xylitol and dogs

[diamondsrock]

I was going to resurrect this thread but it's old so I guess we can't reply to it anymore

CLICK HERE

My little dog ate a pack of sugarless gum a few days ago (naughty - she pulled it out of a stocking when we weren't looking!) and was in the vet hospital for three days. She is fine now and home, but what an ordeal we went through, both emotionally and financially. I knew it was poisonous (because of the above thread) so we knew to take her to the hospital in time. If I hadn't know this, I probably wouldn't have sought treatment so quickly and she probably wouldn't have made it. If they ingest it, you have to act very quickly. They can start having effects in as little as 30 minutes I think.

So I can honestly say that the above thread saved my dog's life! Just passing this along to any other dog owners who maybe didn't catch that old thread.

 

[elrohwen]

I''m so glad your doggie is going to be ok!

I grew up with dogs for 20-odd years and never knew xylitol was a poison either. I will absolutely be on the lookout for it when I get another dog!

 

[soocool]

This happened to my dog a few months ago, but he accidentally ingested a Flinstone vitamin that contained a very small amount of xylitol. My dog is around 15 lbs and even this small amount made his blood sugar level drop within an hour. My DH read the label as I called the vet, because I was first worried about him ingesting a vitamin, but when DH saw xylitol among the ingredients we took him to the vet asap and they called the Animal Poison Control Center that has the ingredients (and amounts) of just about every product on the market. Luckily, it took some additional high glucose food to bring up his sugar levels (He had also eaten just before he swallowed the vitamin), and the vet bill came to $180.00 (about $60.00? for the call to the poison control center).

I have been telling anyone I meet who has a dog about the hazards of xylitol and a mjority of them did not know anything about it. What worries me is that even if your dog ingests minute amounts of xylitol, it might not immediatley kill him, but it can cause the kidneys to fail later on. A friend of mine told me a short while ago that her collie liked little bit of this dietic dessert(I don't remember what it was) and apparently a few months later his kidneys started shutting down. After I told her about the xylitol she looked up the ingredients in the coolie and saw that they contained xylitol.

My vet never told me about xylitol. I read about it online. What worries me is that no one has brought up the issue of putting a warning on all products that contain xylitol that it is harmful to dogs (I am not sure about about animals).

So happy that your dog is ok now!!!

 

[Puppmom]

Oh, gosh! I had no idea about this. My dog will eat ANYTHING! He''s a big guy (about 80 pounds) so fortunately, it would take higher quantities of things to be dangerous for him. Now I''m thinking his sensitive stomach is a blessing. If he eats anything besides his prescription food or the two types of treats we keep around, he''ll throw up within hours. It''s almost a guarantee.

I just wonder what kind of things we keep around the house that are dangerous for him. I mean, I keep my purse around everywhere - there are vitamins, gum and sugar free lollypops in there all the time!

DiamondsRock, I''m so glad your dog is okay. The frustrating things about our pups is that they won''t learn. Given the opportunity again, she probably chow down on that dang gum! It''s so hard to keep these things out of reach...especially if you have a dog with a mischievous streak like I do.