Xylitol Poisoning in Dogs

Compounding pharmacists are receiving requests from veterinarians to compound oral medications for dogs and cats in vehicles that are known to be free of xylitol. Xylitol is an artificial sweetener commonly used to sweeten human medications, gums, mouthwashes and candies, and while not toxic to humans, can be quite toxic to dogs.  Xylitol is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract of humans, but is easily absorbed in dogs.  Once in the bloodstream, xylitol acts like glucose, stimulating insulin secretion, which causes life-threatening hypoglycemia. Profound hypoglycemia can last for 1-2 hours following xylitol ingestion, and has frequently resulted in death.  Many commercially available drugs labeled for humans, such as gabapentin oral suspension, contain xylitol as an inactive ingredient, and all human medications used in dogs should be scrutinized for xylitol content. Compounding pharmacists can play a valuable role for veterinarians and veterinary patients by providing xylitol-free suspensions of medications and by educating clients to avoid all xylitol-containing foods in their pets.  It is not currently known if xylitol is toxic in cats, but for the present, xylitol must also be assumed to be toxic to cats.  For more information, search "xylitol" at http://www.aspca.org.

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