Artificial sweetener in gum-deadly for dogs

[Doggedly Determined]

Has anyone heard of xylitol being deadly for dogs, causing liver failure? A customer recently posted a story about it on my site, and I had never heard of it.

I did some research on it and it seems like a well-documented issue. Has anyone else heard of it?

 

[Dekka]

*mafia princess too lazy too sign in*

A year or two ago this issue was widely posted on many message boards. Still an issue, but after being so publicized the issue has died down.

 

[Zoom]

Yup, heard of it and even have a vet bill I'm still paying off because of it.

It causes a hypoglycemic crash, which can be fatal if not caught quickly enough. Orbit gum has the highest concentration of xylitol, FYI. Virgo got into Trident and seems to be Invincible Dog, so she was fine after a few hours stay to monitor her levels.

 

[Kela]

Yes, and it isn't very well known unfortunately. Lots of women carry gum around in their purse...and I've known dogs to go rummaging through those purses if they're left accessible. Its something that we really need to be careful of!

 

[bubbatd]

Aren't some packaged sweetners bad for them too ???

 

[Zoom]

Art. sweeteners in general are Not Good For Dogs.

 

[TheGoldenRetriever]

Has anyone heard of xylitol being deadly for dogs, causing liver failure? A customer recently posted a story about it on my site, and I had never heard of it.

Yes, our vet warns about Xylitol specifically and artificial sweetners in general. Xylitol in particular can be deadly for dogs. Another poster made an excellent point about purses and sugarless gum. Dogs WILL rumage in open purses and happily gulp down any gum or candy they find!

Another thing to watch for is gum or candy that litterbugs drop on the ground in parks. There may not be enough Xylitol left in a discarded, spent wad of gum laying on the ground but why take the chance? Yet another reason why teaching either "leave it" or "drop it" is so very important.