Xylitol and dogs.

[mikemikemike222]

I would like to share a warning to fellow dog owners.. . Today, around 4 hours ago my pit bull ate about 100 pieces of sugar free gum containing xylitol, which is very toxic to dogs. We managed to get her to vomit up about 60 pieces of the gum.

We rushed her to the emergency vet and she was having seizures on the way there coming in an out of consciousness.
She has to stay overnight at the vet ER but there is no guarantee that she will make it because xylitol causes extreme liver damage even at small amounts like 10 pieces..

Just a warning to anyone with dogs. This stuff is poison to canines even at very small amounts and it is not only gum, it is in candy as well as replacement sugars. We did not know this and now we are going through heartbreaking, not to mention very expensive process trying to keep her alive.

Please warn anyone you know that has dogs to watch out for this, as many people do not know about the toxicity of this sugar replacement and the effect it can have on dogs..

[diamondedge]

Hope your dog makes it through!

[mikemikemike222]

Originally posted by diamondedge
Hope your dog makes it through!

Thank you.

[KRyn]

Sorry to hear about this. I hope everything works out and your dog makes a full recovery!

[mikemikemike222]

Originally posted by KRyn
Sorry to hear about this. I hope everything works out and your dog makes a full recovery!

thank you, we just got a call from the vet and they finished pumping her stomach. They could not get anymore gum out so they will not know if her liver has been affected from the xylitol until tomorrow.

All we can do is hope she will make a full recovery.


Another thing for dog owners is to invest in insurance for your canine. If we did not have insurance we would almost be at 6 thousand dollars in vet bills already. Thankfully insurance covers 75% of the bills.

[canadian_hustla]

from one dog owner to another - I really hope your little one makes it through.

Good idea with the insurance too... who is your provider and how much is it/mnth?

[mikemikemike222]

Originally posted by canadian_hustla
from one dog owner to another - I really hope your little one makes it through.

Good idea with the insurance too... who is your provider and how much is it/mnth?

I connot recall the company we are through at the moment but full coverage is around 40 or 50$ per month.

And thank you, hopefully everyone having hope in her will help her pull through this very tough time.. I know most of you that have dogs know how hard this must be on a dog owner, at a certain point you stop thinking of them of just "dogs" they are more a part of the family..

[Kloubek]

Very good to know; I had no idea.

Good luck to you and your pitty.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Hope the dog makes it through this nightmare, I know my dogs are worse than having a child, they really will eat most anything and without a stopping point.

Yesterday my wife mentioned raisons as a food that can kill a dog, Google made me eat my words... used to feed my past dog grapes all the time in small amounts...

The list of foods that are bad, worth a skim even if you think you know it:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/245445.../#.T288nniMnuk

http://www.health24.com/medical/Focu...2684,51195.asp

[Graham_A_M]

What the heck were you guys doing to have 100 pieces of gum lying around?

[mikemikemike222]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
What the heck were you guys doing to have 100 pieces of gum lying around?

It was on the coffee table in a gum container. The ones that just have 100 peices not in wrapping.
She got the container and chewed it open and ate the gum within a matter or a couple minutes.

[ganesh]

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[mark4091]

Hopefully she pulls through. We sometimes keep gum on the living room table without thinking twice. With all the shit they put in gum I'm surprised it doesn't harm us.

[mikemikemike222]

Originally posted by mark4091
Hopefully she pulls through. We sometimes keep gum on the living room table without thinking twice. With all the shit they put in gum I'm surprised it doesn't harm us.

Thank you for your support, the vet called today and informed us that she made it through the night, and her sugar levels are back up to normal because the xylitol causes a sudden drop in blood sugar which put her into the seizures.

She is doing better but we will not know for another 24-48 hours if the xylitol caused any serious damage to her liver. But things are looking up for her, she is still on IV and still at the vet. We can only hope she will make a full recovery.


And for people who wanted to know the name of the pet insurance we are through it is pet secure

[clem24]

Yeah xylitol is pretty bad for dogs (great for human teeth but bad for human digestive tracts as it's a sugar alcohol and the body cannot break it down, and as a result, becomes a laxative in high quantities).

The most well known bad for dog food is chocolate (though they have to eat a ton before it becomes an issue). Grapes is another one as mentioned. Also keep apple cores away from dogs. Well the seeds are actually bad for everyone as they contain cyanide.

Hope your dog makes it through with no lasting effects.

[firebane]

Originally posted by clem24
Yeah xylitol is pretty bad for dogs (great for human teeth but bad for human digestive tracts as it's a sugar alcohol and the body cannot break it down, and as a result, becomes a laxative in high quantities).

The most well known bad for dog food is chocolate (though they have to eat a ton before it becomes an issue). Grapes is another one as mentioned. Also keep apple cores away from dogs. Well the seeds are actually bad for everyone as they contain cyanide.

Hope your dog makes it through with no lasting effects.

Ugh I fed my dog a couple of grapes once without realizing what could happen. The dog was fine but had the shits so bad for the next day that I had to stay home.

I know what its like when this happens and hope your dog pulls through.

[clem24]

Originally posted by firebane
Ugh I fed my dog a couple of grapes once without realizing what could happen. The dog was fine but had the shits so bad for the next day that I had to stay home.

Well the problem with grapes is that it can actually cause kidney failure in dogs, so the fact that your dog only got the shits is because it probably (and luckily) didn't eat enough. Truth be told, your dog will get the shits *anytime* that it eats anything new that it isn't used to, for example, switching to a new brand of kibble instead of introducing it gradually.

[bignerd]

It depends on the size of your dog as well, a few grapes given to a dog the size of a lab or retriever is not going to cause issues. If you're feeding several to something like a daschund or a yorkie, it will have a larger effect on them.

[WhippWhapp]

Sorry to hear, what brand of gum was it?

[mikemikemike222]

Originally posted by WhippWhapp
Sorry to hear, what brand of gum was it?

The gum brand was "spry" a natural, sugar free gum bought from community health foods, but xylitol is found in many normal brands found at your local shoppers or sev or macs as well.


Thank you all for your support, maybe all of the positive feedback has helped her out. She is still in the vet hospital but her blood sugar levels are back to normal, and she is doing better. There is still a chance her liver can fail and we won't know 100% for 72 hours from the time of ingestion.


As of right now, her enzymes in her liver are normally at 125-150, and they are currently at 500+, which is not good but it is not bad. Still manageable liver damage if it stays at this level and she will be expected to make a full recovery only if it stays at the level it is at now. But it still has the chance to increase and we will not know for another 24 hours if it is increasing. If it does increase her liver can fail, So we can just hope she will be okay.