Dangers of Chocolate and Your Pet

Valentine’s Day is coming up and us humans celebrate with chocolates. Unfortunately, our fur-babies cannot enjoy the deliciousness of a smooth, soft, and creamy bite of chocolate. Fortunately for dogs, they have tons of other goodies they can enjoy, including toys and chocolate  alternatives that are safe for them.

Chocolate  is poisonous to dogs; however, the hazard of  chocolate  to your dog depends on the type of  chocolate , the amount consumed, and your dog’s size.  Chocolate , Coffee, and Caffeine contain methylxanthines. Theobromine, found is  chocolate , is a type of methylxanthines that can cause vomiting and diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death. Dark and Baking  Chocolate  are higher in toxicity than milk and white  chocolate  with higher doses of theobromine. Dogs cannot metabolize theobromine as quickly as humans; therefore, it becomes toxic to them.

If your fur-baby does get into  chocolate , call your veterinarian immediately. Not only is the amount of  chocolate  they ate important and what kind of  chocolate , but also the time they ate it. The best way to deal with  chocolate  poisoning is prevention. Most dogs and puppies are mischievous and have a sweet tooth. Keep  chocolate and anything else toxic out of the reach of dogs and cats.