Chocolate Poisoning & Animals

Chocolate might be your favorite thing on earth after a long and tough week, but the sweet stuff is actually seriously poisonous to a lot of pets, including but not necessarily restricted to dogs, cats and birds. Chocolate is a major hazard to these cuties, and it's crucial to keep it out of their mouths and lives, period.

  1. Toxicity of Chocolate to Dogs and Cats

    • When it comes to foods for human beings that dogs and cats should never be permitted to eat, chocolate is a major one. Chocolate consists of methylxanthines, which are chemical compounds that can lead to a variety of hazardous consequences in animals -- think loose and runny stools, throwing up, unusual heart rhythm, fast heart rate, labored breathing, exhaustion, seizures, fainting, antsy behavior, inordinate thirst, frequent urination, raised blood pressure, coma and excessive panting. In some cases, consumption of chocolate can even be deadly in pets.
      Chocolate poisoning is especially prevalent in canines. This may be because doggies, on the whole, are usually a lot less picky about what they eat compared with felines and other animals. If you have any reason to believe that your animal took in any chocolate, seek urgent veterinary attention immediately -- whether you noticed symptoms or not.

    Birds and Chocolate

    • Chocolate poisoning is a threat to pet birds as well. This is also due to chocolate's methylxanthine component -- theobromine. The stimulant component of chocolate can lead to dangerous effects in birds, such as seizures, heart issues, throwing up, diarrhea and anorexia. Fatalities are also possible. The more chocolate consumed by a bird, the bigger the chances of danger, although it is unsafe and inappropriate in even the tiniest of amounts.

    Color of Chocolate

    • Although all chocolate is a pet no-no, some varieties are even more dangerous. Dark chocolate, such as baking chocolate, is the most problematic, as its methylxanthine levels are the most significant. At the opposite end of the spectrum, white chocolate is not as prominent a threat, with its reduced levels. Milk chocolate also has lower methylxanthine levels than dark chocolate, although still much more than white chocolate. Regardless of the differences in danger, keep all chocolate out of your pet's reach at all times.

    Life-Threatening Amounts

    • Life-threatening amounts in canines all depend on factors such as the kind of chocolate and the pet's weight. If your pet is a wee Yorkshire terrier, merely half an ounce of baking chocolate could be potentially deadly, reports the American Animal Hospital Association's HealthyPet.com. If he's a massive Great Dane, on the other hand, it could take upwards of 4.5 pounds of milk chocolate or less. In cats, toxic amounts are usually in the range of 100 to 300 milligrams of methylxanthines for every 2.2 pounds they weigh, according to the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University. Milk chocolate consists of roughly 44 to 64 milligrams of theobromine, a methylxanthine, for each ounce of chocolate. Baker's chocolate has about 450 milligrams for each ounce. Dark chocolate that is sweetened has between 150 and 160 milligrams for each ounce.

    Pets in General

    • Never feed your pet any food unless you have confirmation from a veterinarian that it is totally safe. Chocolate is potentially harmful to many different animals, and it goes beyond dogs, cats and birds. The ASPCA also urges owners to abstain from feeding it to mice, rats and hamsters.