Thursday, November 7, 2013

North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Warned of dangers of Xylitol and its danger to animals


Item 2267 – Xylitol is Toxic to Dogs
Editor’s note – Thanks to Gigi Davidson and Amanda Groppe for
this item.
Xylitol is an artificial sweetener commonly used to sweeten
human medications, gums, mouthwashes, and candies. While not
toxic to humans, exposure in even small amounts can be rapidly
fatal to dogs.
Xylitol is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract of humans,
but is easily absorbed in dogs. Once in the bloodstream, xylitol acts
like glucose, stimulating insulin secretion, which lowers serum
glucose concentrations but does not affect plasma concentrations
of xylitol. Xylitol continues to stimulate insulin secretion, which
causes life-threatening hypoglycemia. Profound hypoglycemia can
last for one to two hours in dogs following ingestion of 0.1 g/kg of
xylitol, and has frequently caused death. Doses of 0.5 g/kg can cause
serious hepatic damage to dogs.
Many commercially available drugs labeled for humans contain
xylitol as an inactive ingredient, and all human medications used in
dogs should be scrutinized for xylitol content. Pharmacists can play
a valuable role in preventing xylitol-poisoning by educating clients
to avoid all xylitol-containing foods in their pets. Upon receiving
queries about xylitol exposure in dogs (eg, ingestion of virtually any
sugar-free human product), pharmacists should recognize this as a
life-threatening veterinary emergency and immediately refer the pet
owner to the nearest veterinary clinic. It is not currently known if
xylitol is toxic in cats, but for the present, xylitol should be assumed
to be toxic in this species. For more information, search “xylitol”
at www.aspca.org

quoted from the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy July 2013 newsletter

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