# If you have a dog, please read!



## hobbyhorse23 (Jan 3, 2009)

I got this in my email this morning from a coworker. I thought it was another one of those forwards that may or may not be true, but it turns out this is a first-person story that actually happened to her this week. I thought I was pretty up on household toxins for pets, but I can tell you I had no idea about this one!




I hope this helps save a life as she intended it to.

*"Some of you know my story, but I want to share this with everyone so they can avoid a potential tragedy with their dog. *

I've been taking care of a chocolate lab named Coco while her family is on vacation. Monday night Coco and my dog, Jake, were attempting (my theory) to reach some cat food on a counter in my kitchen...brats, right? In the process, they knocked over some stocking stuffers that were also on the counter. Among the items were various candies, a couple of chocolates, and some gum. When my husband got home (I was working that night) he noticed empty wrappers and an empty container of gum. He called me right away because he'd noticed the dogs had eaten a couple of Frango like chocolates. Uh-oh....chocolate!

I immediately called the vet and told them what they'd eaten...a bag of Sour Patch Kids, a couple of chocolates and almost a full container of Ice Cube/Ice Breaker sugar free gum. As soon as I mentioned the gum, it was a huge red flag for the vet. I was completely surprised. I hadn't thought about that being an issue. The vet and I immediately went online to find more information about the gum, which was very limited. We did find out that the main ingredient was something called Xylitol-a sugar substitute being used more and more in gum, candy and sweets. Well little did I know that Xylitol is completely toxic to dogs! The sweetener does not affect humans adversely, but Xylitol triggers insulin release in dogs which can lower their blood sugar and cause seizures, etc. The biggest concern is liver failure. Some dogs show no symptoms of low blood sugar, but then go into liver failure within a few days. Others are found comatose within minutes.

In my situation, after my vet made a call to Hershey's- the maker of the gum, it was determined that 4 pieces of this particular gum were toxic to a dog Coco's size and 6 pieces to a dog Jake's size. There were no less than 35 pieces in that package...all gone. My husband immediately took the dogs to the ER vet-initial cost quote for 12 hours of care for both dogs was almost $2,000 dollars. My dog Jake's glucose levels were normal, but Coco's were low and you could actually smell the mint on her breath. In fact, when I got there two hours later I could still smell it. We took Jake home, fed him bread every hour to keep his glucose levels up, and watched him through the night...he was and is still fine. I don't believe he actually got any of the gum.

Coco was not okay. She was on a glucose drip through the night but by morning her glucose levels had stabilized. I took her first thing in the morning to her vet to be evaluated and treated. At this point she started having diarrhea, not a good sign but I felt better because she was acting relatively normal. The vet informed me that we would not be out of the woods for up to three days...big concern was liver failure. At that point one of her liver tests was abnormal. By the afternoon, it was three times what it should have been. By ten o'clock that night, it had started to stabilize...thank goodness. The vets kept her on IV fluids and started administering meds to help with liver function and to try and combat liver failure.

As of 4:30 this afternoon, I was able to take Coco home. Her elevated levels had started to decline and the vet was cautiously optimistic that she had come through to the other side.

When this happened I started doing research and found that more and more dogs are dying from this every year. In a small dog, half a piece could be deadly. I read about dogs going into comas thirty minutes after ingesting it, some dying several days later-their owners having no idea what caused their deaths.

It makes me sick to think what could have happened if I hadn't called the vet and mentioned the gum. What if I hadn't caught it within a relatively short period of time? Why is it that I had no idea? As a matter of fact, only one person I've talked to about this had even heard about Xylitol poisoning. Today at the vet I was looking through all the brochures they had and at their bulletin board and there was not one stitch of information posted about this. So here I am, telling you about what happened so hopefully you will tell someone else and everyone will become aware of it. We were so lucky, but it could have been such a tragedy.

Here is a link to an article I found about it and I've attached a picture of Coco [photo removed].

http://www.guidedogs.com/site/PageServer?p...vettips_xylitol

-[name removed]"

Scary stuff!

Leia


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## Shortpig (Jan 3, 2009)

Thank you for posting that Leia I had no idea. I wonder how many other items we purchase contain this ingredient.

I will definitely be checking labels going forward.


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## Sterling (Jan 3, 2009)

Thank you for posting this. Last year I got an email with Xylitol info on it and the affects it can have on dogs. I printed it out and have it in one of my folders. I normally use Splenda, and as much as my pups love pancakes and syrup, the syrup I use has Splenda in it and so just to be on the safe side I don't even let them lick it.


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## AppyLover2 (Jan 3, 2009)

Another "thank you" for letting us know about this. The chocolates would have set off an alarm for me but who would have ever thought gum would be such a hazard.


