Do you own a dog? Please read this!!!
 

So today, 3 of my dogs had to spend the day throwing up at the vet. One of them also spent the day having hourly blood tests done, a liver panel and various other tests. I spent nearly $800 and it looks like everyone will be okay. Why? you may ask...

Xylitol.

This is a sweetener used in sugar-free gum and various other sugar-free goodies like hard candy and baked goods. It is EXTREMELY toxic to dogs. As few as 2 sticks of sugar-free gum can send a small dog into insulin shock. 10 pieces can cause irreversible liver failure within 48 hours. Surprisingly, this is not well known.

My dog was lucky. I was lucky. I know how lethal Xylitol is and got Pongo (that's him in my avatar) to the vet in time (Olivia had put her gum where she thought it was safe). I'm also lucky he's big...and that there were only 13 pieces left...and that I happened to see the remains of the package sticking out from under the bed....

The vet thinks he will be okay. I just wanted everyone else to have this information too; and to make sure you know to keep all sugar-free goodies where the doggies can't reach.

(No more sugar-free gum in our house, I figure I can't afford $800 a pack.)

Holy crap! $800! Glad the pooches are going to be ok.

Thanks for the warning...Wolfette loves sugar-free gum, so always has some around. Twitter has not found any yet, but will eat anything of course. I'll be spreading the word around this morning. Glad to hear Pongo is OK, even if your wallet is a little worse for wear.

The webpage for the company I buy my Xylitol has a warning saying it is dangerous to animals. (But I'm not sure of the science behind it all, because Xylitol for humans has a GI of 8. Glucose has a GI of 100. (the scale only goes up to 100) Funny that the lowest Gi item throws them into insulin shock.

I know the Xylitol gets absorbed by itself without needing insulin at all. Perhaps the animal registers the sweet taste, produces all the insulin for the "Sugary Treat" coming in and then all the insulin sits around going "So what do we do now?"

Glad to hear your furry ones are OK. I will never let them eat any of my homemade cookies, cos they have you know what in them too,

Good to know!

The same goes for chocolate. The dogs can't motabilize the theobromin (SP) in it. Before we knew this we would give our dog an M&M or two every now and then, without any visible harm.

I've heard there are a number of foods that we eat that can harm dogs. Including grapes and lunch meat with nitrates. I'd stick to pet food for the most part.

thanks for the info. I had no idea.

Seems like the avocado pits are the problem and not avocados but I'm just going off the top of my head and that may not be right.

What about strawberries? Are those okay. My chihuahua has eaten a bit of one before and just loved it but then I wondered if that was okay or not and he hasn't had one since.

What about dairy products? My grandparents used to give their dog a scoop of ice cream as a special treat in summer from time to time. I've since seen doggie ice cream - that doesn't have dairy - at the grocery and figured that meant regular ice cream was probably off limits.

I'm so sorry your furry friens are so sick. Thank goodness you figured out what they had done before it was too late. I hope they all make quick recoveries and sorry about your wallet!

Dairy is ok in small doses but some dogs have an issue with it. Yogurt is the easiest to digest (doggie ice cream is usually frozen yogurt). Mine get a teaspoon of non-fat plain yogurt with their meals for the pro-biotic qualities.

Here's a fairly comprehensive list of foods that are toxic for dogs.

The main ones that require induced vomiting are:
chocolate
macadamia nuts
Xylitol foods
Onions/garlic/onion family foods
wild mushrooms
avocado in large amounts
Peach pits

HOW TO INDUCE VOMITING:

Give one tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide (use a syringe or dropper) and wait 10 minutes. if the dog doesn't barf, give another tablespoon. It should be effective within a very short time.

Ralphie's dad's dog ate like two pounds of See's chocolate and was fine. Not sure why, tho... But yeah chocolate = bad.

The darker the chocolate the worse it is for dogs. See's usually has a lot of other ingredients in the mix. Gus (the pug who pugged me) ate about 15 chocolate covered pistachio nuts and had a pretty bad toxic reaction.

especially not with a Peroxide chaser... *Yuk*

Pongo will, indeed, be fine. His sugar levels today were normal. He has to have his liver rechecked in a couple of weeks but the vet doesn't foresee any long term damage.

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes.

One other thing that I would add to NA's list is apples. Specifically the seeds. They contain cyanide and can be deadly, especially in small dogs.

I forgot about apple seeds. Apples are actually a great treat but the seeds are a no no. I think many seeds contain cyanide (I believe this is the problem with peach pits as well (along with the fact that they don't break down and can cause intestinal blockage.

I know I sure wouldn't want to pass a peach pit... ouch! :eek:

Who would have thought giving a dog chewing gum would be hazardous to their health? Next you'll be telling me to decrease their intake of cake.

That's also why you should core an apple before juicing it.

Cool, I've always wanted to know how to make a dog yammy! (seriously though, it could come in handy to save it's life)

A friend made me laugh while eating a peach once and I passed the pit through my nose. It wan't too bad.....

Oh I remember that!! LOL I think my coat still has a little bit of charcoal on it from his trip to the vet.

I usually just stick to the regular doggy food with Buck -- it seems like every time I give him a treat too far off the beaten track, there's some funny business out the other end :p

Ahh, yes. What a fun day that was!

As for funny business out the other end......(I know all of the tricks!).....Pumpkin is the answer.

It is actually good to change your dog's food. There is less of a chance the dog will develop allergies to a grain (which sould be avoided anyways) or protein source if you feed a variety of foods. It also gives them the opportunity to get nutrients provided by different proteins. However, some dogs have more sensitive stomachs than others and new foods can cause funny business. Pumpkin helps with digestion and it also firms up their poop. The other great benefit is that they will express their anal glands naturally having pumpkin in their diet - and that makes for a happier owner. I give a teaspoon of canned pumpkin at each meal. That seems to be sufficient and I DO notice a difference when I run out.

I could go on and on about dog food and nutrition (and, to a certain degree, about cat nutrition as well). It has become one of my favorite subjects lately.

I'm going to try the pumkin. I bet they'll like it.