My Dog Ate Gum: Is That Dangerous?

One thing that we know about dogs is that they love to eat everything they can get their mouths on. Unfortunately, sometimes they eat substances that they shouldn't such as chewing gum. Our Berkeley vets discuss why gum is toxic to dogs and what you should do if you notice that your dog ate gum. Why is gum dangerous for dogs to eat? Something we may not think about is how there are some substances that humans may be able to ingest without issue, there are some that are toxic to our canine companions. One such substance is chewing gum. Many of the common chewed brands of gum are sugar-free and these types of gum contain sweeteners such as xylitol which is highly poisonous to dogs. How much Xylitol does it take to have a toxic reaction in my dog? Xylitol is a low-calorie artificial sweetener that is commonly used in chewing gum and also happens to be extremely toxic to dogs. While not all sugar-free gum is sweetened with Xylitol, there is no way of knowing what brand it is if your dog at...