be careful of sugar free gum!

If you have a dog READ IT -- then forward to all you know who do have a dog
! Actually, I'm passing it on to ALL my contacts and hope they pass it on
to all of theirs whether they have a dog or not!

This is true:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp



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 t his 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 ed, 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.

--
John H.

John H. wrote:
be careful of sugar free gum!

If you have a dog READ IT -- then forward to all you know who do have a dog
! Actually, I'm passing it on to ALL my contacts and hope they pass it on
to all of theirs whether they have a dog or not!

This is true:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp

[ Big Snip ]

Our previous dog, a 110 lb German Shepard Dog, ate a 1 lb chocolate bar
and suffered no ill effects.

One of our current dogs, a 40 lb male beagle mutt, ate a 1 lb chocolate
bar and lay under the kitchen table for 24 hours not moving much.

Both of these idiot dogs ate or eat their own crap too.

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:46:12 -0400, John H.
wrote:

be careful of sugar free gum!

Also rasins, all varieties of grapes, onions (even worse than Xylitol)
in some breeds and white wine.

On Sep 17, 11:11*pm, wrote:
On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:46:12 -0400, John H.
wrote:

be careful of sugar free gum!

If you have a dog READ IT -- then forward to all you know who do have a dog
! *Actually, I'm passing it on to ALL my contacts and hope they pass it on
to all of theirs whether they have a dog or not! *

This is true:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp*

Since my dog started smoking he doesn't chew gum anymore.

LOL!

On Sep 18, 12:11*am, wrote:
On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:46:12 -0400, John H.
wrote:

be careful of sugar free gum!

If you have a dog READ IT -- then forward to all you know who do have a dog
! *Actually, I'm passing it on to ALL my contacts and hope they pass it on
to all of theirs whether they have a dog or not! *

This is true:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp*

Since my dog started smoking he doesn't chew gum anymore.

If your dog is smoking, it means he's on fire, put him out!

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:23:32 -0400, BAR wrote:

John H. wrote:
be careful of sugar free gum!

If you have a dog READ IT -- then forward to all you know who do have a dog
! Actually, I'm passing it on to ALL my contacts and hope they pass it on
to all of theirs whether they have a dog or not!

This is true:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp

[ Big Snip ]

Our previous dog, a 110 lb German Shepard Dog, ate a 1 lb chocolate bar
and suffered no ill effects.

One of our current dogs, a 40 lb male beagle mutt, ate a 1 lb chocolate
bar and lay under the kitchen table for 24 hours not moving much.

Both of these idiot dogs ate or eat their own crap too.



We, not knowing any better, used to throw grapes to our Lab. She'd catch
them and chomp. Reading further in the critters area of snopes, I found
that grapes can be bad news also.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp

And here's more than you ever wanted to know about dogs and chocolate:

http://tinyurl.com/4594ed

I can attest to the fact that a Lab will eat a three pound cheese ball
accidentally left in the basement rec area. I can further attest that
cleaning up after a dog which has developed an overnight case of cheese
ball diarrhea is no fun whatsoever.
--
John H.