Halloween Pet Toxins: Spooky (Mostly True) Tales From the ER Night Shift

MORT'S TALE: THE GUM IN THE PURSE

A rainy Halloween. A houseful of trick-or-treaters. A purse on the couch, unzipped just a little. A beagle named Pepper found the sugar-free gum inside, and half the pack was gone before anyone spotted the wrappers on the rug.

This is where most ghost stories turn dark. Not this one. Pepper's owner read every word on the label and called right away. Pepper arrived still wagging, before a single symptom. The team watched her blood sugar all night, and by morning she went home, annoyed that breakfast was late. Oooooh, I love a happy ending.

VET'S NOTE FROM DR. GRAY

Xylitol worries me the most of all the Halloween hazards, because it's easy to miss and far fewer people know about xylitol than about chocolate. "With the low-carb craze and the sugar-free crazes, people still have a sweet tooth. So there's a lot of xylitol in a lot of products you wouldn't think of." Peanut butter is a big source. Toothpaste can taste good to dogs. Sugar-free baked goods are kind of traps. The FDA notes xylitol may also be labeled birch sugar, wood sugar, or birch bark extract (FDA).

When you call, read the label and tell us exactly what the product is. Don't guess. We'll look the product up.

In dogs, xylitol causes a big insulin release, and blood sugar can crash (hypoglycemia) within 15 to 30 minutes. With some gums the crash is delayed 12 to 18 hours, so we usually monitor for 24 hours (Merck Veterinary Manual). Higher doses can damage the liver a day or more later, which is why follow-up bloodwork is recommended. A dog brought in before symptoms appear has a much better chance. "It can be very, very serious if they come in ‘sick.’"

GO NOW: SIGNS OF XYLITOL POISONING

Weakness, wobbly walking, vomiting, trembling, collapse, or seizures after eating anything sugar-free. Don't wait it out. Call ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435 and head to Gentle Vet or, after hours, an emergency hospital (listed below).

MORT'S TALE: THE DOG WHO STARED AT THE WALL

The night after Halloween, a yellow Lab named Moose swayed in like a sailor on a stormy deck. Glassy eyes. Flinching at every sound. A little puddle wherever he stood. "Did he get into anything?" the doctor asked. "Nothing at all," said his family.

The doctor smiled kindly and offered them a deal. That's when the story turned, and the next evening Moose went home, himself again and hunting for a snack.

VET'S NOTE FROM DR. GRAY

We call them pot dogs, and it's usually dogs. "They have a very stoned look on their face. They are usually tremoring and leaking urine." Wobbly walking, a slow heart rate, low body temperature, and jumpiness to touch or sound are common too, usually starting within one to a few hours (Merck Veterinary Manual).

Many people won't fess up because of the legal gray area, or because they think we'll judge them. So, plainly: we are not law enforcement. We're not going to turn you in, and we're not going to judge you. Here's the deal the doctor offered Moose's family: "We can figure this out through lots of expensive tests, or you can just tell us, and it will really cut down on all of your costs to get your dog feeling better."

With supportive care (warmth, fluids, anti-nausea medicine, monitoring), most dogs recover fully within one to three days; a survey of 251 veterinarians found edibles were the most common source (Amissah et al., PLOS ONE, 2022). But THC worries me more every year. Potency keeps climbing, synthetic versions are stronger, and "we never know if we're getting old-school THC or new school or something else." Street products can occasionally be contaminated with other drugs. "We're definitely not testing for other drugs. Most vets aren't even thinking about contamination, and that's what makes it dangerous. If it's not top of mind and it's occurring, we might miss it." ASPCA Animal Poison Control reported marijuana calls rose nearly 300% in five years (ASPCA).

After 22 years in practice, I still look up the protocol for every pot dog. I don't trust my memory. Einstein's famous line, roughly, was that he didn't burden his memory with facts he could find in a book, and I tell the veterinary and CVT students who train at Gentle Vet, "If it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me."

MORT'S TALE: THE GOLDEN AND THE CHIHUAHUA

Two dogs, one Halloween week. An 80-pound golden retriever snuck just a couple of raisins from a toddler's snack box. A Chihuahua emptied a whole bag of the little boxes, and his family couldn't afford a hospital stay, so they took him home to watch.

You think you know how this ends. You don't. The golden needed days of IV fluids before his kidney values came back down, and he went home tired but healthy. The Chihuahua? Not even a hiccup. Spooky, isn't it?

VET'S NOTE FROM DR. GRAY

"I personally hate raisin cases." We can calculate doses and get accurate weights, but every dog seems to process raisins differently. I've seen a couple of raisins cause problems in a large golden retriever, and I've had a Chihuahua eat a huge number, with no money for treatment, and do fine. "If I had a crystal ball, I'd love to use it, because I think a lot of patients get treatment that don't need it. And then there are some patients who don't get it and probably did need it."

Researchers now suspect tartaric acid, a natural compound whose level varies from grape to grape, which helps explain the unpredictability (Wegenast et al., J Vet Emerg Crit Care, 2022). Vomiting often starts within 6 to 12 hours, and kidney injury can follow in 24 to 72 hours (Merck Veterinary Manual).

Treatment is expensive but fairly risk-free: IV fluids for a day or two and bloodwork to make sure kidney values don't climb. "So please just avoid the grapes and raisins, because it's hard for doctors to make a decision. I can't imagine what it's like to be a client trying to make that very costly decision."

MORT'S TALE: THE CASE OF THE VANISHING WRAPPERS

A terrier named Biscuit ate an entire pillowcase of taffy and lollipops, wrappers and all. His family rushed in clutching the empty pillowcase. "Surgery?" they whispered. The doctor pressed gently on Biscuit's belly. Biscuit wagged. Over two days the wrappers reappeared, out in the yard. The twist? The scariest part was the worry.

VET'S NOTE FROM DR. GRAY

"Most of the time, wrappers aren't a problem. A lot of people are afraid that they're a problem, but most of the time they're not." I've never actually seen a wrapper-related surgical case. It's pretty darn uncommon.

We get suspicious when there is vomiting three, four, or five times in a short period, drinking water and not keeping it down, a depressed dog, or a belly that's very painful when examined. Those are possible blockage signs, and we'd take X-rays to decide whether your dog needs surgery or a flexible scope (endoscopy) (Merck Veterinary Manual). If you're simply very worried, we'll happily take an X-ray: "It is risk-free, just not cost-free." "We're here to alleviate concern as much as we are to help cure disease." Just know what an X-ray can and can't show. Foil wrappers usually show up, but plastic and most other non-foil wrappers often don't show up at all. We don't want you paying for an X-ray expecting to see the wrapper and then feeling let down, which is why we don't push hard for X-rays in these cases unless you're really worried or your dog has the warning signs above.

WHY DR. GRAY DOESN'T RECOMMEND HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AT HOME

Hydrogen peroxide can cause severe stomach inflammation (gastritis), unpredictably. In a small study, all six dogs given peroxide to induce vomiting had stomach-lining damage (Niedzwecki et al., J Vet Emerg Crit Care, 2017). If it gets into the lungs, it can cause a fatal aspiration pneumonia. And some substances, like bleach, shouldn't come back up, which owners often can't judge.

We use a drug called apomorphine instead. "It is much more controllable," and we follow it with anti-nausea medicine so your pet isn't sick for hours. "It's just a safer, better experience for the pet and the client." The exception: you're way out in the North Woods, you know your dog ate a poison, and there's truly no other option. Then peroxide may be the best of the bad choices. Call poison control for guidance first if you have a signal.