A recent conversation with pet parent. Doctor: what do you feed your pet? Parent: oh he eats everything we eat. Chicken, daal rice, chocolates, fruits. He loves masala and chocolates. Doctor: but that's not good for them. Parent: oh all that's just a myth. My pet has been having this all his life (13years) and he's absolutely fine. Doctor: what's the issue right now? Parent: he has seizures every few weeks since the past 10 years. Doctor: !!!!!!!!! Now you see, the problem isn't the lack of awareness rather the lack of acceptance.
Anything sweet offered to your pet will be easily accepted as he doesn't know what's good for him and what's not. He just want to have that sweet thing into his belly because anything sweet is in the favourite list of your pet.
Chocolates are highly toxic for your pet. Small breeds and pups/kittens are at higher risk as a smallest quantity is enough to be fatal.
Two main killers of chocolates are Theobromine and caffeine. Yes, caffeine is also dangerous for your pet. Small breeds are at higher risk of toxicity as the smallest quantities are enough to kill them. According to the quantity fed, there are four stages of symptoms. 1. Mild If we feed 20mg/kg of theobromine or caffeine to our pets, it can start mild symptoms, which include vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness and increased water intake. These symptoms starts within 6 to 12 hours of having chocolate. You will observe that your pet is feeling very uncomfortable and tensed. 2. Moderate It occurs at 40 to 50mg/kg of theobromine or caffeine. Moderate form comes with cardiotoxic effects, which include heart problems. First of all the heart will start pumping at higher speed than normal. That will make your pet nervous and restless. The stomach area will get enlarged and feel like gas filled. 3. Severe Severe signs will start at more than 60mg/kg of theobromine and caffeine. In addition to the signs explained above he will have seizures and tremors. This is a very serious stage as it will cause a lot of body damage. Your pet can also get unconscious in this stage. 4. Fatal 100 to 200 mg/kg of theobromine and caffeine is sufficient to prove fatal for your pet. It can be due to any of the reason discussed earlier. May it be nervous break down, heart failure or seizures. But majority deaths are due to heart failures. Earlier the case represented to the vet, more are the chances of survival. In such cases of toxicity, you can act smart by making your pet to vomit. For that, you can make a concentrated salt solution( mix as much salt to the water as possible) now inject this water to your pets mouth through a syringe. This will make your pet to vomit out all the content in the stomach. It will only help if you act within 1 hour of having chocolates.
I know your pet loves chocolate and you like to offer him whatever he likes, but some things are better to avoid for your pets good health.