What a great time of year the Easter holidays are! The sun has returned, nature is coming back to life, and, above all, the Easter bunny is bringing us little chocolate eggs to hide in our gardens. Dogs love these snacks and are often first in the queue for their share. Be careful, though, because even though our furry friends love the taste, chocolate is highly toxic for them, so don’t let them fool you! We take stock in this article.
(Dark) chocolate is made from three ingredients: cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter. “Who cares about that? ” you may be thinking. The problem is actually that cocoa contains, among other things, a substance called theobromine, which is precisely the source of the problem for our furry friends
It is a substance present in chocolate that is responsible for the effect chocolate has on our morale. While we metabolise this substance perfectly, and it even gives us a feeling of happiness and well-being, this is not the case for dogs, as it causes severe poisoning that can lead to death.
It all depends on the dog, of course; however, less than 100g of dark chocolate is potentially enough to be fatal for a 10kg dog.
In other words, it would only take about ten small chocolate eggs for a Shiba Inu to suffer serious complications that could lead to death. Imagine the effect of a few chocolate eggs on smaller dogs such as Chihuahuas or Yorkshire terriers.
Because the well-known theobromine is absorbed slowly by dogs, its effects will only be visible a few hours after the substance is ingested. Among the first symptoms (two to four hours after eating chocolate): Vomiting, diarrhoea, tachycardia, hyperthermia (fever, in other words),…
In the hours that follow, your dog could have convulsions, heart rhythm problems, problems with balance and coordination of movements, or even fall into a coma. These symptoms can lead to the animal’s death.
Go to your vet immediately and try to make your dog vomit. For your pet’s sake, try as much as possible to stay calm and give the vet clear information (how much was eaten, when it happened, what kind of chocolate was swallowed and so on.
Please let’s be careful with food that is dangerous for our pets. The purpose of this article is not to scare but rather to remind you how dangerous chocolate is to dogs, even occasionally, even in small doses. The best thing is simply not to leave the eggs that the Easter bunny kindly brought you today lying around 🙂
If you still want to organise an “egg hunt” for your furry friends, hide some delicious homemade treats for them instead 100% fun and 0% danger.
We wish you all a very happy Easter holiday!
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