Xylitol - dangerous for your pets

    Xylitol is a human artificial sweetener found in products like sugar-free gum, oral care products, mints, nicotine gum, chewable vitamins and baked goods.  The popularity of this sweetener in diet foods is rapidly increasing in this country.  It can be purchased in a granulated form for baking and is a sweetener for cereal and beverages.  While xylitol is safe in people, dogs can develop serious, even life threatening issues from its ingestion.  It can cause severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and acute liver necrosis (death).
    Xylitol exists naturally in many edible plants and fungi such as berries, lettuce and mushrooms.  It has only 2/3 calories of regular sugar, and is considered a good sugar substitute for diet foods.
    In dogs the product is rapidly and almost completely absorbed, with peak absorption in about 30 minutes.  It can be fatal in even small doses.  After xylitol ingestion, vomiting is usually the first sign, hypoglycemia may develop within 30-60 minutes.  In cases of dogs ingesting gum, absorption may be delayed for up to 12 hours.  The clinical signs may progress rapidly from lethargy to ataxia (muscle incoordination), collapse and seizure.  Liver failure can occur within 12 to 24 hours after ingestion.  In some cases signs of lethargy and vomiting develop 9 to 72 hours after exposure.  Xylitol also causes prolonged bleeding times, petechia (bruising) and gastrointestinal hemorrhages (bloody diarrhea).
    Other artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame and sucralose are generally regarded as safe in dogs and other than diarrhea should not cause illness if large amounts are ingested.  There have been no studies of affects of these sweeteners on cats or ferrets.
    Treatment for xylitol ingestion should be initiated immediately and prognosis is dependent on the amount of xylitol ingested and the degree of liver injury.  Most products do not list the amount of xylitol in it or on the label at all.  If it is one of the first 5 ingredients listed or if sugar alcohol is listed on the label, the potential amount of xylitol in the product is usually high.
    Last year the ASPCA poison control hot line received 8 calls for confirmed cases of xylitol ingestion.  Of these 8 cases, 5 dogs either died or had to be euthanized.  There were probably many more cases that were either unreported or not diagnosed due to lack of history.
    Please keep your pet safe and a watchful eye on all they eat.  If you have any questions or suspect that your pet has ingested xylitol, please call us immediately.
    Toxic amounts of xylitol for a 60lb. dog could be as little as:
        For hypoglycemia problems:
            9 pieces of gum or < 1 tsp of powder
        For liver problems:
            45 pieces of gum or < 1 tsp of powder