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by **pantheman** » Wed May 28, 2008 5:13 pm

I received this email from a friend this morning....

Warning to all dog owners, pass this on to everyone you can.

Last Friday evening, I arrived home from work, fed Chloe, our 24 Lb.
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 xylitol 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 everyone you know about xylitol and dogs. It may save another life.

by **Raymanoff** » Wed May 28, 2008 6:15 pm

my Lab ate Sugar Free gums probably 2,3 times... the bastard is resistant to anything. Alltho, those were already chewed

thank for the advise, now i know how to kill my dog...

by **webbo** » Wed May 28, 2008 9:58 pm

Thanks for that Pantheman; will certainly keep that in mind. Glad to hear that Chloe is doing ok.

What a scary weekend though

Bubbles x

by **webbo** » Wed May 28, 2008 9:59 pm

Raymanoff wrote:my Lab ate Sugar Free gums probably 2,3 times... the bastard is resistant to anything. Alltho, those were already chewed thank for the advise, now i know how to kill my dog...

Bad boy

You know you couldn't!

Bubbles x

by **kurupetos** » Wed May 28, 2008 10:03 pm

Raymanoff wrote:my Lab ate Sugar Free gums probably 2,3 times... the bastard is resistant to anything. Alltho, those were already chewed thank for the advise, now i know how to kill my dog...

I am ready with some suggestions if that doesn't work!