Dangers of Xylitol

[Sweet Pea]

I posted this on another site too, but I just wanted to be sure everyone was aware of the dangers of xylitol. I know they have previously been discussed on other forums but I thought I'd post this as a reminder to everyone. For those of you who don't know, xylitol is a artificial sweetener previously only found in gum and mints and now is becoming more popular in food and medications. Xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs' livers and as few as 2-3 sticks of gum can kill a 20 lb dog.

A few weeks ago I had to leave for work very early. In my sleep deprived stupor leaving at 4 am, I left my lunch box on the table. It's normally put away in the closet since Sweet Pea is a seasoned thief. When I got out of work at 3:30 there was a message from my father that Pea had gotten into my lunch box and "some other things".  When I got home, to my horror I found the empty box of mints in her crate and the 2nd ingredient was xylitol. I completely forgot I had mints in there b/c they'd been in there so long. I know it can cause liver failure and don't keep any gum with xylitol in the house because of it. I was in a panic even though Pea was acting fine and called the vet. There's 4 vets in the practice and they asked the older vet who runs the practice about it. The receptionist told me that the vet said it shouldn't be a problem given Pea's size. She might just get diarrhea and in huge doses, could effect their kidneys. Kidneys...what??!! When I hung up the phone I googled it because I thought maybe I had it confused with something else....NOPE!!! I was completely right that even small doses can kill their liver and it starts by dropping their blood sugar like a rock.

I called ASPCA poison control and the toxicologist said those mints were the most potent source of xylitol on the market. We figured out that worst case scenario, Pea had 20...best case 10. He said even 10 could kill a dog her size. I told them what my vet said so they said they'd deal with the vet. I took her in and luckily we saw one of the new vets. Pea's blood sugar was 52!! It's supposed to be 80-120 like humans. Unfortunately we couldn't keep her there for monitoring because there would be no one there after 6 pm, by this time it was around 5 pm. After they treated her I had to take her to the ER vet 30 minutes away. I cried all the way there with her head in my lap. I thought for sure I would loose her this time and I felt horrible it was because I left my stuff around. To make a long story short her blood sugar eventually came up to 92 at the ER vet. I opted to take her home instead of staying the night for the cost of $1500. The condition was that I had to feed her every two hours and watch for signs of hypoglycemia, so I stopped at McDonald's and got her a couple cheeseburgers to start her eating fest for the night. Since I didn't have enough raw food defrosted at home, she was more than happy to feast on cat kibble all night. The ER vet said she was so lucky. During her escapade she also stole and ate 4 pears and got a good-sized bag of dog biscuits. It's a mystery how she got the biscuits since they were on top of the fridge. They only possible way would be if one of the cats knocked them off. I know it was my damn kid who left the pears on the counter (at least he was eating fruit, right?)  He said her stolen items probably kept her blood sugar high enough to not get into serious trouble.  She had to go for a blood sugar re-check in the morning and luckily all was fine. We also tested her liver enzymes and all came back normal. 

As luck would have it, Pea decided she was not going to let me off the hook this easily. Her reign of terror continues indefinitely. 

She did have a grand old time though at the ER vet being gushed over by all the staff. Interestingly enough the vet tech said she's seen quite a few Boerboels at the other practice she worked at because some woman used to breed them in the area. She said it was refreshing to see one with a nice temperament. I didn't even touch that subject!

Here's a link someone provided me regarding how xylitol is now being added to medications: 

 http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2011/feb/xylitol_now_in_drugs

[Marco]

Kimberly thanks for sharing, this could help save other boerboel owners from going through this.  I was unaware of this myself, and will be on the look out for it.  I am very happy to hear she is well!

[Aescleah]

thank you very much for posting this i agree with marco this post could save a dogs life. i am glad pea is ok bless her heart 

 

Ashley

[Miki]

Oh god I am glad that Sweet Pea is ok, thank you for letting us know how dangerous it is to dogs, it will now be banned from our house. Regards Michelle .

[bel ballard]

Thank you; I didn't know about this.  Glad your girl made it.