Lethal peanut butter

Dog owners will want to take note. If you ever give you pooch peanut butter, you may want to double check the label. An ingredient showing up in some brands could make them very sick and even cause death.

At animal clinics like Dr. Nancy Harvey’s in the upper valley, they’re trying to spread the word about the ingredient xylitol.

“Dogs metabolize xylitol differently,” Dr. Harvey said. “They’re not really sure what the – how come it’s toxic to dogs and not to people, say, but basically it’s very rapidly absorbed.”

Xylitol has been a common ingredient in things like sugar-free gum for years. It’s perfectly safe for humans, but even a single package of such gum with xylitol can be deadly for most dogs.

“We had an example about three years ago of some people that they knew that their dog had eaten a package of some sugar free gum,” Dr. Harvey said. “They didn’t think about bringing them to see us until after about three days. More than three days, there was nothing we could do.”

While by no means a common ingredient in peanut butter in general, xylitol is showing up in a number of health and protein focused peanut butter brands: Go Nuts, Co., Hank’s Protein Plus Peanut Butter, Krush Nutrition, Nuts ‘N More, and P28.

Some brands do carry warnings about xylitol and dogs alongside the ingredient descriptions on their websites, like Krush Nutrition: “Xylitol which is a natural sugar alcohol, is safe in humans. We ask that you please keep all xylitol and xylitol containing food products out of reach from dogs. Even small amounts can be toxic to dogs. If you do however suspect your dog has ingested a xylitol- containing food, we suggest you immediately contact your local veterinarian.”

Dr. Harvey said it doesn’t take much xylitol to start causing liver damage or worse in a dog, only about a 1.5 grams for a 30 pound dog.

“Untreated, they pretty much die,” Dr. Harvey said. “They’re very difficult to treat, because you have to get to them right away.”

And for dog owners, it can be a serious concern.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” said Steven Svoboda, in Dr. Harvey’s office for a checkup of his german shepard Zeus. “They’re family. So it is concerning.”