Paws off Xylitol!
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Welcome to the Wag Out Loud pawdcast where we are obsessed with bringing you helpful tips on canine health care, nutrition and overall wellbeing. If you'd like to support the show, check out the amazing online events, products and resources that I personally recommend on the Wag Out Loud website. I'm your host, Krista and I'm super excited to be bringing you yet another tail wagging episode.
Hello dog lovers! Thank you so much for tuning in to another informative episode of The Wag Out Loud pawdcast. And today we have my friend and fan of the show Stephanie Cassidy and she's going to cover Paws Off Xylitol! and her experience with this very toxic ingredient. Stephanie, you are I guess next to me the second best dog mom that I know. Please introduce yourself. And tell us about your dogs.
Yeah. Hi, Krista. Yeah, I, unfortunately have become quite familiar with Xylitol. I have a 6 yr old soft coated wheaten terrier named Archer. And I have a three year old Tibetan terrier named Harley Quinn. And we have had Xylitol experiences with both of them.
That's why I've asked Stephanie to share her experience because so many of us have heard of it maybe but don't know all of the products that it is hiding in and the reaction that it does cause in dogs. So let's start with well what do Dentine, Mentos, Trident and Juicy Fruit, a kid's favorite Airheads and Hershey's Icebreakers all have in common? They contain xylitol and xylitol is now the number two cause of all dog poisonings and that’s after chocolate. Yeah, so this ingredient is safe for human consumption but deadly for dogs and it's getting deadlier because the use of xylitol has increased dramatically just in the last five years. And the number of xylitol pet poisonings has more than doubled in that time. So Stephanie, unfortunately, you've had bad experiences with xylitol and your dog. So why don't you share your story?
Okay, well, you know, I noted that my wheaten terrier six years old, so I had never heard of xylitol poisoning before I got him, but became aware of it and realized, you know, that it was in gum and kind of did a cleansing of my house and kind of warned my children that you know, we're not going to bring this in our house. It's too easy to have accidents. Right. So, you know, my first experience was, after getting rid of all the gum, I thought, my wheaten terrier who is not mischievous or nosey, he found a pack of gum in a work bag that I no longer used in the zippered pouch. And comes running through the house with a pack of I think it was like a tropical fruit Trident gum. And my stomach just dropped. I was like, Oh, no, oh, no, you know, and I'm like, I grabbed him like, maybe it was empty. I had no idea how many pieces were in it, which is really important to know, because I hadn't even I didn't even know it was in there. smelled his breath. Like Yep, he’s definitely eaten gum. So you know, at that point, I dropped everything. Put him in the car on the way to the vet. I called and said we're coming in. This is what happened got there, we immediately had him take medication to start vomiting. And then proceeded that. And the vet proceeded to poke through it to see how many pieces of gum he actually got. And there were quite a few. And I thought, Okay, good, we got it all up and out good, right, because I think there's a really short period of time that you need to get xylitol out of their system. It's like 15 to 30 minutes. And luckily, the vet was still open, it was around closing, but they took us in and we got it up and out I think within 30 minutes, that point, she tells me that it's still very serious. It's in his bloodstream, and that he needs to be monitored overnight. And so we then ended up taking him to UC Davis, a big veterinarian hospital that I happen to live about 25 minutes from, and they kept him there overnight on an IV. And luckily, we had a good outcome and a good scare. But, you know, after that I was even more careful. You know, asking people that come into your home and even sound kind of crazy. Like, do you have any gun? Do you have any mints you know, do you have anything sugar free, you start sounding like the crazy lady. But after you've been through it, you just really you know, it's nerve racking. But, you know, three years later, here I am with another dog. And I have terrible, but I have a friend’s kiddo spend the night comes over, no backpack, nothing, it was just totally last minute. And apparently, he had sugar free gum in his pocket. And he had thrown it on the floor in my son's room. And my little Tibetan terrier, who is nosy and into everything, found it brought it to me was completely empty. My heart sank. I'm like, how could this be happening again, you know, and at that point, just questioned the child. Of course, they don't know how much is in there. So I'm just like, scrambling, I did induce vomiting at home, they don't necessarily recommend that. But at that time, it was a weekend, and the vet near me was closed. And we had a little bit of a trek to get to the emergency vet. And so I made that call. And I was able to get her to, you know, throw up the gum. And anyway, got her to the vet in time. And she had to stay not overnight, but for about 14 hours. And then, they give them an IV. At that point. I'm just paranoid about xylitol, you know, the things that it comes in, and then, this is terrible. But the third time it happened again, a family member was here they came over, I asked the Mom, do you guys have any gum or sugar free mints? You know, explain what it is. And a lot of people have no idea that it's poisonous to dogs. So we talked about it, and she goes, No, we don't even chew gum or anything. The next morning, my Tibetan Terrier’s chewing on something, I think it's a bone, I go over there, and I'm just sick when I see it's one of those large containers of gum that sits in like your cup holder in the car. And it's completely empty. And I'm just like, Okay, I'm asking the questions, I’m explaining why, you know, same thing again, it was on a weekend. And I literally like, you know, I, I made my dog vomit. I gave her a hydrogen peroxide. I had to look it up online and you how much to give her per, you know, for her weight, you know, they say not to do that. But yet I you know, again, I had to rush her to the vet that’s 30 minutes away. So she threw up all the way to the vet in my car. And they wanted to know how much gum she had eaten.
