If you're like many people, you might want to give your dog
some peanut butter as an occasional treat. Or you might want to use peanut
butter as a trick or reward to get your dog to take their medications? In many
cases this is perfectly fine (so long as it's not in excess — as too much can
cause pancreatitis and/or contribute to obesity).
However, with the introduction of a unique line of peanut
and other nut butters onto the market — Nuts ’N More — the answer to the question of whether or not
it’s safe to give, even a small quantity of, peanut butter to your dogs is no
longer a straightforward one. Why? Because of the sweetener that’s been used to
replace the sugar in this line of peanut and other nut butters. That sugar
substitute is called xylitol.
Is Xylitol Safe For Dogs?
Xylitol is a sweetener that's gaining in popularity because
of its dental beInefits for people as well as its suitability as a sugar
substitute for people with diabetes. Because of its ability to help prevent
cavities and tooth decay and its low glycemic index, xylitol is proving to have
some good dental and other health benefits for people. Unfortunately, while
xylitol appears to be perfectly safe for people, it is extremely dangerous for
dogs — even in small quantities.
Ingestion of as
little as 0.1 gram (g) of xylitol per kilogram (kg) of body weight (0.1 g/kg)
can cause a rapid and dangerous drop in a dog’s blood sugar (a condition called
“hypoglycemia”). Hypoglycemia can show as staggering, appearing disoriented,
collapse, weakness, and seizures.
Just slightly more than that, approx. 0.5 g/kg xylitol
ingestion, can lead to debilitating, and sadly often deadly, destruction of a
dog’s liver cells.
These quantities, or toxic doses, are based on the data
that the animal-specific poison control hotlines have collected from reported
cases. To highlight that these are reported cases is important, because not
every case of toxicity makes it to the vet, and not everyone that does go to
the vet is called into the animal poison control hotlines. So the actual toxic
doses could be even lower, and dogs with certain pre-existing medical
conditions (such as diabetes, hepatitis, and others) are likely to be even more
sensitive to the toxic effects of xylitol.
The gaining popularity of xylitol as an ingredient in a
growing number of products (incl. gums, mints, chewable vitamins, and many
others) highlights the importance of reading ingredient labels, as well as the
danger of assuming that what's safe for you, or even your kids, is also safe
for your pets.
Below are their current packaging label (from their
website) and their website FAQ on xylitol.
Product Description
In the meantime, please learn more about the danger xylitol
poses to dogs and the range of products xylitol is commonly found in. And since
awareness is truly crucial to helping people avoid xylitol toxicity in dogs,
please share what you’ve learned here with your dog-owning and dog-loving
friends and family.
If you think your dog has eaten xylitol. Please contact a pet poison control hotline away and they'll be able to guide you as to what to do next.
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