People love dogs. Pet owners have the habit of tossing a piece of the food they are eating with the pet not knowing that some people food can poison the pet. It is really quite perplexing how a perfectly safe food for humans can be poisonous to dogs. Although humans and dogs have similarities in genetics, they differ in so many ways. The inability of a dog’s system to tolerate chocolate is one of these differences. The toxic effect of chocolates on dogs is made more dangerous because a lot of dog owners are unaware of this fact. Humans get a lot of benefits from chocolates. Chocolates and dogs though is a bad combination.
The substance theobromine that is found in chocolates is what makes this world’s most loved treat toxic to dogs. Theobromine, a chemical that is similar to caffeine is a naturally occurring substance found in cocoa beans. Theobromine serves as a stimulant and causes frequent urination, affects the kidneys and the heart muscles as well as the central nervous system. The toxic effects of theobromine in dogs is caused by dog’s inability to digest this substance. Because of the dog’s inability to digest the theobromine substance, continued consumption will cause an accumulation in the dog’s system until a variety of medical concerns happen because increased level of toxicity.
Dog owners have this habit of sharing anything they eat with the pet thus a slice of chocolate cake or a bite of the chocolate bar will be tossed to the dog. Small amount of chocolate consumed by the dog would not show clinical signs of poisoning. Theobromine have dangerous effects but a dog has to ingest a substantial amount of chocolates before clinical signs of poisoning will be seen. The level poisoning would depend on the type of chocolate consumed. White chocolates have little amount of theobromine thus the toxicity level is quite low. Because of the low theobromine content, a dog has to consume 200 ounces of white chocolates before clinical signs of poisoning can be noticed. Milk chocolates and semi-sweet chocolates contains more of toxic substance thus a substantial amount consumed will be dangerous to the pet. The baking chocolate is the most dangerous ass it has the highest theobromine content. Dog owners may not give the dog baking chocolate, dogs being the voracious eaters that they are may be lured by the smell and filch the chocolate while the master’s back is turned. This situation calls for immediate treatment to save the life of the pet. Furthermore it is important to know what to do if your dog eats chocolate.
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