And I said, hang on, take her in and they have taken her back. And I was able to count like 16 pieces, it was a totally lethal amount. And I was just so upset because I thought I'm I know about this, I tell people about this. I asked like who’s in my house, I asked them to put their you know, their bags and their belongings up in my laundry room on the counter. Shut the door. I'm real careful. So those are my experiences. And it's just, I know so many people that are just so unaware that are dog owners that don't know about this. And so it's just, it's just something that I try to share. You know, I'm always posting on social media, like, you know, Hey, did you know about Xylitol and trying to make people aware because even though I am aware, and I'm very careful, I've been through this three times. And it's just shocking. And I'm so lucky that I caught it when I did and that I wasn't like, gone or something when when my dog got it. I mean, I'm so lucky. So, yeah, I just I kind of have made that my little personal mission as a dog lover to let people know that you know, this stuff is just everywhere.
Well, you've brought up a good point. I mean, I'm so glad that both dogs lived through it because many don’t and just to bring our listeners in the loop. xylitol is a sugar substitute. So it's a class of sweetener that's known as sugar alcohol. And that's why dogs love it because it smells good. And it tastes good. So besides the sugar free gum, which is the number one source of xylitol poisoning in gum, where else can it be found?
You'd be surprised, but you know, it's even in like toothpaste. And some of our, you know, mouth washes and things like that, that you would do and you would think that it wouldn’t be in there. It's in anything that says sugar free, is potentially full of xylitol. So jello products, pudding, peanut butter, just all the things you have around the house.
Now go back a minute peanut butter, all those people that fill their Kong toys with peanut butter. Stephanie, say it again?
I know, right? Well, the key word is sugar free. So you think, well peanut butter doesn't have sugar in it. But it does have sugar in it. And so if people are, you know, are real strict about that. And they're buying sugar free peanut butter, they need to check the ingredients. And don't ever give that to dogs because it probably has xylitol in it. And I was shocked to hear that because I thought the same thing. I mean, how many people give their dogs peanut butter as a treat or in like in a Kong or when they're puppies, you know, trying to give pills, all sorts of things. And I thought, Oh my gosh, like why do they even make this stuff?
And marijuana edibles also are known to have xylitol. So, Stephanie, I'm going to pause you here for a second. we're going to get more into xylitol and what it actually is doing to the dog's body. After we come back from this sponsor break.
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Welcome back, everybody. We are here with Stephanie Cassidy and she is talking about xylitol toxicity and how it can be lethal to dogs. And unfortunately, Stephanie has been through this nightmare three times with her two dogs. I have to question the friend that had the big cup of gum. What did they say? Since you did ask them? Do you have anything?
Well, it was a family member. My niece had the gum in her backpack on the floor from a birthday party that she had gone to several weeks earlier. Okay. So, you know, it wasn't something that they make a habit of, you know, chewing gum, or even eating mints. And so when I asked her she's like, Oh, no, we don't have any of that. And, I mean, I was mortified. They were mortified. Because they I had directly asked them, you know, so you just can't be too careful. I've learned that the hard way.
Yes, you have. Steph what actually causes this reaction and why is it so different just in dogs?
Yeah, I guess dogs can't process the xylitol, like people do and it causes like a hypoglycemic low blood sugar reaction that can cause seizures and the big thing is that it causes liver failure. And when that happens, you know the dog Usually, it's usually fatal. They don't make it so you know, symptoms can can come on slowly too because the xylitol does process in the liver. once it's once it's been processed, it's really hard to care for the dog who's ingested the xylitol. That's why it's so urgent to get them medical attention like as fast as you can.
Yeah. Well, and it's so quickly absorbed in the bloodstream, that they say that symptoms of poisoning can be seen in as little as 30 minutes after they ingest. So it is quick.
Yeah, and if you think about gum, you know, that little coating on the outside, that's real sugary. it’s all xylitol. So as soon as it. is ingested, it goes to work.
From the research that I did many reasons. While why it's so dangerous, as I just mentioned, that it's so quickly absorbed in the bloodstream. And as you mentioned, it stimulates this insulin release, which causes a drop in blood sugar. And as you mentioned, hyperglycemia. There's also they say, hypokalemia, which is a deficiency of potassium, and also low phosphate levels, that causes even further distress, the liver damage that you already pointed out. And from that the elevated liver enzymes can then be evident, you know, 12 to 24 hours after your dog consumes xylitol, so it's just a downward spiral in their body,
That’s why they watch them overnight, you know, because like you said, their blood sugar's can drop at any time. And, and you know, what they told me was, if you’re home and your dog, blood sugars drop, and they start seizing, you'll never get here in time, there's nothing they can do. So as soon as they say that you're like, alrighty, keep them overnight.
