Xylitol poisoning

Xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar substitute, its found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables. That tends to give us a false sense of its safety, its naturally occurring, like sugar, it must be as safe. I am going to try to give a brief idea of how it works in dogs and a brief idea of what they wanted it to do in people without getting on to many pigtrails.( getting off the main subject)
 It was first discovered and used as a safe sweetener for diabetics because it didn't affect their insulin levels.. Then they discovered it was great for dental benefits as well. IT is supposed to be as sweet as sugar but with 2/3 the food energy. Keeping all this in mind it is in MANY of our food products at home. It is in chewing gum or candy and as little as two pieces can cause liver damage or failure. Some dogs can ingest the Xylitiol and in 8-12 hours and have it affect the liver and recover fully, others will suffer permanent liver damage even failure.
 What does it do in dogs and cats? If ingested in  small levels, which varies based on the weight of the dog or cat, it will cause the animals glucose levels to drop fast. Hypoglycemia in dogs is life threatening. It will cause lethargy,seizures, coma like symptoms if not treated immediately it can be fatal. Animals will go into hypoglycemic shock which is the bodies natural defense when it encounters a sudden change.  Shocks main function is to protect the main organs of the body, the heart, lungs and brain. The body will pool the oxygen carrying blood to those organs but left untreated the extremities and other organs will start to fail. It is very important to treat shock as soon as possible.
 Any dose of Xylitol  can also adversely affect the liver as the liver is the bodies filter. It has caused serious often irreversible liver damage. There is no "safe" amount of this product that we should let our pets have.  Your vet often tells you not to give people food to your pets, to try to list all the reasons at the office visit would leave you brain dead. Its easier to ask them when you are there what is safe to let them have.
 Some Dr.s say  that they can have some bread products and fresh/ frozen vegetables. We don't want alot of added spices and things added to the "treats". What we may find very flavorful can be difficult for them to digest or may cause some GI issues.  Just like when you ate at that cute little restaurant but spent the rest of the night with a tummy ache, different spices and oils that food was cooked in can cause the same results in them.
 I've had clients add some frozen peas and carrots to their pets food to give them "more" of a treat .
 Bottom line... make sure that you keep all people food out of reach of your pet, which with some guys can be a challenge, and read the labels and know what is in the food you have around.