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Chocolate/Cocoa and Your Pets
If I can eat my favorite chocolate candy bar, why shouldn't I share it
with my pets? Your pet and you are different in many ways. Pets that eat
the chemical called therobromine could be causing their own deaths.
Theobromine is similar to caffeine and it is in
one of America's favorite foods, chocolate (cocoa). According to some
studies therobromine is toxic to a dog when it ingests between 100 and
150 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. Different types of chocolate
have different effects on our pets, Studies show that 20 ounces of milk
chocolate could kill a 20 pound dog. Only 2 ounces of baker's chocolate
or 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate could kill a 20 pound!
dog. This would probably be called "chocolate poisoning" by your
veterinarian.
He/she
would most likely tell you that this is not as uncommon as one would
think. In humans 150 milligrams per kilogram of body weight is toxic.
That's the same for your pet! Humans for the most part outweigh their
dogs, but smaller children and pets can get into trouble with caffeine
or chocolate if they consume too much. Infants especially are at risk
because they don't eliminate caffeine from their bloodstreams as quickly
as adults.
It's not as hard as
some might think for a pet to get into an Easter Basket of chocolates,
or a Christmas dish full of Hershey's kisses and gobble them all down.
If this does happen it could kill a smaller dog.
You can recognize if your dog has eaten a
toxic dose of chocolate from the symptoms he's showing you. Within the
first few hours, your dog will begin to vomit, have diarrhea and in some
cases show hyperactivity. As time passes and the dog continues eating
the toxic substance, you'll see an increase in the dog's heart rate,
which can cause arrhythmia, restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle
twitching, increased urination or excessive panting.
According to some, therobromine is toxic to a dog when it ingests Cocoa
Mulch. It looks and smells just like chocolate to your pets. Cocoa Mulch
actually deters pests and insects from gardens and it is screened and
free of weed seeds. . However,
while
it is weed free and deters
pests, it's luring your precious pets. Cocoa shells are the clean husks
that are removed from roasted caca beans that's used in making HERSHEY'S
chocolate and cocoa products.
 HERSHEY's
quoted on their website "It is true that studies have shown that 50% of
the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of
degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs
won't eat it. On the Animal Poison Control Center (ASPCA) web site,
several common household products are listed that have proven harmful to
dogs. Common lawn insecticides and insect killers are mentioned as being
potentially life-threatening when ingested, specifically snail or slug
bait. A 2-inch application of cocoa mulch in your plant beds will
actually prevent germination of weeds, resulting in less weeds, acting
as a deterrent for insects, snails and slugs. Following is a link to the
Animal Poison Control Center on the ASPCA web site.
http://www.aspca.org/apcc " To visit HERSHEY's Cocoa Mulch website
click http://www.hersheys.com/mulch/index.shtml."
Here is a short list
of other website's that provide information about chocolate/cocoa mulch
and the effects it has on our pets.
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Dog-Owners-Digest.com - for all
dog breeds, small dogs or big dogs.
Why chocolate poisons dogs and
how to treat chocolate dog
poisoning.
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Howstuffworks "Is chocolate
poisonous to dogs?"
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Hershey's Cocoa Mulch
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