Xylitol and our pets

[Goldenserenity]

I have been using a certain toothpaste that contains Xylitol, and I had heard that Xylitol is toxic to our pets. I bring this up because many of us have pets that we consider as our family. I do anyhow.

Well, this morning I was out on the porch with my dog Izzy when a word came to my mind. The word that popped up was Xylitol. Here's the thing...recently my cat has been having problems with seizure activity, vomiting, loss of coordination, and lethargy. I had origionaly thought he had a stroke, and one vet thought that is what it was and 2 vets thought it wasn't but didn't have a clue.
Now I'm thinking that Sassy was/is having some Xylitol toxicity as he loves to get into my bathroom sink and drink the water left in the bowl, so maybe he is ingesting the Xylitol from my toothpaste!
Hope this is it, so now I can fix the issue. :)

I wanted to post this to make others aware of the dangers of Xylitol and dogs & cats.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/endocrine/c_ct_xylitol_toxicity

[CuppaJoe]

I have been using a certain toothpaste that contains Xylitol, and I had heard that Xylitol is toxic to our pets. I bring this up because many of us have pets that we consider as our family. I do anyhow.

Well, this morning I was out on the porch with my dog Izzy when a word came to my mind. The word that popped up was Xylitol. Here's the thing...recently my cat has been having problems with seizure activity, vomiting, loss of coordination, and lethargy. I had origionaly thought he had a stroke, and one vet thought that is what it was and 2 vets thought it wasn't but didn't have a clue.
Now I'm thinking that Sassy was/is having some Xylitol toxicity as he loves to get into my bathroom sink and drink the water left in the bowl, so maybe he is ingesting the Xylitol from my toothpaste!
Hope this is it, so now I can fix the issue. :)

I wanted to post this to make others aware of the dangers of Xylitol and dogs & cats.

http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/endocrine/c_ct_xylitol_toxicity


Tossing the Crest out the window now... or might it clean rust off a bumper like Coke?

Please let me know, Serenity, if she gets better. My girl cat also loves licking water from the sink (she actually loves this A LOT) and she's so tiny... I'm wondering if her life-long tremors could have anything to do with this...

Thanks for the post!

CJ

[Goldenserenity]

Tossing the Crest out the window now... or might it clean rust off a bumper like Coke?

Please let me know, Serenity, if she gets better. My girl cat also loves licking water from the sink (she actually loves this A LOT) and she's so tiny... I'm wondering if her life-long tremors could have anything to do with this...

Thanks for the post!

CJ

I sure will CJ!

Even if that isn't his problem, I can still alert others to the Xylitol toxicity with pets.
I'll watch his seizure activity to see if it stops. :)

[Humble Janitor]

Thank goodness I don't even brush my teeth. Sure, that's not a good thing but I just don't want any fluoride or xylitol near my mouth.

I'm going to check out an all-natural toothpaste soon. I believe Tom's of Maine makes one.

[Goldenserenity]

Thank goodness I don't even brush my teeth. Sure, that's not a good thing but I just don't want any fluoride or xylitol near my mouth.

I'm going to check out an all-natural toothpaste soon. I believe Tom's of Maine makes one.

Yes, Toms does make the "All Natural" toothpaste, and that is what I use.
The tube says...Natural antiplaque toothpaste with propolis & Myrrh. Contains xylitol to help prevent plaque.

Why not use baking soda?

[Goldenserenity]

I always thought Xylitol was safe for people, but this web site shows otherwise. (Naturalnews.com)

How is Xylitol Made?

A search of patents online explains one process for making xylitol, tell me if this sounds healthy? You begin with some source material containing xylan. One commonly used source is corn imported from China.

1. First the xylan needs to be broken down in a process called acid hydrolyzing. The results of this process leave us with xylose and acetic acid. The process of hydrogenation is carried out at higher pressures and temperatures ranging from 158 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. Hydrogenation needs a catalyst, so a substance called Raney nickel can be used which is a powdered nickel-aluminium alloy.

2. The acetic acid needs to be removed as the material safety data sheet describes it as, "Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Hazardous in case of skin contact (corrosive, permeator), of eye contact (corrosive)."

3. Then the hydrolyzing acid and organic residues must be removed, this is done by heating the mixture and evaporating it.

