When it comes to owning a pet, not only do you have to understand them and make them understand you, but also take care of several other things that every pet owner should be aware of. One such thing is surely their diet, what they are eating on their own or what you are feeding them, you need to take care of everything that they have been intaking.
Sure, you can train them in a way that they avoid certain things themselves. However, it doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t have to monitor their diet.
While it is necessary to take care of any pet’s diet, when it comes to dogs, you might be surprised at the kind of things that they shouldn’t be fed at all. For example, you may have heard this question repeatedly: is chocolate bad for dogs? While most dog owners may already be aware of the fact that chocolate is bad for their pets, you might be more interested in knowing the details. Why exactly is chocolate poisonous for dogs and how can you take care of it?
Whether you are a new dog owner or one who has had a furry friend for quite a while, this guide covers everything you need to know about why chocolate can be bad for your dog:
Most of us love different types of chocolate. For example, some prefer dark chocolate, some milk, and then there are some who are into white chocolate. No matter what type of chocolate it is, our sweet tooth gets activated no matter what someone its name.
While giving chocolate can be a great way of expressing your feelings to your loved ones, you for sure do not want to do the same for your dog. You may do it with good intention, but it will not have the kind of outcome you are expecting.
The reason behind this is that the ingredients in chocolate, especially theobromine can be detrimental to dogs. It is in all types of chocolate. You must be wondering that if theobromine is toxic for dogs, why is it not for humans? The fact is that humans can metabolize the intake of theobromine quickly so it does not hit a dangerous level. However, with dogs, the process is much slower, which is why as theobromine sits in their body longer, it starts getting toxic.
Different types of chocolate have a varying impact on dogs. To give you a very basic idea, dark chocolate can be the most harmful for dogs as it contains the highest amount of theobromine.
Milk chocolate can be less harmful, while the effect of white chocolate is not as severe as less as milk and dark chocolate. However, this does not mean that you should feed your dog milk or white chocolate. While dark chocolate will act as poison immediately, the other two can also have adverse effects on their health.
The key here is to understand the fact that the intake of chocolate and how it will affect your dog depends on certain factors. These factors include the following:
A small dog may get poisoned by even a small amount of dark or cocoa chocolate while a large dog may not face the same issue. You can also use a risk calculator if you think your dog has eaten chocolate and is showing some symptoms. These symptoms may include:
If any of the above symptoms are visible after your dog has mistakenly eaten chocolate, you should call your vet and visit them at your earliest. Depending on the size of your dog and the intake, it can take anywhere between 6-12 hours for the poisonous symptoms to show up.
Hence, no matter how large your dog is or how small the intake was, if any of the above symptoms or anything else which seems irregular shows up, it is best to visit your vet immediately so that the dog can be saved from high amounts of poison.
While chocolate can be extremely harmful and even poisonous in cases when it is taken with a greater quantity of theobromine, if you are a new dog owner, you may want to look out for several other products as well.
Some of these may include but are not limited to avocado, grapes, raisins, alcohol, walnuts, Macadamia nuts, raw eggs, and caffeine. You may also want to take some precautions in terms of diet, depending on the specific breed.
The reason why all this information is necessary is that generally, many human traits can be found in man’s best friend as well. However, when it comes to food, there can be several treats that we as humans tend to enjoy and which are not harmful to us, but they can be poisonous to our little friends. These differences need to be catered to so that we don’t end up hurting our furry friends in any way.
If you own a dog, you must know how important it is to take good care of them. During our hard times, they are always with us and can sense our sadness before anyone else by trying to cheer us up in their adorable ways. This is the least we can do for them. So, make sure that they do not have to face any problems because of our carelessness, especially when it comes to their diet. We hope everyone has a Happy Halloween tonight. 🙂
by Bobby J Davidson || You can’t buy love, but you can rescue it™ .
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