Warning to all dog owners Pass this on to everyone you can
Last Friday evening, I arrived home from work, fed Chloe, our 24 Lb. dachshund, just as I normally do.
Ten minutes later I walked into the den just in time to see her head inside the pocket of Katie's friend's
purse. She had a guilty look on her face so I looked closer and saw a small package of sugar-free gum.
It contained xylitol. I remembered that I had recently read that sugar-free gum can be deadly for dogs
so I jumped on line and looked to see if xylitol was the ingredient. I found the first website below and it
was the one. Next, I called our vet. She said to bring her in immediately.
Unfortunately, it was still rush hour and it took me almost 1/2 hour to get there. Meanwhile, since this was
her first case, our vet found another website to figure out the treatment. She took Chloe and said they
would induce her to vomit, give her a charcoal drink to absorb the toxin (even though they don't think it
works) then they would start an iv with dextrose. The xylitol causes dogs to secrete insulin so their blood
sugar drops very quickly. The second thing that happens is liver failure. If that happens, even with
aggressive treatment, it can be difficult to save them. She told us she would call us.
Almost two hours later, the vet called and said that contents of her stomach contained 2-3 gum wrappers
and that her blood sugar had dropped from 90 to 59 in 30 minutes. She wanted us to take Chloe to
another hospital that has a critical care unit operating around the clock. We picked her up and took her
there. They had us call the ASPCA poison control for a case number and for a donation, their doctors
would direct Chloe's doctor on treatment. They would continue the IV , monitor her blood every other hour
and then in 2 days test her liver function. She ended up with a central line in her jugular vein since the one
in her leg collapsed, just as our regular vet had feared.
Chloe spent almost the entire weekend in the critical care hospital. After her blood sugar was stabilized,
she came home yesterday. They ran all the tests again before they released her and so far, no sign of liver
damage. Had I not seen her head in the purse, she probably would have died and we wouldn't even had
known why.
Three vets told me this weekend, that they were amazed that I even knew about it since they are first
learning about it too. Please tell everyone you know about xylitol and dogs. It may save another life.
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