Bread Dough Toxicosis

Written by Sydney Huggins • 2025 Scholar

Presentation & Physical Exam

Poppy is an almost 3-year-old female golden retriever mix who presented for ingestion of raw bread dough. Before presentation at Iowa Veterinary Specialties she vomited 6-7 times and was at IVS within 30 minutes.
Initial vitals were taken upon arrival:

Temperature - 103.1?
Heart rate - 140 bpm
Respiratory rate - panting
MM/ CRT - pink, <2 sec

On physical exam Poppy had a distended, painful cranial abdomen. The rest of her exam was unremarkable, but she did have a slight fever at 103.1 degrees. A diagnostic plan was discussed with the owner and it was decided to do radiographs to see the severity of the issue.

Diagnostics

Radiographs were taken before treatment and showed a very distended stomach consistent with reported history. The owner consented to treatment with gastric lavage after discussion of the efficacy of emesis in this case.

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Treatment - Gastric Lavage

Per the article in In Practice, “gastric lavage is only indicated in animals with recent ingestion of a known lethal dose of a toxicant that have contraindications to the induction of emesis” (Humm 304). With the consistency and amount of raw dough she had ingested, it was decided that induced emesis would not be very effective. In the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care, they also said that “cold water lavage may slow yeast fermentation, decreasing ethanol production” (Means 40). This can help prevent sequelae including ethanol toxicity and gastric dilation and volvulus.

Treatment was initiated, and after intubation, a tube was placed down to her stomach and cold water was pumped in to help remove dough pieces. This was successful in her case and was repeated on both right and left lateral sides twice to increase likelihood of removal of all the dough. She recovered well but was kept on fluids, anti-nausea and pain meds due to clinical signs. Repeat x-rays were taken to make sure the residual dough in the GI tract remained non obstructive. Before and after radiographs were sent to specialists to confirm removal of dough.

Potential Sequelae if Left Untreated

  • Ethanol toxicity - One potential issue that can arise from yeast dough is the ability of the yeast to ferment and produce ethanol. The stomach is a warm and moist place and yeast does very well in this environment. “Ethanol is rapidly absorbed and results in systemic alcohol intoxication… and can result in metabolic acidosis” (Hovda 469). This can be a very dangerous medical concern and needs to be corrected or stopped before it gets to this point.
     
  • Gastric dilation and volvulus (GDV) - GDV is another potential complication that have been known to come from raw bread dough ingestion. This can happen from material and gas produced by the fermentation of the yeast in the stomach. “GDV is a common emergency condition … associated with high morbidity and mortality” (Kumar 415). There are many sequelae to GDV including compression of the caudal vena cava, shock, and DIC (Kumar 415-416). Poppy was a golden retriever mix and on the smaller side for weight so this was not as big of a concern for her but should still be considered a potential complication.

Conclusions

Ingestion of raw yeast dough can have multiple unintended consequences if a large amount and left untreated. Due to this, removal of the raw dough is recommended quickly either by induced emesis, gastric lavage, or surgery. Poppy had a good outcome and went home a few days after her ordeal, but raw dough foreign bodies should be checked out quickly to prevent further issues.

Citations

  • Hovda, Lynn R, et al. “Bread Dough.” Small Animal Toxicology, 2nd ed., Wiley Blackwell, pp. 469–473.
  • Humm, K., & Greensmith, T. (n.d.). Intoxication in dogs and cats: A basic approach to decontamination - humm - 2019 - in practice - wiley online library. https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1136/inp.l5062
  • Kumar, Praveen & Surendran, Sooryadas & Parathazhathayil, Dinesh & Kumar, Jinesh & Remya, V.. (2024). GASTRIC DILATATION AND VOLVULUS IN DOGS: A REVIEW OF DIAGNOSIS, PREVENTION, AND TREATMENT STRATEGIES.
  • Means, Charlotte. Bread Dough Toxicosis in Dogs - Means - 2003 - Journal of Veterinary ..., onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1435-6935.2003.00068.x/abstract. Accessed 28 July 2025.

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