What is the real reason why we should keep dogs away from chocolate? We have all heard that dogs may get sick or possibly even die from consuming to much chocolate. What causes a dog to become sick when eating the one thing that almost everyone enjoys? We need to fully understand what it can do to our dogs. Dogs are known to suffer greatly from consuming to much chocolate but what about other household pets?
Chocolate is considered to be the most common cause of poisoning in canines. Dogs that consume chocolate can suffer seizures and we all know it can kill a canine. It is very important to note that there is no amount of chocolate that is healthy for dogs. Some of the most serious kinds of chocolate are dark and bakers chocolate. More less serious varieties of chocolate include white and milk chocolate.
What is in chocolate that is harmful to dogs? Caffeine is found inside the cocoa beans as well as theobromine, which causes the most serious danger to canines. Humans can metabolize theobromine a lot faster than dogs. Theobromine is very similar to caffeine and can be very toxic to dogs. When theobromine is consumed in dogs it can stay in their system for up to 17 hours and pose many problems. As I stated earlier levels of theobromine are found to have higher doses in dark and bakers chocolate.
What are some of the terrible things that can happen to our canines if they consume chocolate? Earlier in my blog I stated that no amount of chocolate is good for dogs. Even with small amounts of consumption dogs can experience vomitting and even diarrhea. Heavy doses of chocolate can lead to rapid heart rate, seizures, high blood pressure, and it could lead to cardiac arrest.
Dark chocolate and bakers chocolate can contain up to ten times more of the lethal toxic known as theobromine then milk or white chocolate. Deaths in canines have been known to contain up to 115mg of theobromine. Theobromine is measured by using body weight. The toxic reactions in canines can occur with 100-150 milligrams per kilogram.
If your canine ingests to much what can you do? When a dog consumes to much chocolate veterinarians usually recommend the use of ipecac. Ipecac induces vomitting in canines. As of now there is no cure to chocolate poisoning and the best way to help your canine is to bring him or her to vet immediately. When the vomitting has stopped activated charcoal is recommended to eliminate the remaining toxins, drugs and other fluids are also used to help with seizures and this also helps with the dogs heart and helps protect it.
Canines can suffer greatly but what about other pets? Theobromine in cats is also very toxic but there are very few cases simply because cats don’t prefer chocolate. Horses are also known to suffer from chocolate and can have the same side effects as dogs because horses also metabolize the toxin theobromine very slowly. When horses are involved in competition theobromine can also cause the horses to show up positive for a drug test.
I really feel that we all need to watch what we feed our pets and not get carried away with it. With Halloween just around the corner, and if you are missing your pets just as much as I am, it may not hurt to tell your family members to watch the chocolate around your pets. Dogs are known to not care what they eat and they do not know it is harmful to them but us as pet owners need to be sure we keep this harmful candy away from them. As a human I am thankful that I can consume chocolate but if this were to harm my pets I couldn’t imagine what I would do. We have to have situational awareness when it comes to what our pets consume to ensure their safety.
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/dogs-and-chocolate-get-the-facts?page=2
http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytochemicals/theobromine.php
http://www.petparents.com/show.aspx/horses/horse-health/common-foods-to-avoid-feeding-your-horse
http://honeyhny.com/the-low-down-on-chocolate-and-your-health/
http://www.hdwallpapers.in/cute_dogs-wallpapers.html