Many people these days are concerned about losing weight, and with this concern, comes an
increase in the number of products containing sugar substitutes.
While this can be very good for people's health, there is one sugar substitute which is very
dangerous to your dog. In fact, the number of dogs affected by xylitol poisoning in the United
States of America is increasing every year, from around 200 cases in 2005 to approximately
2000 cases in 2007. It was expected that 4000 dogs would be poisoned by
xylitol in 2008!
This is likely to climb further, as the number of sugar free products on the market increases.
Xylitol is a white powder that's used in place of sugar in gums, candies and other foods. It can
be very useful for people with diabetes, or on low carbohydrate diets.
In people, xylitol is slowly absorbed into the bloodstream, so doesn't have any effect on
blood sugar levels. However, in dogs, it's absorbed very rapidly, and quickly causes the release of the hormone insulin. You may have heard of insulin - it's involved in moving sugar
into the cells of the body, so the cells have an energy source, and keeping the blood sugar
levels constant.
When a dog eats a product containing xylitol, his blood sugar level plummets very quickly. It doesn't take much xylitol to have an effect on a dog's blood sugar - if he eats about 100mg xylitol per kg bodyweight, he can be affected.
Most sugar free chewing gums contain 1-2 grams of xylitol per piece. One or two pieces of
gum can cause poisoning in a 10kg dog.
Affected dogs will appear lethargic,vomit, stagger, and may collapse with seizures. If that's
not bad enough, dogs may also develop liver damage and bleeding up to 12 hours after
eating xylitol, without showing any signs of low blood sugar.
While dogs who develop low blood sugar often recover with treatment, it can take several
days in hospital before their blood sugar levels stabilize. The outcome isn't as good for
dogs who develop liver failure or bleeding disorders, and many of these dogs die.
To prevent your dog becoming affected by xylitol poisoning, it's important to never feed
him sugar free treats. If he does manage to sneak one, contact your vet immediately; because xylitol is absorbed so quickly and the toxic dose is so low, your dog needs to be treated straight away to avoid becoming seriously ill.
There's no specific antidote to xylitol poisoning. Treatment involves intravenous fluids, checking blood glucose levels and supportive care. In this case, prevention is definitely
better than cure.
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