Xylitol Warning Toxic to Your Pet
A set of small brown, innocent looking eyes gazed up as I viewed the shredded mess before me.
After a quick trip to the store, I had dropped my purse on the office floor and my small four legged “child” had found his way into an unzipped pocket and devoured almost a full pack of gum.
“You’re going to have a belly ache”, I scolded as I gathered up what was left of the cardboard package and went about my business.
Over the next hour Bristol ran playfully in and out of the office trying to get my attention as he so often does. “Does your belly hurt?”, I teased him.
Maybe his tummy could indeed be hurting I thought, and quickly typed in the words, “My Dog Just Ate Gum”, into the search bar of my computer.
That’s when my own stomach sank.
Xylitol Toxicity in Dogs
Xylitol Deadly to Dogs
Xylitol Poisoning
And the list went on.
I quickly dialed the emergency number of the animal hospital and was told to get my little “fur baby” to their location NOW!
My husband and I jumped in the car and made the frantic trip to the animal ER over 20 minutes away. As we entered the door of the clinic, my little one was whisked away as they hurriedly asked my permission to induce vomiting.
After what seemed like forever, the vet on call came into the small room we had been ushered into and explained what was happening. We were shown photos of what gum they had been able to retrieve with the vomiting, but were told there may still be more in his stomach. It really needed to all be removed, as just two pieces of gum containing Xylitol could drop the blood sugar of a 20 pound dog dangerously low, causing a dog to go into liver failure. My estimate was my little 14 pound guy had devoured over 10 pieces.
So the next step was to pump his tiny stomach, keep him overnight where he would receive fluids, blood sugar tests throughout the stay and hope his blood sugar remained stable.
If all went well, we could pick him up the next morning and over the next few days his liver counts would be tested to see if his liver had been compromised.
Tears spilled from my eyes as we made the trip home. “How could I have been so careless?”, I cried.
“You didn’t know the danger this gum was to dogs”, my husband said trying to make me feel better.
And he was right. When I tell my story, I find many others don’t know of the danger either. The fact is Xylitol is found in many food products. As a sugar substitute it can be found in candy, mints, gum, toothpaste, vitamins, some brands of peanut butter and more. The danger to dogs is tremendous.
Thanks to the internet and wonderful doctors, my little buddy dodged a bullet and did not incur liver damage, but many others have not been so lucky.
I encourage each of you to spread the word of this canine danger.
You might just save the life of someone’s little four legged companion.
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I’m way behind in my reading & just saw this. What an awful experience! I’ve never ever heard about the dangers of gum and dogs. I feel like we need to shout this from the rooftops for everyone to know. So glad your little baby (and you) made it through this nightmare. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention.
Sandy – I love my little four legged babies! I just don’t want anyone else to have this experience!
Thanks for the information Debi! I would have never even thought of it as being a problem. Happy too that your lil one is ok!!
Thank you Donna. I just hope this might save the life of someone else’s little one.
oh my wonderful friend, I have been in your very situation with our sweet fur baby. When my husband was chewing a nicotine gum. He accidentally left some close enough for our Izzy to eat it. We were both panicked . it was bad enough that it had eaten xylitol but it also had! We were both upset and did everything you did. It was so scary.I beg you to not beat yourself up about this. You took all of the necessary steps to help your darling boy. I am just so happy to learn her is okay. xoxo
Thank you Katherine. Those little fur babies just don’t know what they are getting into. We love them so much and they are a big part of our lives. I am so glad everything turned out ok. The doctors told us we really dodged a bullet and they had seen others not so lucky. I just wanted everyone to know of the dangers. I want to help alert others to know what can happen and what to do if it does. Have a blessed weekend friend.
Oh my! So glad you acted quickly and he is saved. Don’t be hard on yourself, how would’ve you known? Our little dog eats everything in sight too (once I dropped a slice of lemon and she didn’t even chew it, it was gone so fast, yikes!) but luckily our big dog is not as adventurous. Blessings to you and your little fury baby!
Jas – My little Bristol does the same thing! He just gulps things down without chewing. This may have helped in this instance as he may have swallowed the gum wrappers and all and the wrappers kept the xylitol from getting in his system so fast. He is bouncing around today and it’s makes me happy!!! Thanks for thinking of us!
So sorry to hear about Bristol’s experience with gum. Thanks for putting out the warning for all of us dog lovers!
I just want everyone to know of the dangers. You know how we all love those little ones.
Debi – So sorry your cute little pup had such a horrible encounter with the gum. Thankfully, you were aware of it and was paying attention. I have a friend whose small dog did the same thing (got into her purse placed on the floor) and was not so fortunate as he passed away. My dog’s breeder cautioned me about Xylitol. Up to that point, I had no idea that Xylitol could be toxic to our canine friends. Now, I am always checking what I bring into the house and avoid buying anything containing Xylitol.
Jill – so sorry to hear of your friends loss. I just hope that this warning may save someone else from going through that experience. I am with you Jill. We are checking everything now. I also keep thinking if it is this bad for dogs can it really be good for us humans too? Thank you for helping to get the word out.