My Dog Ate Gum! What Happens If A Dog Eats Gums?
Dogs are the closest friends of humans, and their relationship dates back to a long history. Dogs are the most famous pets among people, and they consider dogs as family members and closest companions.
Therefore, when something happens to dogs, their owners get so upset and stressed. Dogs have the habit of chewing and eating everything around them. With this habit, most of the time, they fall into disasters.
Since gum is famous among humans, we can see that dogs eat gum frequently. If your dog ate gum, you might wonder what happened next. Dog owners need to know what happens if a dog ate gum, let’s consider the matter.
As an owner of a dog, I also had the same problem since my dog Shaggy also had the bad habit of chewing everything, whether it was a toy, furniture, cookie, or shoe. Since I love chewing gum a lot, the risk of my dog eating gum arises.
So, what happens if a dog eat gums? If your dog ate gum, it may act poisonous to it with the reaction of the sugar substitute, xylitol. It will cause low blood sugar in dogs and generate more symptoms such as vomiting, collapse, lethargy, coma, weakness, tremor, etc. Therefore, you should remember that gum is toxic for dogs and must be avoided.
By reading this article, you may be able to understand what happens if a dog eats gum and why it is poisonous for dogs. Then let’s identify what steps should be taken when a dog eats gum and preventive measures to avoid your dog from eating gum.
This will be a huge matter for you as a dog owner since most of us love to chew gums. As a result, dogs have a large probability of eating gums accidentally. This article may answer your matters. So, Keep reading!
What happens if a dog ate gum?
As dog owners, you may be cautious about the good and bad foods for your dog, and you may be well aware not to keep such items that are cautious to your dog in places where it can reach.
In Particular, we can see most dog owners avoid their dogs from eating sweets, chocolates, or sugary products. But did you know that gum, even sugar-free gum, can be dangerous for your dog?
Most pet owners have no idea about this since they believe that the sugar contents are the only poisons for dogs. However, even some foods that may be stated as sugar-free include some sugar substitutes that are poisonous for dogs.
So, if you love and care for your dog friend so much, then you have to be aware of the things they eat and chew.
Most chewing gum includes a component called Xylitol, and they are not good for dogs and can cause several disparities. Even your dog eats a small piece of gum; you cannot ignore the instance by thinking it’s just a small piece.
So, if you are a chewing gum lover, you need to be more aware of it and don’t let your dog eat gum.
Then, what happens if a dog eats gum accidentally? How do you identify that they had eaten gum? If your dog had eaten gum, then you may be able to observe several symptoms from it within 30-60minutes. Some of them are,
- Vomiting
- Weakness
- Coma
- Lethargy
- Rapid heartbeat
- Stumbling
- Tremors
- Collapse
This eating gum can result in several harmful outcomes for your dog. They are considered the only domestic pet that reacts to gum in a toxic way.
Why could chewing gum be poisonous to dogs?
So, if your dog ate gum, what is the poison in it? Why is it toxic to your dog? What are the consequences that your dog faces from eating gum?
As we already discussed, chewing gum contains a sugar substitute called Xylitol. It is the ingredient of gum that makes it toxic for dogs. Even though the gum is marked as sugar-free, it includes xylitol, and it is used to develop the taste of sugar-free foods.
This low-calorie sugar substitute is mostly used in candy, gum, baked foods, and peanut butter. In addition, some vitamins, cosmetics, and medicinal products contain this xylitol. Even though it is poisonous for dogs, there is no harm for humans.
Normally, there is 0.22-1.0g of xylitol included in one chewing gum. According to the studies, only 0.05g is enough to make xylitol toxic.
Therefore, only one piece of chewing gum is enough for dogs to face disastrous situations. By eating gum with xylitol may cause low blood sugar in dogs.
It can cause more other effects of depression, coma, seizures, loss of consciousness, hypokalemia that lowers the potassium level. This poison of xylitol occurs with the massive release of insulin from the dog’s body.
Therefore, the gum is poisonous for your dog, and if you care about your dog’s health, don’t let it eat gum.
What to do if your dog ate gum?
Even if you prevent your dog from eating gum, if the dog ate gum accidentally, then you have to be aware of the steps that should be taken in such a situation.
Dogs prefer to eat and chew everything around, and the gum will be a good choice for them. When you notice your dog’s symptoms of eating gum, here are a few steps you can follow.
1. Induce vomiting
The first step you can follow when your dog has eaten gum is inducing vomiting. Let your dog vomit what it eats and support vomiting.
It will support the release of toxic substances from the body of your dog. However, remember that you have to call and follow the instructions of the vet before inducing vomiting.
2. Provide hydrogen peroxide
Another step you can take here is providing hydrogen peroxide to your dog as an emergency step. It will ease vomiting.
You have to follow the proper instructions of your veterinarian, and it is accepted to provide 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide proportionate to the one pound of body weight of the dog. You can decide the amount following the bodyweight of your dog.
3. Take to the vet
When your dog eats gum, it is not a simple matter that can be ignored; it is a serious concern that affects your dog’s life.
So, if you notice that it has eaten gum, then immediately take it to the veterinarian and follow appropriate medications.
4. Monitor the dog
When your dog ate gum, he should be monitored for a few days, and its blood sugar levels, liver functions, and other health conditions should be monitored to prove whether there are any serious effects from the gum eaten.
Your vet will ask you to observe your dog, and he will monitor and make decisions.
How to prevent your dog from eating gum?
Prevention is always better than treatments. Therefore, rather than considering what happens if a dog eats gum, it is good to take preventive measures to avoid your dog eating gum.
The most important thing here is being responsible not to allow your dog to reach gum, especially the xylitol containing chewing gums.
Here are some preventive measures that I use to avoid my dog, Shaggy reaching gums.
1. Place your gum packs in a safe place
This is important since dogs love to eat human foods, and therefore if you leave your gum packets here and there around the house, your dog will surely eat them.
So, be aware of keeping your gum packs in a safe place where your dog cannot reach them.
2. Properly discard chewed gums
When discarding your chewing gums, don’t throw them everywhere. You have to throw it into the trash can by wrapping it well.
Remember not to place it on the top of the bin and try to bury it deeper where your dog can’t find it by digging into the trash can.
3. Observe the dog during walks
There are several chewed gums left on the roads, and you have to observe your dog whether it is eating them.
It is such a bad habit of throwing chewed gums away on the roads, and dogs will most probably eat them.
4. Brush the teeth of your dog regularly
You have to brush your dog’s teeth regularly by using a specialized toothpaste for dogs and don’t use human toothpaste.
Brushing teeth will support the removal of attached gum particles in their teeth and clean them.
5. Don’t share gum with them
Most importantly, since dogs love to eat your food, they’ll stare at you and ask for gum as well when you are eating them.
Since it’s harmful to your dog, just avoid his request with cute eyes and provide his favorite cookie itself.
6. Regular gum
This is not advice appropriate for your teeth and good habits. But if you can switch to a regular gum and reuse it, then the probability of your dog eating gum will be minimized.
However, I do not recommend it to you since it is somehow a bad habit.
Final thoughts
Now with the knowledge you captured from this article, I guess you can prevent your dog from eating gum as well as face such a situation when your dog ate gum accidentally.
Since gum with xylitol is toxic for dogs, you have to be cautious about not exposing them to your dogs and always try to keep an eye on your pet since it is precious for you and your family.
Even though chewing gum is your habit, it is not good for your furry friend with the chewing habit of everything.
Thank you for reading this post. I hope it answered your burning questions about your dog. Stay tuned with Jack Russell Owner for more interesting posts.
