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Don't feed chocolate to your dog or cat - |
| People who have pet dogs and cats should take
steps to protect the animals from any opportunity to eat chocolate which
could prove fatal to them, the Australian Veterinary Association warned
today. The AVA President, Dr Garth McGilvray, said the approach of the Easter period meant it was timely to issue a community alert that chocolate is NOT a suitable food for dogs or cats and poses a serious risk to their health. The problem is that the systems of cats and dogs cannot handle one of key ingredients of chocolate, theobromine (a caffeine-like substance), as well as humans, he said. Theobromine can cause a range of problems in domestic animals because it triggers the release of adrenaline, which can lead to a greatly accelerated heart rate and an irregular heart beat. In high dosage situations, pets can begin to vomit, suffer diarrhoea and excessive urination and become hyperactive. This can be followed by depression, coma, seizures and death. The problem is real and pet owners should be made aware of it, especially at a time like Easter when chocolate is likely to be generally on hand Dr McGilvray said. The fatal dose of theobromine for dogs is 50mg/lb of bodyweight. This means different sized animals will react differently to the same dose. The situation is further confused by the fact that different types of chocolate contain varying levels of theobromine. Cooking chocolate has a much higher level of the substance than milk chocolate but a dog is less deterred than a human by the bitter taste of cooking chocolate, so a fatal dose can be quickly gobbled down if there is chocolate left around. Dr McGilvray said: There is a case on record where a dog in the US died soon after it found its owner's stockpile of Easter chocolate. Incredibly, it wolfed down almost 2.5kg of various types of chocolate and stopped only when there was no more to be had. The safest thing to do is to ensure that your pet cannot get access to any chocolate, then nothing can go wrong. "People should remember that it is foolish to ėrewardķ a pet with a small piece of chocolate - this will serve only to give the animal for the taste of chocolate and make a serious accident all the more likely in the future", Dr McGilvray said. |
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