Why Dogs Should Not Be Allowed To Eat Chocolates
People love dogs. Pet owners have the habit of tossing a piece of the food they are eating with the pet not knowing that some people food can poison the pet. A pet owner would wonder why foods that give humans a lot of benefits would be harmful to dogs. Humans and dog have many genetic similarities but they are also different in a lot of ways. One of these differences is the dog’s inability to digest chocolates. Not many pet owners are aware of the toxic effect of chocolates to their pets. People love chocolates as this comfort food has many benefits for humans. Chocolates and dogs though is a bad combination.
Chocolate, the world’s most loved treat is dangerous to dogs because of its theobromine content. Theobromine, a chemical that is similar to caffeine is a naturally occurring substance found in cocoa beans. This chemical acts as a stimulant and has the effect of increasing the frequency of urination and affecting the central nervous system as well as the heart muscles. These dangerous effects are caused by the dog’s inability to digest this substance. Continued consumption will increase the accumulation of the substance in the dog’s system until the high level of toxic concentration causes a variety of medical concern.
Dog owners can share the chocolate bar with the pet or allow the dog to have a slice of the Black Forest cake. Apparently, a dog will not show signs of poisoning if only a small amount of these kinds of chocolates are consumed. A good news to dog owners that are unaware of the harmful effects of chocolates to the dog is the fact that the toxicity of this food is dose dependent so that the pet has to consume from 100 to 150 milligrams of chocolate per kilogram of body weight before the pet will be affected. The toxicity level would depend on the type of chocolate consumed. The toxicity level is much lower in white chocolates because this type of chocolate contains very little theobromine. About 200 ounces of white chocolates must be consumed before signs of chocolate poisoning will be seen. However, this is not so with milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate as it contains more of the dangerous theobromine chemical. The baking chocolate is the most dangerous ass it has the highest theobromine content. Dog owners don’t normally give the dog baking chocolate but knowing the voracious appetite of these animals, it is still possible for the dog to gorge on the dangerous food. This situation calls for immediate treatment to save the life of the pet. Find out more about what to do if your dog eats chocolate.
