I’m copying this from a Facebook post I made back in July after Nala spent 2 days at the emergency vets office, where her condition took a quick downward spiral. It was super scary, but the vet and her team kept us updated and we were able to visit our lady, which proved she was in good hands.
Ok so now that Nala is feeling better, we have a PSA about what happened to her and why.
A lot of people said “I had no idea pill pockets were bad.” And honestly- neither did we. And they aren’t bad when given in reasonable quantities. We don’t really give a lot of processed treats to our dogs, but had a box of multiple value size bags left over from Mira that someone had donated. Mira loved them and for a while, it was the only way I could get her to take meds. But it isn’t specifically Pill Pockets that are bad. It is the GLYCERIN in the pill pockets that is used to keep them moist and mold free that is potentially life threatening in large quantities. This ingredient is in many other popular treats as well.
Nala almost died of a Glycerin overdose. Glycerin is a binding and sweetening agent found in some dog treats, some dog food, and other pet products. To be effective, glycerin often makes up 15-20% of the content of 1 treat. I’ve been reading about it and it is in a surprising number of popular treats, and many of these are treats that claim to be all natural and healthy. Sometimes they use vegetable glycerin, which is a bit better- but when the label just says “glycerin” there’s no guarantee that it’s not a byproduct of biofuels. In small quantities, there’s nothing really wrong with it-simply an additive with no nutritional value. In large quantities (and that can vary depending on the size and health of your dog) it does what it did to Nala: dehydrate them from the inside out, starting in their GI tract. If left untreated, it can cause organ failure and death, as the system pulls cellular water into the GI tract causing severe electrolyte and nutrient imbalances throughout the body. Our vet said with small dogs, the effects are often so quick that death is almost unavoidable. By the time people realize what’s happened, it could be too late. With big dogs, it’s a bit easier to treat and prevent long lasting issues, although there still is no guarantee that every large dog will come out of it like Nala did. The vet said she was lucky to make it through the incident with no long term impact to her system.
How much is too much? We really don’t know. It depends on the dog and what they ate. Size and current health have an influence. When we were out, Nala and Grizz broke into the dog room closet and found the pill pockets. We know Nala ate at least 2 value size bags-minimum 120 pill pockets. There were 4 bags empty- 2 in her crate, 2 in the living room. Between the dog personalities, it’s very likely she ate all 4 bags and “bullied” Grizzly out of his share. I’m sure Grizzly got some- but not enough to make him sick. He’s also almost 25lbs heavier than Nala, which might also be why he didn’t get sick. The vet said every dog is different in how their system handles it and what might be too much for nala might be different for another dog of the same size.
So the PSA: lock up all your treats. put them in tall cabinets. look at the ingredients on your treats. If they have glycerin, be careful to feed in small quantities or not feed them at all. If your dogs gets into an unknown quantity of treats with glycerin in them, go to the vet. The sooner they go in, the easier it is to treat. Had I known this was a thing, I would have taken her to the ER vet right when I saw what had happened.
PSA part 2: get pet insurance. Because of pet insurance, I was able to leave Nala at the vet knowing that I could still pay my bills next month. That a vet bill wouldn’t turn my financials upside down. I was able to say “yes” to saving my dog’s life and not have to pick between her and my financial stability. I would go to the ends of the earth to do what ever she needed, but not everyone is able to do that. Yes I have good savings set up for emergencies; but these last few months have had a lot of unexpected expenses. I am glad I didn’t have to eat into the rest of my savings to save our dog. Between the medical emergencies Grizz has had and this incident, the pet insurance has more than paid for itself already. And even if you have the financial means to pay an unexpected ER vet bill, what’s wrong with a little savings?
https://www.ziwipets.com/blog/ingredients/why-we-dont-add-glycerin
Five Lessons From Waggin Train
Why Clear Conscience Pet Won’t Use Glycerin in Our Products – A CCP White Paper
All Ears 
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