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!
Does your dog roll in poop? We lived on the river when I grew up, and our Shelties always loved to find dead fish and roll in the stink. Here in Texas, our German Shepherd loved to visit the next-door neighbor horse, and not only roll in nasty stuff, but sometimes even EAT the crap, ew! Learn why dogs do this dirty deed in the post.
As a pet lover, do you ever wonder if you’re doing enough? Or do you ever find yourself comparing your parenting with what you see other pet parents doing with or for their pets? Are you consumed by guilt every time you have to leave your cat or dog alone or decide to say no to something that would be good for them? (Like that uber-expensive spa treatment or therapy?) Trust me, you’re not the only one dealing with pet guilt. Here are tips to help you deal.
It’s NATIONAL ADOPT A DOG MONTH! How will you spend your celebration? Wait, your dog didn’t tell you? Well, for Shadow, it’s “dog week” every week of the year, but the “official” celebration takes place the 4th week of September every year — and has been celebrated since the first event in 1928. But October celebrates dog adoptions all month long. Check out my most popular dog-centric blogs in this post.
Have you thought about dog bite Halloween safety? and I’m not talking about vampires, either. Many dogs enjoy the howl-idays. But dogs biting kids happens more often at this time of year than any other.
This is a timely subject so I try to revisit the information every year. I write about this every year because it’s so darned important. With Halloween in the offing, this is the perfect time to brush up on dog safety issues and protect your kids, too.
To give equal time, there are many kitty-centric Halloween myth-teries you’ll find fascinating, especially about black cats.
While nonstop doorbell rings and visitors showering attention may be doggy bliss for your pet, even friendly laid back pooches get their tails in a twist over the disruption to routine. That can be dangerous for the pet—and for the human. Learn more about dog bites and kid safety here…
August 17 is Black Cat Appreciation Day to counter the Halloween black cat negative myths. Of course, those folks who share their lives (and pillows!) with a special black cat know better. Sadly, too many black cats remain in shelters rather than being adopted.
In fact, some evidence supports the notion that black cats (one of the first “mutations” of wild coat color), enhanced what I call the feline friendly factor. Black cats often seem to be much more agreeable and love spending time with their chosen human. Maybe that’s why so many of the so-called witches were associated with black kitties.
People have more difficulty picking cats because they assume all felines are the same. And because usually, cats pick us.
Halloween pet safety is needed every year. Halloween at its best is a night of mystery, fun, and thrills for human children and many adults. It’s important to keep your human kiddoes safe with these tips, but no less important for the pets. I write about Halloween pets safety every year because it can be a nightmare for your furry kids.
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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*