouldn't take the chance though.

 

[kickflip_mj]

Wow - glad your buddy is okay.

Yeah me too. I couldnt imagine losing my dog after almost loosing my dad last week. Thank god I am going on a vacation tomorrow, I cant handle any more emotional crap.

 

[drainbamage]

This is exactly what I thought, I read the reaction is different for every dog. I wouldn't take the chance though.

I've heard that too, almost like an allergic reaction. I dump my trub in the yard too, but make sure to keep the dogs away from the spot.

Still, glad he made it through alright. Pet scares are the worst.

 

[MaxStout]

Glad to hear your dog will be OK. That was scary.

 

[jtratcliff]

This is exactly what I thought, I read the reaction is different for every dog. I wouldn't take the chance though.

The link I posted above goes into that a little. Apparently greyhounds are very susceptible.

 

[normonster]

So are Pugs. You just made me realize why my dog was super sick for like a week. He had eaten about 2 lbs of spent grain and of course I'd dumped hop trub right on top of it!

 

[eadavis80]

Thankfully, my pug only generally goes on the couch, recliner or my lap. If he's outside, it's in the shade on cool concrete on the patio. The little guy doesn't wander far, but it still makes me think twice about throwing spent grains and/or hop sludge in the back corner of my yard...

 

[normonster]

Thankfully, my pug only generally goes on the couch, recliner or my lap. If he's outside, it's in the shade on cool concrete on the patio. The little guy doesn't wander far, but it still makes me think twice about throwing spent grains and/or hop sludge in the back corner of my yard...

Yep. Lazy Devils. Mine has appetite like no other though. I think he has that disease where they won't stop eating. He was so bloated after that grain - like an extra third of pug plump. Before that he got into a food bag in the closet and ate THE WHOLE FIVE POUNDS before I even caught him.

Needless to say he's on a strict feeding schedule now. Doing better but I'm sure glad I saw this thread

 

[eadavis80]

Yeah, the only thing pugs like more than naps and laps are meals!

 

[olotti]

Hops for whatever reason mess with a canines ability to cool themselves so they essentially go into heat stroke and even just a little bit prob much less than what you used can set them off. Glad your dog is ok and that is the most important part.

 

[kirbcheck]

I have a 100# Akbash that ate a few vines off a plant this summer, her mouth was swollen for a few days. I assume the cones are the potent part and her reaction was similar to the rash I get on my arms when I'm harvesting.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I remember reading that dogs don't normally go for the actual hop plant (keyword obviously being "normally"). It's spent hops in wort that are particularly dangerous, since dogs find the sweet wort much more appetizing and end up eating hops that way.

 

[C-Rider]

Glad the pup's ok. My yeast cake and hop trub always go down the drain into the cess pool.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Yikes! That is one scary close call. Glad the dog is going to be ok. Makes me think twice about where I toss my yeast sludge.

 

[tsever00]

Thanks for the warning! My Greyhound is truly the dumbest dog on the face of the earth. I love him but he eats anything without even a thought. I'm going to be extra careful in the future