SOUTH BEND — You’ve probably heard that chocolate is poisonous to dogs, but did you know that xylitol, a common sweetener, can be even more dangerous?

Jeni Hargrove Connor’s family found out the hard way last month when their 1-year-old lab wound up in the animal hospital fighting for her life.

They want other dog owners to be warned.

“She found a container of gum in my gym bag and ate all the gum in it, about 25 to 30 pieces. We just kind of told her, okay Dancer, you’re going to have belly ache,” Connor explained.

But an hour later, it was much worse.

“She wasn’t standing on her own. She tried to walk and would fall over,” Connor remembered.

She had no idea what was wrong until her 9- and 11-year-old daughters remembered reading that sugar-free gum contains the sweetener xylitol, which is extremely toxic to dogs.

They rushed Dancer to the vet.

“That’s when Dancer started to have a really bad seizure, and this was on my girls’ laps while they were holding her,” Connor said.

When dogs have xylitol poisoning, they’ll often also suffer liver failure. Two weeks later, Dancer is still on medication to support her liver.

“We felt like we didn’t keep our dog safe. It’s just like a child. When you have a toddler, you keep your cabinets locked, your medicines up, you keep bleaches and poisons away from your kids, and really the same thing needs to be done if you’re going to take on the responsibility of having a dog,” Connor said.

It’s not just gum that dog owners should keep away from their pets. Xylitol is becoming more and more popular as a sugar substitute and is found in breath mints, baked goods, cough syrup, and even children’s chewable vitamins.

Source: WNDU