The $1000 pack of gum...

I fully realize that the title of this post sounds like an "urban legend" - the kind that goes viral, gets forwarded along to everyone and lands in my inbox where I proceed to roll my eyes, search snopes.com real quick, and privately lament stupid hoax emails.


However, I can promise you that this is a true story and it happened to ME.


Last night, my irritated husband came up the stairs grumbling about the "stupid dog" who just ate an entire pack of gum. Not thinking too much about it, I came to check out the situation and found Maddy (the dog) sitting in her kennel, staring at me with her "innocent" doe-eyes... with a soggy shredded remnant of what used to be a whole package containing gum lying next to her feet.

Now, my dog has eaten a lot of junk before. Trust me, if there were anything remotely entertaining about picking up dog poop, it would be in discovering colorful remnants of balloon or color crayon wrappers that liven up her otherwise dull, boring "waste." However, something about an entire pack of gum didn't sit well with me and I thought I'd better google that to see what I could expect. Would it be a long night of letting her out to puke? Would I just be adding "gum wrappers" to that list of entertaining waste remnants? I wasn't sure, but thought I'd better check.


What I discovered, was this: Xylitol (which was in the chewing gum) is highly toxic to dogs. Apparently, though it is safe for humans, a dogs liver cannot break down the chemical composition of xylitol and therefore can cause a dangerous drop in glucose levels which can lead to seizure, coma or death (like a severe diabetic reaction), or can cause permanent liver disease or complete liver failure resulting in death.

I called the Vet Emergency line and gingerly said, "Hi! I am not sure if I have an emergency or not, but my dog just ate a pack of chewing gum with Xylitol." And the lady said, "Yes- this in an emergency and you need to bring her in immediately so we can begin treating her right away."

I have since learned that anything above about 4 sticks of gum (with Xylitol) is toxic to a 65 lb. dog and anything over 8 sticks can be fatal. Well, Maddy is only 28 lbs. and ate 14 pieces.

So, off we went to the Emergency Vet Hospital (of course, these things never happen during 'office hours' - they always happen late at night. They immediately whisked Maddy away and gave her a drug to induce vomiting which is supposed to work within 3 minutes... 10 minutes later, Maddy sat there staring at everyone with big eyes. Apparently, this drug works on 99% of dogs the first time. Of course, you guessed it. Not mine. So, they gave her a second dose. Nothing. What do you know- my dog, an anomaly. They tried Hydrogen Peroxide to induce vomiting. Nope. So they were left with no other alternative... they had to sedate her under anesthesia and actually pump her stomach. This is sounding ridiculous, but I swear it's true. The only thing remotely funny about this is when I read the Dr.'s notes after the "gastric lavage" and it noted, "strong peppermint odor present." No kidding.

Throughout the night she was kept on IV drip of glucose and other liver drugs and her glucose levels were routinely run to ensure they were not dropping to a dangerous level. So far, she is doing well, but needs to be on a continuous glucose drip for 24 hours. She will need her liver enzymes checked every day for 3 days to determine if there has been liver damage. As for me, I am surprised I did not drop dead when they passed me the hospital bill for the treatment throughout last night. I can't wait to see what the bill will be for treatment throughout today!

This story seems too unbelievable to be true. And, if I hadn't lived it myself, I doubt I'd believe it. But here is more information for those of you who have dogs- or are sceptical: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-03-18-xylitol-sweetener_N.htm

I am not sure how this will end- it will be a few days before we know. But, I can say, for certain, that was the most expensive pack of gum I've ever bought.


Please don't make the same mistake!