A Few Words of Wisdom
From Dr. Feinberg Regarding
Xylitol;
As a veterinarian, I
frequently get asked if it is a problem to feed dogs table scraps.
I have always answered the question that as long as the foods were
bland, not in large quantities and were not what the people refused
to eat for their own health concerns (e.g. fat trimmed from cooked
meat), then generally it was fine to do it occasionally making sure
that the dog did not consider it as a reward for the act of begging
at the dinner table! However, recent findings on the
effects of the natural sweetener, xylitol, have made me more
cautious about my statement.
Xylitol is a natural
sweetener popular in Europe and Japan and more recently, in the
United States. It is present in many products including sugar-free
gum, mints, chewable vitamins, toothpastes and mouthwashes. Since
it can also be purchased in granulated form much like sugar, it is
also used in baked goods and as a sweetener to add onto cereals and
sprinkled into beverages.
While xylitol consumption is considered
safe in people, dogs can develop serious, even life-threatening
signs. Xylitol in low doses can cause vomiting and profound
hypoglycemia which can lead to weakness, collapse and seizure. A
recent study of eight dogs by the ASPCA Animal Poison Control
Center showed that higher doses can cause liver cell death, liver
failure and internal bleeding. Some examples of what the dogs
consumed were 5-6 cookies or 8 muffins or 12 cupcakes or 30 pieces
of gum all which contained xylitol as an ingredient.
Other natural
sweeteners (e.g. sorbitol and mannitol) are considered safe
although over-ingestion can result in diarrhea. Artificial
sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame and sucralose) are also generally
regarded as safe if ingested by dogs.
So, how much xylitol can cause a problem? Based upon current
information with gum where xylitol is listed as the first
ingredient, as little as 1/2 piece of gum per 10 pounds of body
weight may cause low dose toxicity and at least 2 and 1/2 pieces
per 10 pounds for high dose toxicity.
For powdered xylitol for
home-baked goods, it only takes 1/10th of a teaspoonful per 10
pounds body weight to cause low dose signs and at least 1/2 of a
teaspoonful per 10 pounds to cause high dose signs. Since some dogs
are known to eat entire plates of cookies or whole packages of
muffins, I think we all need to be careful when bringing xylitol
containing products into our homes when we have dogs with known
high risk eating behaviors.
As far as feeding our
dogs table food, all I can say is always be careful as what we used
to think was "just fine" today, may be harmful tomorrow!
