No Chocolate!!

NO CHOCOLATE!!

At Nurturing by Nature we want to promote responsible pet owners and with the Easter bank holiday just upon us we thought that it would be an important time to highlight the dangers of chocolate.

I’m not going to lie we (the humans) at Nurturing by Nature love a bar of chocolate and a chocolate digestive spends less time in the biscuit tin than it takes to say chocolate digestive. However we are different in some ways to our four legged friends and however much chocolate may be unhealthy for us it is not that dangerous. Resulting in us putting on a few extra pounds. With dogs, chocolate is highly toxic and in the most sever of cases can be fatal.

It is even more import to be aware of the dangers at this time of year when chocolate tends to be more readily available in most households.

“So you’re in the kitchen making a cup of tea when all you can hear is a commotion coming from the front room. You walk into the front room and all you can see is a scattering of silver foil and half eaten cardboard packaging boxes. Boris (the collie) laying in his bed looking super proud of himself and there are no chocolate eggs to be seen.”

Boris must have had the chocolate!

Some of the visible signs that may occur within the hours after the event are;

·       Vomiting

·       Excessive drinking

·       Restlessness

·       Salivation

·       Excitability and hyperactivity

In severe cases;

·       Diarrhea

·       Urinary incontinence

·       Convulsions

·       Muscle rigidity

·       Circulatory failure may occur

The effects of Chocolate to the health of our four legged friends are really quite serious and should not to be treated lightly!

It is also worth noting that many muffins, biscuits and cakes can also contain traces of chocolate and although they may only contain a small trace of chocolate, they should also be treated with caution.

At Nurturing by Nature we want to encourage everyone to really get to know your animals and promote being responsible pet owners. Whilst we do not intend to scare you it is important to understand just how dangerous chocolate can be. If any of our four legged friends manage to help themselves to our chocolate snacks over the holiday period please don’t hesitate to seek Veterinary advice.