Peanut butter can be a tasty, occasional treat for your furry friends but please be aware of a potentially deadly ingredient. Some specialty peanut and nut butters are using a sugar alcohol sweetener, Xylitol, which can harm your pet. Xylitol, can lead to a rapid and dangerous drop in your pet’s blood sugar. This decrease in blood sugar (a condition called hypoglycemia) can be displayed in your pet as staggering, disorientation, weakness, collapse, seizures, coma and death. This sweetener can also lead to the destruction of your pet’s liver. If your pet displays any of these signs, please have him or her seen by a veterinarian immediately.
The companies creating nut butters containing Xylitol include, but are not limited to, the following: Go Nuts Co., Hank’s Protein Plus Peanut Butter, Krush Nutrition, Nut’s N’ More®, and P28. Ingestion of as little as 0.8 ounces of the above butters can be toxic to a 10 pound dog.
Xylitol is also found in gums, mints, chewable vitamins and many other products. Please check the ingredients list on any nut butter or other sweet treat before providing it to or allowing access to it for your pet.
Sincerely,
The Doctors and Staff at Angel Animal Hospital
(317) 888-6435
Angel Animal Hospital
110 N Bluff Rd
Greenwood, IN 46142