My dog ate cough drops. Should I worry about xylitol or call the vet?

One of those cough drops in a 15 lb dog is likely not an issue. The symptoms to look for if it were an issue would be GI upset (vomiting and diarrhea). The important thing is to make sure that they are not sugar free as xylitol is toxic to dogs. These do not seem to be sugar free from the label. . If you notice any lethargy, inappetance, vomiting or diarrhea, bring your dog to your vet for fluids, anti nausea medication, anti-diarrheal medication etc. as indicated. There will likely will be no symptoms. Inducing vomiting for one menthol cough drop would not be worth the risk of aspiration. Offer plenty of water in the meantime and put the rest of the cough drops in a safe place! Good luck!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Sugar Bear. I have looked up the ingredients of this cough drop, and luckily it doesn't contain xylitol, which is highly toxic to dogs. The rest of the ingredients like menthol, eucalyptus oil, colors and flavors cause GI upset. I'd keep a close eye on her for now. If you see vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, or a loss of appetite, please take her into an ER vet immediately. I hope this helps!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Pet Coach about Odin. Without knowing the specific type of cough drops he ingested I cannot make specific recommendations about how toxic they may be to him. Some cough drops can be very toxic to dogs. My best and safest advice is to call Pet Poison Helpline 855-886-7965. You can give them the exact type of cough drop ingested, your dog's weight, and his symptoms. They will let you know if you need to seek any medical care for him right away. There is a small fee for Pet Poison, but it is worth it in my opinion for peace of mind and safety for Odin. Best of luck.

I am sorry to hear about your concern for Missy! With these ingredients we would not expect any toxic effects but we could have some mild gastrointestinal upset if she has a sensitive stomach. The ingredients that sometimes are present in cough drops and can cause more serious side effects include benzocaine and xylitol, but from your label you attached these cough drops don't appear to contain these ingredients. I would watch for vomiting and if it occurs, contact your veterinarian.

I'm sorry that Yeezy ate cough drops! In looking up the ingredients for this product, I see it contains menthol 9.1 mg eucalyptus oil, beta carotene, flavors, glucose syrup, honey, soy lecithin, sucralose, sucrose, and water. These ingredients may cause GI upset, but the biggest concern I had about the cough drops were if they had xylitol in them. That's because xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs, and if the cough drops had them, Yeezy would need to see an emergency vet right away. Because these do not have them, he should be ok, but you may see some stomach upset in the form of vomiting and diarrhea. Should you see that, withhold food for 12-24 hours, then feed a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) and white rice in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in his normal diet. Yeezy should be just fine, I hope this helps :-)

No need to be concerned about this amount being ingested. At much higher doses, this can cause a blood toxicity, but he would probably have to eat much more (30-100x more) than this in order for there to be a concern. I hope that helps and all is well with Wolverine.

It really depends on the type of cough drops eaten, because some can be harmful, while others would be safe. Please post this question again with more information, so we can better help you. If you can take pictures of the cough drop packaging, that would be great. Specifically, we need to know the name of the cough drop and the ingredients.