Other symptoms they that you might not see, but also can be life threatening, include gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and prolonged blood clotting time. So the higher the amount of xylitol that your dog consumes by body weight, of course, the more toxicity will occur. And that's why I'm sure your vets wanted to know how much your dogs ingested during each episode. Oh, well, I have a list here. I just want to share some common symptoms, because as Stephanie said, she luckily was there during each occurrence. But what if you're not there, and you come home to a dog? That obviously isn't right, Stephanie, you want to share some of the symptoms that we can tell obviously, it's poisoning?
I think I'm trying to remember that. I think it's because we never got to that point. But I think it's lethargy, it can be vomiting, you know, it can be seizures. Those are some of the main ones.
I can add to that. They look like they're walking around drunk. They have a racing heart rate, jaundiced gums, and that's bad, because that's already affecting the liver, obviously. Black tarry stool, diarrhea, bruising, and then of course, death that then it's way too late. So it sounds like they went through a lot when they were in the care of a veterinarian, you know, all of the tests and inducing vomiting, which was good that you started that because I'm sure that they did again, when they were there. It sounds like a nightmare.
Oh, it was I just I felt like, How can I be going through this? Again, I'm aware I take precaution. I asked the questions. And here I am. I was just you know, you're just like, how could this? How could this happen again? And then I think about how many people are unaware. And you know, even people I know now that have dogs, they chew gum and they keep it in their purse. They come over my house and I just told them you need to leave it in your car. Don’t even bring it in.
Absolutely. You know. Well, this is a question I have to ask you. What were your vet bills after each of those incidents?
Oh, if I can remember. The first one was probably about $1500. The second one was less because it happened early in the morning. And they I know they didn't keep her overnight. They kept her all day and I picked her up at like 8:30 at night. So that one was was considerably less but the third time when she got that big, all the gum from the container that held so many. It was a two day process like literally took her to the emergency vet. she was there overnight. The next morning, I had to go get her and they said you know We don't think she's ready to go home. So then I had to take her to my regular vet. And she had to stay there all day long. So that one really added up. That was probably about $2,000. Right? Yeah. So it's, you know, it adds up quickly.
Well, just so everybody knows, again, we're gonna give you a list of things that contain xylitol, and besides the candy and the gum and the mints, there's chocolate bars, there's baked goods, cough syrup. Those children's chewable vitamins. Yeah. And then you mentioned toothpaste and mouthwash. Yeah. Some of our over the counter medicines, again, the peanut and nut butters, dietary supplements, you know, you've seen that skinny ice cream. Well, that's xylitol. So you know, cakes, muffins pies. It's everywhere. nasal spray. That's another one.
Yeah, it's crazy. I've learned there's a few key terms that you want to watch for number one being sugar free. But another one is when it says diabetic friendly, or calorie free. no sugar added. Those are keywords that like draw me in immediately. I like to turn around and look at the full ingredient list. If it says xylitol I don't even buy it. I don't normally buy sugar free stuff anyway, but now I'm just like, I'm a Nazi at my house and like, no,
I get it. Okay. Well, I know there's some sound alikes. And it's just xylitol that is poisonous to dogs. So sorbitol, maltitol, you know other sugar free products like stevia, saccharin, aspartame, those are not poisonous to dogs.
You can get sugar free gum, with those artificial sweeteners in it has been the gum chewer and I begged him to switch because for a while he was still chewing gum with xylitol It was just, I was so stressed out. And he finally he made the switch.
Is there anything that you would like to leave us with? And I want to thank you for being on this mission. Unfortunately, you went through it, but you are an expert now and we need to make others aware of this.
Yeah, a few things that I've done. And you can call me the crazy dog lady now because I think my husband does, but I made signs and laminated them. And I put one at my front door and one at my back door that just basically it's telling people, please don't bring sugar free gum or mints in to our house. And I said, you know, it can kill us. It's poisonous. And then it said, you know, thank you, Archer and Harley. So I made these little signs and I you know, I have them, I made one for my mom, she has a dog I have the pet poison helpline. phone number on speed dial in my phone, I keep that there. And then anybody who comes over with a purse or, or a pool bag or anything like that, it has to go up in the laundry room on top of the counter, up high. And luckily, my dogs aren't too big, and the door shut. So that's kind of the precautions that I've taken, you know, and hopefully, hopefully that helps. Because every once in a while you realize I didn't ask them when they came over if they have that stuff now my friends all know, right? Because they've been through this journey with me. But you just Yeah. You know, all sorts of people come in our house and put their purse on the floor.
Well, thank you to you. And to Harley and Archer for being such amazing teachers, you know, we need to learn this stuff. For sure. Just reminder to everybody Stephanie has become an expert on xylitol only due to the fact that she lived through some scary times with her dogs. But if you are a fan of the show, and you've gone through an experience and you have something to share with other dog parents, we want to know we would love to have you on. so just message me at krista@wagoutloud.com or you can just go to the Wag Out Loud website and send me a message through the Bark About It button. We would love to hear from you, Stephanie, thank you for sharing this journey. And if we've just changed one person's mind, we've done a good job.
Exactly. And that's kind of what I'm here to do. Now. Just let those people around you know that it is so dangerous.
Thank you for sharing your story. We appreciate you.
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Hey Winston was that another tail wagging episode?
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