Think Twice Before Sharing Chocolate with Your Pet
- Bring only neutered or spayed dogs and only if they are older than four months of age.
- Make sure your dog is healthy and up-to-date on vaccinations (we recommend Rabies, Distemper, Parvovirus, Bordetella, and Influenza) and has a valid license.
- Make sure your dog recently had a negative fecal test. Because of zoonotic risk, GWLAH, CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) recommend testing fecal twice yearly.
- Bring water and a portable bowl to drink from - but not food.
- Keep a collar on your dog. Even though your dog will be off leash in the park, it is important that your pet has a collar on at all times. A quick release clasp collar is the safest option for inside a dog park. Leashed dogs may feel defensive. Keep leash in hand to escort your dog in and out of park.
- On very warm days reconsider bringing your dog to the park, or avoid the dog park during peak temperature hours, usually between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The first visit to the park should be during a quiet time to see how your dog acclimates to the setting. - Obey all posted rules and regulations.
- Check out the moods of the other dogs playing in park before entering.
- Pay attention to your dog at all times.
- Scoop your dog’s poop. Intestinal parasites pass through fecal to other pets and can contaminate soil.
- Look for signs of overheating, including profuse and rapid panting, a bright red tongue, thick drooling saliva, and lack of coordination. If any of these symptoms occur, take your dog to GWLAH immediately.
Different Types of Chocolate
Everyone who has ever eaten candy knows there are many types of chocolate. Let’s go back to how chocolate is made. Cacao trees are farmed as any other crop, though they grow in tropical regions. The fruit of the cacao tree (called a “cacao pod”) is sweet and attracts monkeys or other wildlife who eat the fruit but do not eat the bitter seeds. The seeds are discarded in the natural setting thus allowing new trees to grow. The seeds cannot be released from the fruit unless some type of animal breaks the fruit open. Ironically, it is the bitter seeds, packed with theobromine and caffeine, that are used to make chocolate. The pods grow directly off the trunk of the cacao tree and must be harvested by hand so as not to damage the tree. The pods are split and the seeds scooped out and left to ferment under banana leaves for about a week. This turns the cacao seeds a rich brown and creates the chocolate flavor we crave. The seeds are then dried out for another week, packed in sacks, and shipped to chocolate manufacturers. The seeds must be roasted, ground, pressed (which removes the oil of the seed, the “cocoa butter” which is used in sunscreens, white chocolate, and cosmetics among other things), and tempered to create the exact consistency.
- Chocolate liquor is the liquid that results from grinding the hulled cacao beans.
- Cocoa butter is the fat that is extracted from the chocolate liquor.
- Cocoa powder is the solid that remains after the cocoa butter is removed from the chocolate liquor. The powder can be treated with alkali in a process called “Dutching” or it can be left alone. Note the low-fat nature of cocoa powder, hence its use in low-fat baking.
- Unsweetened chocolate is chocolate liquor that is 50% to 60% cocoa butter
- Semisweet chocolate is chocolate liquor that is 35% chocolate liquor (the rest being sugar, vanilla, or lecithin).
- Milk chocolate is chocolate that is at least 10% chocolate liquor, the rest being milk solids, vanilla or lecithin.
Why is Chocolate Bad?
Sometimes we eat chocolate plain. Sometimes we eat it baked into cakes, mixed into ice cream etc. The first problem with these sweets is the fat. A sudden high fat meal (such as demolishing a bag of chocolate bars left accessible at Halloween time) can create a lethal metabolic disease called pancreatitis. Vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain are just the beginning of this disaster. Remember, in the case of pancreatitis, it is the fat that causes the problem more than the chocolate itself. The fat and sugar in the chocolate can create an unpleasant but temporary upset stomach. This is what happens in most chocolate ingestion cases. Chocolate is, however, directly toxic because of the theobromine. The more chocolate liquor, the more theobromine is present. This makes baking chocolate the worst, followed by semisweet and dark chocolate, followed by milk chocolate, followed by chocolate flavored cakes or cookies.
Theobromine Causes:
- Vomiting Diarrhea Hyperactivity Tremors Seizures Racing heart rhythm progressing to abnormal rhythms.
- Death in severe cases.
Toxic doses of theobromine are 9 mg per pound of dog for mild signs up top 18 mg per pound of dog for severe signs. Milk chocolate contains 44mg/ounce of theobromine while semisweet chocolate contains 150mg/ounce, and baking chocolate contains 390 mg/ounce.It takes nearly 4 days for the effects of chocolate to work its way out of a dog’s system. If the chocolate was only just eaten it may be possible to induce vomiting; otherwise, hospitalization and support are needed until the chocolate has worked its way out of the system.
By Wendy C. Brooks, DVM, DipABVP Educational Director, VeterinaryPartner.com
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