I had this sent to me from a friend in the USA, another doggy friend over there that is a computer guru checked that it is kosher and it is.  She found other articles on it too!  I had never heard of this, and it is certainly worth taking note of!  I am not sure if Xylitol goes by another name here in the UK, if anyone knows, by all means please let the rest of us know!

 

WARNING!: To all dog owners~

 

WARNING!
To all dog owners pass this on to everyone you can.
 
Last Friday evening, I arrived home from work, fed Chloe, our 24# 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  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

 

everyoneyou know about xylitol and dogs. It may save another life.

If you have any info or story you think we should pass on please email us