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

[bewitched]

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.)