Dog Lovers Warned to Avoid Feeding Dogs Sugarless Peanut Butter

One of the most popular treats for dogs is peanut butter! Not only is the nutty spread included in many dog treat recipes, it is oftentimes licked straight off the spoon.

However, pet parents are being cautioned to be vigilant when purchasing jars of peanut butter because of a dangerous ingredient being included in several brands – xylitol.

The artificial sweetener is extremely dangerous to dogs and only small amounts can cause severe drops in blood sugar levels (hypoglycaemia), liver failure and death. One family sadly discovered this recently, when their pet ate sugarless gum.

According to Preventative Vet, they recently discovered several brands making sugar-free peanut butter but include xylitol as an additive. The website indicated that Nuts ’N More and Krush Nutrition’s Nutty By Nature both have peanut butter products that contain the canine-unfriendly additive and that there are potentially other brands that have sugar-free peanut butter that contain xylitol.

Please read the ingredients label on peanut butter to ensure that xylitol is not one of them!

Ingesting just small amounts of xylitol can seriously harm a dog. As little as 0.1 gram (g) of xylitol per kilogram (kg) of body weight (0.1 g/kg) can cause a rapid drop in a dog’s blood sugar with potentially fatal consequences.

Another solution to shopping around is to make your own peanut butter. It’s easy and simple to make. The video below shows how to make it, but you’ll probably want to eliminate the salt and honey for your dog.

Please share this important information with fellow dog lovers!

Find out what other foods and ingredients are toxic for your dog in our article series “Toxic Foods for Dogs”.