Xylitol can be harmful to dogs

So, anyone who's ever sent me an email forward that made no sense at all knows that I'm very big on debunking that kind of crap. Could Bill Gates POSSIBLY track and pay you for sending emails? WOULD he? Don't be ridiculous. Yet I still get that one sent to me, randomly, 8-10 years later [sigh]. If you're one of the guilty forwarders, I'm going to let you in on a dirty little secret: Snopes. Before you hit "Forward", go to Snopes.com, please, for the love of god. Save us all the time and bandwidth. However, some of them actually are true. This is one of them...a big one. As a pet lover, I'm amazed I haven't actually researched this before, but I'm glad I did now. Spread the word to anyone you know who has dogs...be VERY careful, especially with Orbitz and other gums (nothing against them, I love Orbitz, it just seems to be the most likely place a dog is going to get Xylitol from in most households). Xylitol is a sugar alcohol used in candy and chewing gum. It is also found in some pharmaceuticals and oral health products such as chewable vitamins and throat lozenges. It can also be used in home baking. While Xylitol is safe for humans, it can be harmful to dogs. The compound doesn't affect glucose levels in people, but when ingested by dogs it can cause a dangerous surge of insulin. (In as little as 15 minutes, the blood sugar of a dog that has eaten gum containing Xylitol may register a marked drop in blood sugar.) At higher doses, Xylitol is believed toxic to the canine liver. Just three grams of Xylitol can kill a 65-pound dog. [Snopes] [Wikipedia]