It’s found in everything from cupcakes to toothpastes to nicotine gum. And it’s considered the most canine-toxic “human food” on the planet.
No…It’s not chocolate..It is xylitol, a sugar substitute that is used in many products that we use everyday
According to the ASPCA’s Poison Control Center, more dogs than ever are being poisoned by products containing xylitol. That’s partly because xylitol use is more widespread than ever and also because of low awareness of its harmfulness among pet owners.
So just how dangerous is xylitol? A few sugar-free Tic Tacs, a pack of Trident gum, a spilled tin of Starbucks mints, a sugar-free Jell-O dessert cup. All it takes is just a tiny amount of this toxin to send a dog into hypoglycemia-induced seizures and sometimes fatal liver failure. All dogs are susceptible, some more than others. It has been calculated that as little as a gram of sweetener can kill a 10-pound dog.
More alarming however, is that xylitol is being added to many pediatric medicines that our veterinarians use to treat our dogs with. And it is only just recently that veterinarians have become aware of this new change.