Chocolate and pets, a big NO NO!
Author: Sam Mason Date Posted:22 March 2016
That is unless you have a chocolate Labrador or a chocolate Siamese 
On their own, Pets and chocolate are amazing, just never mix the two. It can be a fatal mistake!
But why can’t animals have chocolate?
There is an ingredient in chocolate called Theobromine (the reason why it is so pleasant for us), this particular ingredient is un-digestible and will circulate through your beloved pets bloodstream damaging their Central Nervous & Circulatory Systems.
The higher the cocoa content, the more theobromine it contains, so 100% pure baking chocolate has much more theobromine than milk chocolate, which in turn has more than white chocolate. All Chocolate needs to be kept far away from reach and if you have little dare devil in your family who can get into all kinds of places – a good suggestion is in an airtight container in the fridge or pantry.
How do you know if your pet has chocolate poisoning?
Watch your animals closely if you fear that they may of “stolen” some of your prized chocolate. Things to look out for are:
- Anxiety
- Pacing
- Hyper-excitability
- Irritability
- Excessive thirst
- Excessive urination
- Vomiting
- Muscular tremors
- Seizures
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Irregular heartbeat
- Coma
The symptoms will in most cases present themselves with in a few hours, however in some cases it may take up to 36 hours to become present. If you are afraid your pet has chocolate poisoning but they are not showing any symptoms yet you need to take them to the vet immediately; don’t wait for symptoms to show!
The Vet may need to get some of the following information off you:
1) How much chocolate you think your pet ate,
2) What type of chocolate it was, and
3) How long ago it was.
So it looks like you are just going to have to eat it all yourself 
Enjoy - AVP x
