Last Friday evening, A friend of ours arrived home from work, and fed Chloe, her Dachshund, just as I normally do. Ten minutes later they walked into the den just in time to see her head inside the pocket of their friends Katie’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. She remembered that she had recently read that sugar-free gum can be deadly for dogs, so, she jumped on line and looked to see if xylitol was the ingredient.
She found the first website below and it was the one. Next, she called our vet. She said to bring her in immediately. Unfortunately, it was still rush hour and it took them almost 1/2 hour to get there. Meanwhile, since this was her first case, their 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), and 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 them to take Chloe to another hospital that has a critical care unit operating around the clock. They picked her up and took her there. They had them 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 their regular vet had feared.
Chloe spent almost the entire weekend in the critical care hospital. After her blood sugar was stabilized, she came home yesterday. They ran all the tests again before they released her and so far, no sign of liver damage. Had they not seen her head in the purse, she probably would have died and we wouldn't even had known why.
Three vets told her this weekend that they were amazed that she 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.