4. The resulting syrup, now free of acetic acid, hydrolyzing acid, nick-aluminum and other residues.

5. The syrup is crystallized by stirring ethanol into it.

6. The crystalline xylitol is now separated in a centrifuge from the ethanol and from the sorbitol remaining in solution.

7. Viola, you have xylitol.

http://www.naturalnews.com/022986_xylitol_health_sugar.html

[Fredkc]

recently my cat has been having problems with seizure activity, vomiting, loss of coordination, and lethargy.

GoldenSerenty;
Sorry to hear you're having trouble with the critter. I have not done any homework on cats re. this, but I will tell you about dogs. Hopefully with some looking you can find and try something similar.

We have 5 dogs here at the house ( pic of 4 (http://fredsitelive.com/personal/03c.jpg) L to R Gracie, Panda, Boogie, and Jasper). Our latest addition looks to be a Lab/Irish Setter mix. He came to us because the dog was very high strung, and having seizures. The people who had him just weren't in a position to deal with it.

What was happening had all the appearance of an epileptic fit. These would begin with maybe a 5 minute warning, and then complete loss of motor control, flip-flopping, and though the dog appeared awake, he was totally unresponsive. The seizures would last from 10 to 30 minutes, and were followed with up to a 30 minute recovery time.

The Vet.
Naturally their scary things to go through with a dog, so we finally took him to the Vet. Vet did some poking and prodding, they even kept him over night once. Finally the word came back, "You dog has epilepsy, you're just going to have to deal with it."

So we did some digging. I can't remember where but we latched on to a site that discussed dog food, allergies, seizures and such, but here is what we found, and later confirmed;


Animal Byproducts; The "legal" definition for this term has been so completely bastardized, it is beyond belief. In California, for instance it means just about anything that was once any kind of animal. It also means that pet food manufacturers can even buy animal remains from shelters, and govt run animal facilities.

This means it includes pets, and dead animals found or brought in. In fact, it actually winds up including the animals, whatever they died of, and even the plastic bag it was carried in (I kid you not. LA County alone sells tons of this annually).

I can't recommend strongly enough that you take a look at what your critters are eating and if the contents says anything like "Animal Byproducts", run like hell!

Back to the dog story;
After we learned this, we decided to locate and try something "healthier" for our dogs, and see if it cleared up the seizures "Raven" was having. What we found was a godsend.

The next town over from us is Norco, Ca. It is a city incorporated to be "horse country". Every lot from 1/4 acre up is zoned for horses. The entire city, excluding the main drag, is mandated to have sidewalks on only one side (the other side for horses).

In Norco there is an animal rescue place that specializes in large breed dogs, called "Gentle Giants Animal Rescue". (http://www.gentlegiantsrescue.com/) The owner also makes and markets his own "All Natural Dog Food" by the same name "Gentle Giants". Many grocery chains in Southern Cal. are beginning to carry it, and you can also order it online (http://www.gentlegiantsrescue.com/gentle-giants-dog-food.htm).

We switched all of our dogs over to it, almost 2 years ago, and here is the result. Our other four dogs have much more energy, are much calmer animals, less fidgety. Best of all... Raven had one further seizure, about 2 months after the switch, and has had no seizures since! (Epilepsy, my butt! The dogs were being poisoned by the pet food companies!)

Gentle Giants, (http://www.gentlegiantsrescue.com/) both the animal rescue, and dog food side are a family business run by Burt Ward, and his wife. If that name sounds familiar to you, yes, he is that Burt Ward. The guy who played Robin in the old Batman TV show in the 60's.

If you own a cat or dog, I seriously recommend you look at the contents. Try and find something like this for your pet.

From their site;
The average life span of a large-breed dog is about seven years. Until recently, Ward cared for a 21-year-old Great Dane, and still has 18-, 16-, and 14-year-old dogs running around his property with canines half their age.

Fred

[conk]

Commercial pet food is GARBAGE! Even the 'fancy' stuff the vet sells is junk. Maybe slightly better than WalMart brand, but still not suitable long term. We make our own. Raw, cheap meat, mixed with broccoli stalks and other colorful veggies. Mostly meat, with some vegetables. All raw. Dogs do not eat grains! If the food you're using has corn, wheat, or rice, avoid it.

Our small dog got into the xlitol candy and we had to force hydrogen peroxide down him to make him vomit. Thanks for the link to naturalnews.com about how xylitol is made. I'll be tossing our toothpaste and candy in favor of some new Auyurvedic (sp?) brand I just found.