Each holiday brings sweet candy cautions for pets. Doggy Halloween candy thieves mean you ask, How much chocolate is poisonous to dogs? Easter candy fills the aisles at grocery stores in the spring, and Valentine’s day brings its own hazards.
There are plenty of toys, too, including stuffed bunnies–a far better gift than real live rabbits that need special care. Here’s my yearly caution about Easter candy and other goodies around pets. Refer to this post about other Easter dangers for pets.
I’m a sucker for Easter candy, especially those chocolate bunnies. Many folks love to fill the kid’s Easter baskets with sweets. But chocolate indulgence can turn your Easter candy celebration into a pet-astic calamity. Pet poisoning happens with Halloween chocolate, and chocolate on Valentine’s day, too.
Cats aren’t poisoned as often with Easter candy because they are a bit more discriminating about what they munch. But dogs often smell the candy right through the packaging, and eat it wrapper and all. Swallowed objects like foil or paper wrappers or the sticks off of suckers can cause intestinal blockage or damage, too.
EASTER CANDY CHOCOLATE TOXICITY
Any Easter candy indulgence can pose digestive upset with messy diarrhea results and a need for you to invest in a carpet cleaning service for the stains. But chocolate toxicity can actually kill your pet. Chocolate contains theobromine, a stimulant related to caffeine. Eating too much chocolate shifts your pet’s heart into overdrive.
Milk chocolate rarely causes life-threatening problems because it takes nearly two pounds of milk chocolate to poison a seven-pound pet. Baker’s chocolate can be deadly, though. It contains ten times as much theobromine as milk chocolate, which means a seven-pound pet only needs to eat two ounces to be poisoned. Licking chocolate frosting, lapping up cocoa mix, or gulping truffles—a very rich dark chocolate treat—causes vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, seizures, coma, and even death.
Puppy pens keep baby out of trouble! Image Copr. D.Garding/Flicker
MAKE HIM VOMIT!
If you catch your pet snacking on such things, induce vomiting as soon as you can to get rid of the poison. You can make her vomit up to an hour after she’s eaten the chocolate, but sooner is better. After an hour, the toxin has probably moved out of her stomach into the intestines, and vomiting won’t get rid of it.
It’s dangerous to induce vomiting if the dog or cat acts woozy. They can inhale the material on its way up and suffocate. As long as she’s alert, there are several methods you can use to get rid of the chocolate. Call the veterinarian for further instructions after the pet has emptied her stomach. If you can’t induce vomiting after a couple of tries, prompt veterinary care is even more important.
Better yet, don’t bring dangerous treats into your house. Here’s a thought—you could give the extra chocolate to me. I’m willing to make the sacrifice and dispose of the deadly sweet treats to protect your pets.
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Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!
I think many pet owners are familiar with chocolate poisoning. Well, there are certain easter candies and sugar-free gums which contain xylitol. When these kinds of candies are ingested by your four-legged companion, the xylitol(5-carbon sugar alcohol) can cause vomiting, seizures, and in extreme cases liver failure etc. The symptoms of chocolate toxicity include- vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, increased heart rate, loss of appetite, loss of coordination, muscle rigidity etc. Better you should try to keep your pet far away from the jawbreakers that can make your pooch or tabby sick. Still, if you find any kind of deformity in your pet’s deportment, then you should contact an accomplished veterinarian for further treatment proceedings.
This is such a good reminder with Easter just around the corner. My family always used to do Easter egg hunts (of course, with chocolate eggs and baskets of candy/chocolate hidden around the house) and it’s definitely a real danger!
Making your pet vomit sounds really scary because like you said they can inhale as they are throwing up and suffocate on the thing coming back up (especially if it’s a candy wrapper). But I have a feeling in a situation like this you’ll just act instinctively to save your pet!
Great post – happy (almost) Easter!
I had to grab Rosie today. She had her snout in a bag of Werthers Hard Candies. Not chocolate, but not particularly healthy for humans, let alone dogs.
She also loves butter. Can’t leave it on the counter, she’ll eat a pound in seconds. I’m surprised she isn’t a real butter ball.
And yes, she’s a chocoholic. You can’t leave any type of chocolate in reach. Kleopatra is nearly as bad.
It all comes down to developing good habits. If you don’t, puppies will find and eat just about anything.
I appreciate these reminders even though we already try to be very, very careful and (yes) we eat even less chocolate than we did before we had an indoor cat. It seems that though he was born feral he can be trusted not to eat anything that isn’t cat food but caution is always the way to go.
In suspected emergencies we always get our vet on the phone too.
And I also appreciate your willingness to help dispose of extra chocolates, Amy!
How do your pets drink? Do your pets drink from toilets? I found these videos and they were just too good not to share! I’ve written before about why they choose to slurp from that “porcelain thrown” but not the “how” it’s done. Read on for details about how pets drink.
Some of y’all remember last October when my husband had an unexpected back “issue.” That meant a change of plans, canceling the trip to celebrate my dad’s 98th birthday, among other things. What happened? Read on…
I see so many kitten pictures on social media these days. Every June, we celebrate National Adopt A Cat Month (sponsored by American Humane Association) and also National Adopt A Shelter Cat Month (sponsored by the ASPCA. Two holidays wrapped up in one, and how appropriate, since June is kitten season.
But cats can be adopted year around. Both of our cats came to us as “dumped” kitties, showing up on the back porch. When you adopt from a shelter, though, you have the advantage of planning for the new kitty’s arrival. Any time is a good time to bring a new furry wonder into your life. Whether you adopt a shelter cat, foster a kitten, or adopt a cat that shows up on the doorstep, they’re all worthy of love. Right? Here’s my tips guide for cat adoption…
Do you know how do you find pet behavior help? As a certified animal behavior consultant for cats and dogs, I receive many requests for pet behavior help. Solving cat behavior problems and bad dog behavior can be a challenge. Some of these I address with articles explaining cat behavior (how to stop meowing, for example, or dealing with cat aggression), as well as puppy and dog behavior issues like noise phobias and separation behaviors.
