Last week, on my way home, I stopped at the market, grabbed my wallet out of my purse, and ran in to grab a few extra veggies for dinner. I left one of my dogs, Little Ray, and Butch, a CAPE foster dog, in the cab of the truck and I was gone for less than ten minutes. I returned to the truck to find both dogs happily wagging their tails. And then I noticed the empty package of Trident Sugarless Bubble gum on the seat next to my purse.

I looked at the dogs with suspicion and remembered that the pack had been half full before I went into the market. Neither of the dogs showed signs of distress or guilt for that matter. So, I assumed whoever swallowed the gum, would simply pass it through their system.

When I arrived at home I decided to call Dr. Bonnie Yoffe, president of the CAPE board of directors, to double check if there was potentially any harm if dogs swallowed chewing gum. I was shocked when Dr. Yoffe told me to get the dogs to an emergency clinic immediately. She warned me that the ingredient, xylitol, used in sugarless gum can be deadly to dogs.

I hustled both dogs back into the truck and called the emergency clinic alerting them of the situation. When we arrived, they quickly took Butch and Little Ray into the treatment room and took a history. I was 99% sure that it was Butch who had eaten the gum and sure enough,after they induced him to vomit, out came a total of 9 pieces of gum - wrappers and all. Even though I was convinced that Little Ray would not participate in stealing bubble gum, she was also induced to vomit, just to be certain. And sure enough, her innocence was proven.

Butch remained overnight at the clinic to ensure that his liver was not adversely affected by the Xylitol.

Xylitol, a sugar substitute most often used in chewing gum, cookies, candies and other products developed for diabetics, is extremely toxic to dogs. Within minutes of ingesting even a tiny amount of xylitol, a dog's blood sugar can drop to dangerously low levels often resulting in lethargy, seizures and liver failure.

In 2005 the Animal Poison Control Center operated by the ASPCA managed more than 170 cases of xylitol poisoning. And the more xylitol becomes available, the more cases they expect to receive.

Products where xylitol is listed in the ingredients include Trident, Orbit, Stride, Icebreakers and Altoids.

Today, Butch remains a happy chihuahua bearing no ill effects from his raid of the gum package. He wanted me to be sure to let everyone know how dangerous xylitol is and to keep it far, far away from dogs.