The article below is a MUST read!! It was written by a vet and is about the expanded use of the sweetner Xylitol (dog-toxic). She is very worried about prescribing something and then discovering that the formulation had changed to include the canine-poison Xylitol.
Products are changing with little or no notice - with many owners still unaware that this great-for-people sweetner is as deadly to dogs as rat poison. Just one little Xylitol breath mint is grounds for a fast, emergency trip to the vet.
Now we have
(1) to watch for any OTC product that might have a sweetner (not just stuff marked "sugar-free";) and
(2) to check to be sure that our pharmacists are educated about Xylitol as well.
If you have a pharmacy where you get pet medications, do NOT wait. Have them put "No products with Xylitol" in your dog's records and emphatically tell them why!! Be sure to talk directly to the pharmacist.
http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2011/feb/xylitol_now_in_drugs
Here is a portion of the article:
"And that's the trouble. When I first started writing about xylitol three or four years ago the number of consumer products containing xylitol numbered less than a hundred in the U.S. Moreover, they were largely restricted to the arena of sugar-free gums and foods. Fast-forward to today and the list is way longer and much more diverse. You can find xylitol in everything from Flintstones vitamins to commonly prescribed drugs.
These latter products pose more of a problem for dog owners and veterinarians for a variety of reasons.
These products never used to contain xylitol. In fact, I used to recommend Flintstones vitamins for my patients. Now I have to caution my clients to stick to pet-only brands and to be very diligent about reading labels. But it took months before I became aware of the change in this brand's ingredients. (So you know, xylitol is included in only a few of the Flintstones formulations, not all.)
What's worse — and even more stressful for veterinarians — is that it's not just common consumer products anymore that we have to watch for. The human versions of drugs, especially the children's elixirs, are now being formulated with xylitol for greater pediatric palatability. Unfortunately, the lower doses in the kids' meds are exactly what some of our smaller animal patients require."