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## dgrminis (Jan 3, 2009)

There was a huge study done on the gum last year I think and it is VERY VERY toxic for dogs... I cant remember now but it was something like one little piece of sugar free trident can cause liver failure in an 80lb dog... (Not sure if those were the exact specs but something like that)... My vet had told me about it in passing and it was a HUGE eye opener for us becacuse we have 5 dogs and I always have sugar free trident on my coffee table which even my pomeranians can reach if they stand on their back legs...

Another one that I find people dont know about are grapes and raisens -- they are a big no no...

Thanks for sharing!!!


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## Miniv (Jan 3, 2009)

Leia,

I read about this just before Christmas, I think.......but yours is a FIRST HAND account. Thank you for sharing and giving so much information. I hope Coco will be okay too......

Ma---


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## ILOVEMYHORSECOMANCHE (Jan 3, 2009)

Thank you so much for posting this because my little dachshund gets into everything



I had no idea that gum was such a toxic to dogs.

Thanks again! I hope Coco is feeling better too!

Paige


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## Candice (Jan 3, 2009)

Wow, I didn't know that. Thankyou for posting this. I hope both are better now.


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## Kim~Crayonboxminiatures (Jan 3, 2009)

Xylitol poisoning just happened to my brother & his wife's two dogs, they got into a multi-pack of gum, ended up in the dog ER here over the weekend and they have some liver issues on medication and looks like they should be okay because they got treatment early. Their dogs were a long hair dachshund who is almost a year old, and an American Eskimo Dog who is a few years old. Thankfully their sheltie didn't eat any of it, or all three would have been in trouble.

They called me to ask about it, because one of the dogs had thrown up a bunch of the gum, thankfully I had heard of xylitol being poisonous to pets and told them to the vet right away! It's nothing to mess with.


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## Shari (Jan 3, 2009)

Yes, Xylitol is deadly to dogs, coyotes and Wolves. Found out about this a couple of years ago when a friends dog ate her gum,, she didn't know he ate it until he was dying at the Vets.

Another thing to look at if you let your dogs in the bathroom with you. Some Toothpaste is made with Xylitol too. If your dog eats that, he/she is good as dead, so lock up your toothpaste.

Very glad your friends dog made it, Leia.


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## Leeana (Jan 3, 2009)

WOW i did not know that! I normally do not leave anything laying around that the dogs could possibly get to, but thank you so much for that as i really had no clue gum could do that.

Thank you !!!


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## mydaddysjag (Jan 4, 2009)

Another thing that most people dont think about is black walnuts. We lost a dog to this a few months ago.

We have a black walnut tree next to our front yard, which is fenced for the dogs. One day we got strong wind, and it blew some a couple black walnuts into our yard. Well, black walnuts are bright green, and the size of a tennis ball, and our dog must have thought it was a ball, chased it through the yard, and chewed it up. When she didn't come into the house when we called her we went out to find her laying down next to a chewed up black walnut, gasping for breath. There wasn't even enough time to pack her up in the car anf go to the vet. This was very sad because she was only 7 years old, and NEVER had a health problem. We adopted her from an animal shelter as a puppy and she had been badly abused, to the point that she would tremble if you tried to touch her, but she came out of her shell and trusted us. In all her life she only went to the vet for routine shots and yearly checkups. No one expected her to die, especially when we have a 12 year old diabetic black lab, and a 17 year old German Shepherd beagle mix.


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## Sonya (Jan 4, 2009)

Wow, thanks for sharing the email. What is scarey is if you take your dog many places, often people will spit their gum on the ground...your dog could eat it and you might not ever even see him/her do it. Very scarey.


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## Boinky (Jan 4, 2009)

some dog tooth cleaners actually have Xylitol in it too!! there have been many articles recently abuot this. Childrens flintstone vitimins that have always been safe for dogs now have xylitol too. many many things have it in it that aren't even labled as having it. Makes me worry anytime i give my dogs ANY human food. I've heard it's in muffins ect.


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## Teresa (Jan 4, 2009)

Thanks for all the information. I didn't know any of it....and about black walnuts...is really scary as my parents have them all over the place........and Squiggles loves to chew on everything.

Thanks again.


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## Taylor Jo (Jan 4, 2009)

WOW, I didn't know that about the tooth paste. That is down right scary. Well we keep our bedroom door closed and our dogs are blocked in the kitchen area with us during the day and we go over the gate, but you can NEVER be to safe. I'll put my tooth paste in a drawer. Thanks for telling me. I ALSO, thought I had black walnuts till Christmas day and my step daughter said they were some other kinda walnut, I'm REALLY relieved about it now. I have a miniature doxie and he puts EVERYTHING in his mouths.... I hope your Coco will be ok. So sorry that happened. TJ


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jan 4, 2009)

Just to be clear, Coco is not my dog but I will pass on your messages to the coworker who was caring for her.



That's scary that they're putting the stuff in doggie toothpaste!





Leia


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