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A co-worker passed this message on to me from a friend of hers who is a PETCO customer in Redding, WA. I’ve done my due dilligence and checked the validity of Xylitol danger over at snopes.com. This is scary stuff folks. Be careful what you feed your dog.
As dog owners, we try to be vigilant about protecting our companions. We heed the warnings about not feeding chocolate, grapes, nuts, or onions (among other items) to our friends. So imagine my surprise when I lost my best friend, a 45-pound Golden Retriever mix, to a pack of chewing gum last year.
Xylitol, a sugar substitute used in sugarless chewing gum, mints, and candies (even in sugar free Jello pudding) is extremely toxic to dogs. The ASPCA has issued warnings about xylitol on its website (aspca.org), and several years ago USA Today wrote an article warning about xylitol toxicity in dogs. But most people out there still haven’t heard of this killer. In fact, it took my veterinarian about 4 hours to figure out the cause of my dog’s symptoms.
Search YouTube and you can even find videos of people proudly teaching their dog to chew gum (even if the gum doesn’t contain xylitol, you have to wonder about these people). Even a small amount of xylitol can cause an insulin surge in a dog in about 30 minutes. Without immediate veterinary intervention, permanent liver damage or even death can result. The makers of xylitol- containing products don’t seem likely to post any sort of warning on their product (their stance seems to be that the products are intended for human use, so no warning is necessary).
If you suspect that your dog has ingested anything containing any amount of xylitol, contact your veterinarian immediately. If you wait for the dog to exhibit symptoms, it may be too late.
My dog eats everything in sight! Thank you so much for this information. I will definitely keep this in mind and pass along to all of my friends.
Thanks! Good to know. I monitor what my dog eats or what people try to feed him as treats. To learn more I google the food/treat before allowing him to eat it. He’s been pretty good about not eating anything in sight.
Thank you so much for the information. I had no idea. I chew gum with xylitol. I have one thought though, if it can kill my dog what could it do to me? We are never given all the information on products, but find out the hard way or by sharing information we have learned. Thank you again for possibly saving my dogs’& my life.
Thank you very much for publishing this fact. It is absolutely true that xylitol is very dangerous for dogs. One should check the labels on all products but unfortunately human food labels do not warn of dangers to animals. I also suggest to ask your vet next time you see him if he ever treated this xylitol toxicity as you want him also to be aware of it and pass it on to his clients and also be able to help the dogs if they get it without much loss of time. thank you.
Xylitol is really toxic to dog and even chocolates too..
one bar of cadburry can kill them..
their behavior make them intense..