Xylitol is used as a sugar substitute and can be found in sugar-free gum, candy, foods, and is available in granulated form for baking.  It is now being included in toothpastes and other oral hygiene products due to its anti-cavity properties.  In humans, xylitol is absorbed slowly and has little to no effect on blood sugar or insulin levels.  But in dogs, xylitol is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream.  It then promotes insulin release, which causes hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), liver failure, bleeding and death.  

For those of you that know us, you know that Toby and Blake are our four-legged kids.  Toby is an 8 year old Black Lab and Blake is a 3 year old Chocolate Lab.  We’ve had Toby since he was 7 weeks old, and Blake since he was 5 weeks old.  They are Uncle and Nephew.  They go everywhere with us.  They have their own couch.  We celebrate every birthday with doggie cake and presents.  I make their own Frosty Paws (doggie icecream) and have baked home-made treats for them.  They couldn’t be more loved.  Well, last week we weren’t sure if we’d ever see them again.

I woke up Thursday morning to what would be a complete nightmare for the next few days.  I had left out an unopened pack of Trident gum Wednesday night for Van to take to work with him the next morning.  I left it on the table so he wouldn’t forget it and thought nothing of it.  When I came downstairs Thursday morning, I saw remnants of the outer package on the floor in front of the dogs’ couch and tiny parts of the wrapper on Blake’s side of the couch.  I then noticed it said ”contains Xylitol” and remembered seeing something on the news some time ago about Xylitol being bad for dogs.  So I called the vet.

They advised me that Xylitol is poisonous and instructed me to immediately bring in both dogs as their stomachs will need to be pumped.  I was in tears sitting in the waiting room.  I was so scared about what was about to happen.  They weighed the dogs and took them to the back, then put me in a room to talk to the vet.  As I was telling the story to the vet, I was crying hysterically.  The more she talked to me, the grimmer it got.  I explained that the gum had been eaten in the middle of the night while we were sleeping so I had no idea exactly what time it was consumed; nor could I verify which dog ate it or if they shared it.  Since I could not pinpoint a time, the vet said they would not pump their stomachs because it had already made it’s way into their bloodstream.  Xylitol gets absorbed in the bloodstream in as little as an hour. 

She gave me some information on Xylitol that she had printed out and basically told me they would just monitor the dogs for symptoms.  Within the first 24 hours, they watch for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).  Which can result in seizures.  Within 48 hours, they watch for liver failure.  Once that occurs, it just progressively gets worse until they die.  There is no treatment; nothing that can be done.  They can give them fluids to make them comfortable, but that is it.  Basically, the feeling I got was that Xylitol is a death sentence to dogs.  They would have been better off eating chocolate or anti freeze.  With chocolate, you can give them charcoal to stop the absorption.  With anti-freeze, they give them something similar to Everclear to stop the absorption.  But the absorption is so immediate with Xylitol, by the time we found out what had happened and got them to the vet, it was too late to do anything.

So I left both the boys there for a full blood panel and monitoring.  On the way home with nothing but their leashes, it really hit me.  What if I wouldn’t be picking them up?  What if I would never see them again?  I took the couch apart hoping I would find pieces of gum scattered around or under the recliner where they couldn’t get to it, but nothing was found.  I knew deep down I wouldn’t find it because when Blake wants something (especially food related) he won’t stop until he gets it.  So I had no doubt that he had eaten it.  All of it.  And I’m sure Toby was watching him in the corner, drueling, saying “Don’t do that, man”  “You shouldn’t be eating that!”.  So Van and I researched Xylitol on the internet and could not find a single ray of hope.  Everything we read was pretty final.  No happy endings.  Countless dogs have died because of this stuff.  The scariest part was the amount that was consumed.  2 pieces of gum containing Xylitol is enough to kill a 20 pound dog.  That would equate to 8 pieces of gum for our guys (Toby is 79 lbs., Blake is 85 lbs.).  Well, Blake ate the entire pack which consisted of 18 pieces of gum! 

