[acb-diabetics] more about xylitol and pets

[Joanie]

Hi all,
When I lived in Sacramento, I volunteered at the Braille and Talking Book 
Library. Another volunteer was working beside me and her open purse was on 
the floor near where my guide dog was lying. Dessie being a Lab, got into 
the purse and scarfed down some of the Zylitol candy wrappers and all. 
Someone down the way from me told me what  was happening. I knew about 
Xylitol poisoning so I immediately called a vet clinic. We figured that Dezz 
probably ate ten of the candies, maybe twelve. The vet told me that Dezz 
didn't get enough to cause permanent damage but that she could experience 
vomiting and diarrhea, and she did, both. There wasn't any shaking or 
lethargy. We were just lucky. This is graphic: she did throw up the 
wrappers, in tact. I think the stomach problems lasted about  24 hours, and 
I could only give her half a cup of water an hour and no food for 24 hours. 
That was fun denying her food, not!
I had a dentist a while back that convinced me to buy the Zylitol candies 
that he sold claiming that they were good for preventing cavities. I kept 
them in a cupboard and treated them like medicine. I keep forgetting to ask 
the dentist that I see now about Zylitol.
Take care.

Joanie Delzer
joaniemarie at earthlink.net