Dog owners warned over sugar-free items

[davidh]

Dog owners warned over sugar-free items

Sat Sep 30, 12:57 AM ET

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Keep those sugarless treats out of Fido's reach. Veterinarians warned on Friday that a commonly used sweetener might cause liver failure in dogs, and perhaps even kill them.
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"Their report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association appears to strengthen the suspected link between the sugar substitute xylitol, thought to make dogs sick, and possible liver failure.

"One dog who had to be euthanized had eaten four large, chocolate-frosted muffins containing about 1 pound (0.45 kg) of xylitol.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060930/us_nm/life_dogs_dc;_ylt=A86.I13QXSBFTikBEBEPLBIF;_ylu=X3 oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

"Xylitol, a naturally occurring product, is found in many sugar-free chewing gums, candies, baked goods and toothpastes."

MY CYNICAL COMMENT: It's natural, must be good for you, huh?

DH

[Judy G. Russell]

"One dog who had to be euthanized had eaten four large, chocolate-frosted muffins containing about 1 pound (0.45 kg) of xylitol."Makes you wonder just how big those four muffins were if they contained a POUND of the stuff...

[Lindsey]

Makes you wonder just how big those four muffins were if they contained a POUND of the stuff...
Ain't that the truth! From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol): "Xylitol, gram for gram, is roughly as sweet as sucrose, but contains 40% less food energy." So a pound of xylitol would be the sweetening equivalent of a pound of sugar. Three pounds of sugar for a dozen muffins??? I don't think so!!!

But there wouldn't have to have been that much xylitol in them to do a dog serious damage. Also from that Wikipedia article (my bolding):

Xylitol, like most sugar alcohols, can have a mild laxative effect at high doses. It has no known toxicity, though; people have consumed as much as 400 grams [not quite 1 pound - slb] daily for long periods with no apparent ill effects. For canines, however, xylitol can cause serious – possibly life-threatening – problems. Dogs ingesting large amounts of products sweetened with xylitol may have a sudden drop in blood sugar, resulting in loss of coordination, depression and seizures within 30 minutes of consumption. Even the small amount of xylitol found in two or three pieces of Trident gum[9] (http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_dyk#21) has been fatal for dogs in many cases.
--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

Yeah, the stuff is really really bad for dogs... but that much in four muffins????

[Lindsey]

Yeah, the stuff is really really bad for dogs... but that much in four muffins????
I'm like you: I don't buy it. I think the reporter got something badly wrong.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

I'm like you: I don't buy it. I think the reporter got something badly wrong.Either that or those were unbelievably big muffins!

[davidh]

Either that or those were unbelievably big muffins! If you convert to Buddhism, just make sure your karma does not recycle you back as a dog. They can't eat chocolate either.

DH

[Lindsey]

Either that or those were unbelievably big muffins!
Like about the size of a birthday cake!!

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

If you convert to Buddhism, just make sure your karma does not recycle you back as a dog. They can't eat chocolate either.<gasp!!!> That's my definition of hell, for sure!

[Judy G. Russell]

Like about the size of a birthday cake!!A very LARGE birthday cake. Each.

[Dodi Schultz]

I'm like you: I don't buy it. I think the reporter got something badly wrong.

--Lindsey

Reporters OFTEN get lots of somethings wrong, as any reader of the revered NYTimes can tell you. They reported last Thursday that Paris Hilton had been caught careening around at the wheel of a car and that she'd had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit of .8 percent. Oops. They were off by a multiple of ten; if her BAL had been .8, she'd be the LATE Paris Hilton. (CA's limit, like that of most states, is .08 percent.)

I sent them a note.

A correction appeared yesterday (Monday).

--DS

[Lindsey]

They reported last Thursday that Paris Hilton had been caught careening around at the wheel of a car and that she'd had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit of .8 percent.
Hah! Yeah, I had heard the same thing on MSNBC, and I thought "Huh? I must have heard that wrong." I guess not!

I remember once when a truck carrying liquid nitrogen was involved in an accident on I-95 somewhere within the city limits. One of the local television reporters was hyperventilating about the discharge of toxic nitrogen gas into the atmosphere...

--Lindsey

[davidh]

Hah! Yeah, I had heard the same thing on MSNBC, and I thought "Huh? I must have heard that wrong." I guess not!

I remember once when a truck carrying liquid nitrogen was involved in an accident on I-95 somewhere within the city limits. One of the local television reporters was hyperventilating about the discharge of toxic nitrogen gas into the atmosphere...

--Lindsey Maybe the reporter was an ex-Rajneeshee. He (OSHO) had nitrous oxide (laughing gas) spigots built into his living quarters in his Oregon "ashram". Three of his many books were alleged to have been written under the influence.

Maybe I should write a book under the influence of xylitol ? Titled: Let Them Eat Cake

DH

[Lindsey]

Maybe I should write a book under the influence of xylitol ? Titled: Let Them Eat Cake
LOL!!

--Lindsey