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Friday, February 15, 2008

Oh, one more thing I learnt this week

Came across this in an e-mail and verified it through Snopes' Urban Legends Reference Pages that it's true.

Popular sweetner is toxic for dogs

Within 30 minutes of consuming a small amount of a xylitol-sweetened product, the ASPCA says, dogs can experience a dramatic drop in blood sugar, and they usually begin vomiting, become lethargic and can have difficulty standing or walking. Some have seizures, develop internal hemorrhaging and lesions and suffer liver failure. As few as two or three sticks of xylitol gum could be toxic to a 20-pound dog, the ASPCA says.


Keep in mind liver failure can easily equal death, and there have been several deaths reported. The amount that could be deadly varies according to the amount of product (often undetermined in terms of how much xylitol is in a portion) and the weight of the dog. A package of gum could easily be fatal to a 65 lb dog, from what I've read. A couple of sticks might be fatal to a small one. There are supportive things a vet can do to help prevent death, but it may not be readily apparent that the dog has consumed xylitol and the delay in treatment could be costly.

So please--do not keep xylitol-sweetned products around your dog, do not feed him muffins baked with xylitol, etc.

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