News

Nov 15, 2023

Four words saved our dog from the dangers of xylitol

Most people know you can't give a dog chocolates. That's numero-uno on the list

Most people know you can't give a dog chocolates. That's numero-uno on the list of no-nos when it comes to slipping your dog treats that are a nice break from the usual chow you pour into their bowl.

Here's another item to keep away from your pup: gum.

Maybe you knew that already. This column's for those of you out there who did not. We had an incident at our home a few weeks ago in which four simple words ended up saving our dog's life.

Our foxy schnauzer, Pepper, loves to eat. She has a completely indiscriminate palate. I know this because many times I've tugged her leash to deter her from approaching and licking or nibbling all matters of unseemly items on the road, including the "business" of other dogs, when I take her for a walk. The other day, Pepper jumped up on my chair and started making fretful and restless noises. I took this as a sign that she needed to go out and either water or fertilize our lawn. I got out of my seat and retrieved her leash from its hook in our dining room. When I returned, she was eating my lunch. She no longer seemed to need to go outside. She had played me like a pro.

Last month, my wife, Valerie, walked into our living room and found empty gum wrappers on our couch. Pepper had burrowed her way into a book bag that we had placed on the floor next to our dining room table and had snagged a pack of gum at the bottom if it. Valerie collected the wrappers, crumpled them and threw them away. She was going to leave it at that. It's a good thing she didn't.

Since it's always better to be safe than sorry, Valerie logged online and Googled four little words: My dog ate gum. She didn't like what she saw.

She found dire warnings about not letting dogs eat gum, specifically the minty or dietary kind that contains xylitol, a crystalline sugar alcohol that's used as an artificial sweetener. The substance is everywhere — in gum, yes, but also in assorted sugar-free candies, foods, baked products and even toothpaste. On product labels, it has other names: Eutrit; Kannit; Newtol; Xylite; Torch; and Xyliton. In humans, xylitol is absorbed slowly and has virtually no effect on blood sugar and insulin levels; indeed, it's a popular sugar substitute with diabetics and those who count carbs.

In dogs, though? It's a nightmare. Dogs quickly absorb xylitol into their bloodstream — within half an hour, to be exact. Xylitol then acts as a strong, dose-dependent promoter of insulin release — resulting in profound hypoglycemia, severe liver damage and, God forbid, death.

All of this is according to information provided to Valerie and me by the Maine Veterinary Medical Center on Route One in Scarborough. Needless to say, Val and I brought Pepper there right away after Valerie read the results of her Google search.

The veterinarians treated Pepper immediately and soon reported to us that preliminary test results showed our girl would be okay. They wanted Pepper to stay overnight, though, so that they could conduct follow-up tests and keep a close eye on her.

Leaving Pepper was difficult. I had a moment alone with her in the lobby before I left. I bent down, rubbed her ears and smoothed the curls on her head. I handed her leash to the doctor, who smiled sympathetically before walking away. Pepper kept halting and turning around and looking my way, preferring to go with me instead. It's hard not being able to explain things to animals.

It's amazing and poignant, how much absence has presence. For the next 24 hours, a silence occurred in our home that had just as much presence as Pepper herself when she's there. Admittedly, I had been growing annoyed and frustrated with Pepper in the days leading up to her overnight stay. The reason had been her constant barking. She's a terrier, so it's inevitable that she barks at everything that comes within, say, a 100-mile radius of our home; it doesn't matter if it's the dogs next door, a person on the street, a leaf rustling across our driveway or a microscopic particle floating in the air. If it's there, she's going to tell us about it. While Pepper was away, though, I missed her barking. When she returned, I quietly appreciated it, even as I picked her up, took her away from the open living-room windows and gave her a "time-out" in our air-conditioned bedroom.

My dog ate gum. Thank God Valerie thought to Google those four syllables. I'd like to think I would have done the same, but how can I be sure? How many times have we all caught our dogs eating something that was not chocolate and figured they'd be fine the moment we pried it from their teeth and resolved to keep everything out of their reach?

Pepper's doing well. She was fine that day, thanks to our quick decision to bring her to Scarborough and to the veterinarians' immediate care and attention. I thought I'd share this story with you, though, in the event that you too have a dog and might not have known about the potentially devastating effects of xylitol on canines. Given the substance's presence in seemingly innocuous, non-chocolate foods, it's a warning worth barking about.

Shawn P. Sullivan is the editor of the Sanford News. He can be reached at [email protected].