Is sugar-free gum (with xylitol) poisonous to dogs? | Dr. Justine Lee

Posted by justinelee in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health

If you own a dog, you should be very careful about the dangers of sugar-free containing products with xylitol. Xylitol, a “sugar alcohol,” is a sugar-free substance used as a sugar substitute. While it’s a natural product (it’s naturally found in certain fruit in small amounts), and is totally safe for humans, it is very poisonous to dogs. Xylitol has gained recent popularity because it is sugar-free, reducing caloric intake in humans.

Check out this great education video here Else-Vet here.

As an emergency critical care veterinary specialist, I treat xylitol poisoning almost on a weekly basis. So where is it found?

• Candy, gums and mints
• Diabetic snacks or other foods
• Diabetic foods
• Baked goods (e.g., muffins, cakes, etc.)
• Dental products such as mouthwashes and toothpastes
• Certain prescription human medications (e.g., gabapentin, a pain medication)
• Certain prescription veterinary dental products
• Chewable sugar-free multivitamins or prenatal vitamins
• Nasal sprays
• Over-the-counter medications (e.g., melatonin)

When xylitol is accidentally ingested by dogs, it results in a sudden insulin release from the pancreas, which causes a life-threateningly low blood sugar (e.g., hypoglycemia). With large ingestions of xylitol, acute hepatic necrosis (e.g., severe liver failure) can be seen in dogs.

Some signs of xylitol poisoning include:

• Walking drunk
• Lethargy
• Not being able to get up or appearing very weak
• Vomiting
• A racing heart rate
• Panting
• Trembling or tremoring
• Seizures

In severe cases or with very toxic ingestions that can result in liver failure, the following signs can be seen:

• Elevated liver enzymes (based on blood work)
• Jaundiced gums
• Black-tarry stool
• Diarrhea
• Abnormal clotting (e.g., bruising)
• Abnormal mentation
• Death

If you think your dog was accidentally poisoned by a sugar-free product, first, read the ingredients to see if the product contained xylitol. The general rule is that if xylitol is listed in the first 3-5 ingredients listed (typically in order of the amount that they appear in the food or product), it is going to be poisonous!*

*If your dog does get into something sugar-free, always check the ingredient list. Note that other sound-a-likes like sorbitol, maltitol, and erythritol are not poisonous to dogs. Likewise, other sugar-free products such as stevia, saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, etc. are also not poisonous to dogs. If your dog gets into one of these other sound-a-likes, it’s not poisonous. No need to worry, as long as you’re positive there’s no xylitol!

With xylitol poisoning, it is imperative to calculate whether a toxic dose has been ingested. In dogs, doses > 0.1 g/kg are considered toxic and result in profound, sudden. Higher doses (> 0.5 g/kg) of xylitol have been associated with acute hepatic necrosis. Unfortunately, not all sources are disclosed by the peanut butter companies (e.g., how many grams of xylitol may be in each serving of peanut butter) due to a proprietary nature, so sometimes it’s hard to calculate a toxic dose.

If your dog did ingest a poisonous dose of xylitol, treatment includes:

• Checking a stat blood sugar level at your veterinarian. If it’s normal and recent ingestion (within a few hours), your veterinarian may induce vomiting.

• If your dog is hypoglycemia, a stat bolus of intravenous (IV) dextrose (e.g., sugar) is a must, followed by hospitalization. Treatment will include IV fluids with sugar supplementation (e.g., dextrose) for a minimum of 12-18 hours. If your dog is able to maintain his blood sugar as the dextrose supplementation is weaned down over time, then your dog can go home!

• If your veterinarian induced vomiting in your dog, make sure they skip the charcoal – no need for your veterinarian to give activated charcoal (e.g., a black liquid product that binds up some poisons). Charcoal does not reliably bind to xylitol, so it’s not necessary with xylitol poisoning.

• If a toxic dose was ingested and not vomited back up, your veterinarian will recommend hospitalizing your dog for IV fluids, dextrose supplementation, and symptomatic supportive care.

• Careful monitoring of blood work (including the liver enzymes, electrolytes and blood sugar) is imperative.

• If your dog ingested a dose approaching the liver-toxic amount of xylitol, the use of liver protectants (e.g., SAMe, milk thistle, n-acetylcysteine) is warranted. Most dogs are sent home on liver protectants for several weeks, while rechecking liver enzymes frequently at your veterinarian, to be on the safe side.

When in doubt, if you think your dog got into xylitol, contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 right away for life-saving care. They can help calculate and determine whether or not the amount of xylitol ingested was poisonous or not. When in doubt, always keep these products or foods out of reach of your pets.

Content from this blog as previously been modified and published with www.pethealthnetwork.com