Posted by: sarasotapet on: October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Yes, it’s that time of year when the flood of cult cat sacrifice stories start piling up in the inbox, with that breathless “forward this to everyone you know!” tag line. (Note to my readers: Pet related or not, there has never been a message that should be forwarded to everyone you know. Trust me on this.)
Which means it’s also that time of year when I wish that the people who worry about cat sacrifices would instead worry about far more common and preventable holiday threats to our pets. Like the fact that chocolate, while a wonderful and healthful food for humans, is toxic to dogs and cats. Or that the sweetener xylitol, while beneficial to human blood sugar levels and dental health, can be fatal to dogs and cats even in very small quantities.
Veterinary toxicologist Dr. Steven Hansen of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center said that Halloween is to veterinarians what April 15 is to accountants.
“Calls about pets who have become ill after eating chocolate spike their highest around Halloween,” he said. “We manage several thousand of these calls every year.”
The problem with chocolate is that dogs and cats, unlike humans, are very sensitive to the caffeine-like substances it contains. The darker the chocolate, the greater the risk. While a single Hershey’s kiss won’t harm even a small dog, as little as four ounces of dark chocolate could cause seizures in, or even kill, a dog who weighs 40 pounds.
“Dogs are at much greater risk than cats,” said Hansen. “That’s because cats are really tasters rather than eaters, and they don’t normally enjoy sweets. But dogs will eat an entire bag of Halloween candy, wrappers and all, and end up with a very high dose of chocolate.”
