As Valentine’s Day is upon us, let’s make sure that the Godiva box, or the bowl of Hershey’s Kisses are where they belong—away from our beloved pets.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association 7,600 calls were made to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center over concerns about ingested chocolate in 2011, the most common human food that prompted such a call.
The darker the chocolate, the more toxic to your pet; the technical term is methylxanthine poisoning.
“White chocolate has the lowest methylxanthine content, while baking chocolate contains the highest. As as little as 4 ounces of milk chocolate—or only 0.5 oz of baking chocolate—can cause serious problems in a 10-pound dog,” according to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.
“While white chocolate may not have the same potential as darker forms to cause a methylxanthine poisoning, the high fat content of lighter chocolates could still lead to vomiting and diarrhea, as well as the possible development of life-threatening pancreatitis, an inflammatory condition of the pancreas.”
The problem is sometimes our pets are quite clever, or just plain resilient. Case in point – my late dog Rocky.
I had just returned from Las Vegas after proposing to my wife. It went off without a hitch, including flying out a 3-pound block of Hershey’s chocolate that was engraved with “Will you marry me?” It didn’t melt, nor break. And she obviously said yes.
So we get home and go out to celebrate with friends. (I think you know where this is going).
When we came home, my then-fiancee went upstairs to change.
“Oh my God!” I hear her yelling.
Now, Rocky had what I would call a trash fetish at times, and just couldn’t help himself, so I figured he had just littered my room with shrewn-up tissues and papers.
“They ate the chocolate!”
“Uh-oh,” I thought.
My roommates had recently rescued a puppy, so my first thought was not of how this sacred memento of our love was now ruined, but rather how sick are the dogs going to be
With paw marks all over it, they had eaten a little less than half of the block. We immediately called the vet, and they told us to monitor them.
Miraculously, neither dog got sick at all. I think Rocky had an iron stomach, since he put down some incredible stuff into that stomach of his without the hint of even indigestion (it very well may be why he handled his chemo treatments so well).
By the way, the chocolate was on top of my TV, which was situated on top of my bureau, and Rocky still managed to grab it. So, if you think you have put those chocolates or sweets out of reach, you may want to think again.
In all seriousness, please be careful and restrict access to anything that may be toxic to our four-legged companions.