The hardest part was sitting in this empty, quiet house without them.  The minutes were passing by ever so slowly.  The mail man came, the Fed Ex truck drove by, all without a peep.  Normally the dogs bark at them.  I filled up the dishwasher, without Blake there to help me “clean” the dishes as I put them in.  No one snuck upstairs behind me.  I tried to stay strong for Ashley because I didn’t want her to see me so upset, but it was hard.  Really hard.  I kept telling myself I would never complain about cleaning up their dog hair ever again, I would walk them more, play ball more.  I would do anything to just get my boys back.  I would gladly let Toby lick me all he wanted.  And not yell at Blake for acting like a maniac. 

The vet initally said there was nothing she could do.  She would just monitor them for symptoms and once something came up, all they could do was give them fluids to help keep them stable and comfortable.  So 1:00 p.m. came around and I called again to check on them.  I asked the vet why she couldn’t go ahead and give them fluids anyway, just incase.  I just couldn’t bear waiting around anymore for something to happen.  She said she couldn’t promise that it would help, but she would do that if it was what I wanted.  I told her yes.  At least it was something.  It just didn’t make sense to wait around doing nothing.  Waiting for them to die.  So they hooked up IVs to both of them and put them on fluids for the remainder of the day.  They checked their blood glucose 3 times that day. 

I picked them up Thursday evening and it was such a relief to see them again!   That night I stayed up with them downstairs.  I fed them every 2-3 hours to keep their blood sugars up.  They happily obliged!  I monitored both of them but kept a close eye on Blake because I was 99.9% sure he was the culprit.  I watched his breathing.  Made sure he wasn’t lethargic.  Looked at his eyes and gums for changes that could be a sign of liver failure.  I finally fell asleep around 3:30 a.m. in the reclincer.  And got up at 6:30 a.m. to feed them.  Then off to the vet we went again. 

Toby’s tests came back normal so they let me bring him home for the day.  But Blake had to stay again, hooked up to an IV for more fluids.  When I brought him home Friday night we again monitored him for liver failure (since we were past the point of hypoglycemia).  Took him back Saturday morning for a re-check, and everything came back fine.  In fact, in his initial blood work on Thursday, 2 counts were high and 1 count was low.  But on Saturday, everything fell within the normal range.  At this point, it was unlikely that anything could happen, although there was still a slim chance it could (mainly because Blake is a big dog, so it might take longer to affect him).  But as I am typing this on Monday, he’s doing just fine.  Laying on his couch.  Snoring.  That’s my boy!

I am ever so thankful that there is a happy ending to our story.  But it is really a shame that there are so many out there in which this wasn’t the case.  I am determined to educate people on Xylitol and make sure everyone knows its dangers and how lethal it is for our pets.  I am angered by the companies that do not put warning labels on their products.  As I said before, this isn’t like chocolate or any other poison that can be treated.  This stuff is deadly, almost immediately!  There are warning labels on household products, such as Do Not Consume, Keep Out of Reach of Children, etc.  For something to be this lethal, why isn’t there a warning about Xylitol for dogs?  I understand gum is not for dog consumption, but neither is bleach or any other household cleaner for humans.  Should there have been a warning on the pack of Trident gum about the effects of Xylitol on dogs, I would not have left it out on the table, much less even purchased it in the first place.  In many households, dogs are our children.  And it is not right for a product this deadly to be out there with no warnings at all.  We love our boys so so much and couldn’t imagine life without them.  This nightmare has really opened our eyes to how quickly things can turn around.  Not only will we be more careful with the boys, we will also be mindful of this with Ashley.  Just how quickly she could get a hold of something that could be just as deadly, too. 

Here are some pictures of the boys that were taken in August 2008 by a professional photographer.  Yes, we PAID someone to take pictures of our dogs.  Goes to show you, these aren’t just dogs to us…