gum: June 2008 Archives
Dog park friend Sanam (aka Indi's mom) emailed us with this warning about Xylitol, an ingredient in sugarless gum that can be harmful to dogs.
Apparently one of those emails is making its way around again that warns of the artificial sweetner. So to check it out, Sanam went to www.snopes.com -- a very handy site that helps us sort out truth from fiction in the Internet age.
While the e-mail is new, the danger it decries isn't: for a number of years, Xylitol has been known to be toxic to dogs. ..... Just three grams of Xylitol (eight to 10 sticks of gum) can kill a 65-pound canine, but a smaller dog could easily die after ingesting far less (perhaps as few as two sticks of gum).
And the artificial sweetner also can be found in other products, such as candy, baked goods, some chewable vitamins, throat lozenges and even toothpaste.
Read more on the American Veterinary Medical Association web site.
Thanks Sanam (and Indi).
About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.