Some pet behavior challenges have solutions through reading books and articles, others via phone call advice, and more serious issues (dog aggression, for example) need one-on-one help. But how do the behavior experts receive training?
Dog hot spots often happen during both the spring and fall shedding season and are the bane of many dogs’ existence. Some develop hot spots all year long, especially those with very thick, wooly coats. Have your dogs ever suffered from hot spots?
Fortunately, hot spots are not a problem for cats. Kitties, though, do have their own issues with shedding and hairballs. Bathing cats can help with that.
When dog hot spots are a chronic problem, it can be aggravating and frustrating for pet owners. And painful for the dog! While severe problems need veterinary attention, home remedies for dog hot spots often help enormously. Here’s what you need to know.
Memorial Day honors the American men and women who have lost their lives while serving in the military. It originally honored those who died in the Civil War, and now honors those who died in any war. It is also known as Decoration Day. This holiday differs from Veterans’ Day which honors all those who served in the military.
There is no Memorial Day for the brave military K9s who served and lost their lives, often heroically saving their human partners. I can’t imagine the bond that must exist between the soldier and his or her war dog—they share things and stand against danger to protect the rest of us against horrors we don’t want to think about. And because of them, we don’t have to worry about such things. Thank you.
I’m eternally grateful to those who sacrifice for our freedom. Losing a beloved animal companion anytime cuts deep. It must be horrific to lose a comrade-in-arms, including those with four feet and fur.
And since I focus on pet issues, I want to shine a light on the dogs of the military. There is a National K9s Veteran’s Day on March 13, too. But here’s an excerpt from my book DOG LIFE to shine a light on military dogs through the ages.
Have your pets ever choked on something they chew? Shadow-Pup loves to chew up inedible objects, no matter how much we supervise. Learn how to administer the pet Heimlich to save a life!
When Karma-Kat came to live with us, that put lots of cat toys within Magical-Dawg’s reach. Seren had never been too keen on such things and she was already nine years old when Magic came as a puppy. He loved to swipe Seren’s “sparkle-balls” and ended up with sparkly poop. Once Karma’s toys added to the kitty quotient, the big ol’ dog had a field day seeing how many cat toys he could stuff into his jaws.
Bravo played with rocks. And the new puppy Shadow loves to chew sticks. He’s already got one caught in the roof of his mouth. That’s the perfect opportunity for choking, and a need for the pet Heimlich. I hope that we’ll never need it, though. In case you do, read on!
Do you have a dog fence? Magical-Dawg used to take off after “critters” every so often, racing around the 13-acre spread (or beyond). We eventually trained him to stay with us, even when off-leash. It would have devastated me if Magic disappeared. He was microchipped, but folks would need to catch him first.
Bravo was a very different dog. He was so good off-leash during most morning rambles and didn’t want to go too far away from us. He’d chase and play with his “big-ball” in the field, and baptize every tree and grass tussock. And once he lost his leg, he couldn’t get out the back fenced area even if he’d wanted to.
Shadow-Pup, though, takes after Magical-Dawg. He’s so small, not even the fenced back area keeps him contained. He also likes to dig, so we needed to address possible escapes. A fence is a dog’s best friend!
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I think many pet owners are familiar with chocolate poisoning. Well, there are certain easter candies and sugar-free gums which contain xylitol. When these kinds of candies are ingested by your four-legged companion, the xylitol(5-carbon sugar alcohol) can cause vomiting, seizures, and in extreme cases liver failure etc. The symptoms of chocolate toxicity include- vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, increased heart rate, loss of appetite, loss of coordination, muscle rigidity etc. Better you should try to keep your pet far away from the jawbreakers that can make your pooch or tabby sick. Still, if you find any kind of deformity in your pet’s deportment, then you should contact an accomplished veterinarian for further treatment proceedings.
This is such a good reminder with Easter just around the corner. My family always used to do Easter egg hunts (of course, with chocolate eggs and baskets of candy/chocolate hidden around the house) and it’s definitely a real danger!
Making your pet vomit sounds really scary because like you said they can inhale as they are throwing up and suffocate on the thing coming back up (especially if it’s a candy wrapper). But I have a feeling in a situation like this you’ll just act instinctively to save your pet!
Great post – happy (almost) Easter!
Thanks Jaimee! Yes, always good to be prepared. I need to do another post on Heimlich for pets. *s*
I had to grab Rosie today. She had her snout in a bag of Werthers Hard Candies. Not chocolate, but not particularly healthy for humans, let alone dogs.
She also loves butter. Can’t leave it on the counter, she’ll eat a pound in seconds. I’m surprised she isn’t a real butter ball.
And yes, she’s a chocoholic. You can’t leave any type of chocolate in reach. Kleopatra is nearly as bad.
It all comes down to developing good habits. If you don’t, puppies will find and eat just about anything.
Wayne
Ooooh, I love the Werthers candies! Seren-kitty loves butter, we really have to watch her.
I appreciate these reminders even though we already try to be very, very careful and (yes) we eat even less chocolate than we did before we had an indoor cat. It seems that though he was born feral he can be trusted not to eat anything that isn’t cat food but caution is always the way to go.
In suspected emergencies we always get our vet on the phone too.
And I also appreciate your willingness to help dispose of extra chocolates, Amy!
Brenda, it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it. *vbg*
Willing to sacrifice yourself for the pets and accept the chocolate? I like that in a person.
I’m generous that way. Ahem. *s*