Chewing Gum Poisoning in Dogs

By Dr Rob Miller (Veterinarian)

As humans we often forget that just because something is fine for us it does not necessarily make it so for our pets.

Unfortunately we often discover the truth of this the hard way, when its too late.

So, did you know that chewing gum can and does kill dogs every year! However it is only chewing gum that is artificially sweetened with xylitol that does this. One stick of such chewie contains about 1 gm of Xylitol. This is enough to kill a 10 kg dog. As you can see its quite toxic indeed.

So what Happens?

The blood sugar levels fall dramatically producing a hypoglycaemia. The dog becomes weak and uncoordinated, it may then go into a coma death can follow. Intravenous glucose must be given, and this must be done at the vet as the hypoglycaemia can continue for some days. Subsequent to the immediate effects the dog can then develop serious hepatic (liver) necrosis and go into irreversible liver failure. I guess we can compare this phase to that seen in humans suffering paracetamol over dosing.

Prevention better than cure!

A pretty serious toxicity. Because the toxic dose is so low I would recommend anyone with dogs not to keep such chewing gum products in their house! It’s sweet and something dogs would gobble up if given half a chance.

What should you do if this occurs?

If you have a dog that has ingested xylitol sweetened chewing gum then it makes sense to immediately get the dog to vomit. The most effective way to do this is with apomorphine at your vet. However something you can do at home is make up a saturated salt solution (ie dissolving as much salt as possible in warm water) and pour it down the dog’s throat if at all possible. If you have access to Ipecac syrup this is easier to dose.

In any case supportive therapy and blood glucose monitoring is essential at your local vet.

Aquadent contains xylitol! Should I be worried?

Aquadent is a dental product by Virbac. It contains chlorhexidine and xylitol. It is used as an additive to a dog’s drinking water to reduce plaque formation hence tooth and gum disease. A sort of mouth wash for dogs.
A large bottle of Aquadent if drank at full concentration by a 2.5kg Chihuahua could cause toxicity, but as you might expect this would be extremely unlikely. The manufacturers assure us that at the recommended dose it is quite safe.
Play safe if you have dogs, do not keep artificially sweetened chewing gum about the house!
 

Copyright © 2005-8

 Seaforth Veterinary Hospital
Last modified: November 09, 2008