- Chocolate & Candy Dangers for Dogs
Dogs and Halloween goodies do not mix.
Too much sugar isn’t good for dogs. At best it could just mean gas, but it can lead to vomiting & diarrhea and more. Adding insult to injury …… As bad as real sugar is for dogs, artificial sugar is pure poison. Xylitol or Birch Sugar is a common component of candies especially but it is not limited to candy. Xylitol is also found in puddings, peanut butter, baked goods, ketchup, vitamins, gum, toothpaste, cough syrup, and many more items. Poisoning can have impact in as little as 20 minutes. The horrible list of issues includes vomiting, weakness, collapse, coma, liver failure and more. Xylitol is a medical emergency for a dog.
Chocolate can also be serious for dogs. It contains theobromine and caffeine which dogs don’t process as well as humans. The total amounts will vary by type of chocolate, with darker chocolates having more. The devil is in the details. If your dog consumes chocolate you will need to tell the vet how much and exactly what kind the dog ate, as well as your dogs’ size/weight.
Chocolate poisoning is serious. The “milder” symptoms include vomiting & diarrhea, as well as increased thirst, panting & restlessness, excessive urination and racing heart rates while even more serious impacts include seizures and heart failure. Chocolate poisoning might only take hours to develop, but the impact can last for days. Theobromine remains in the dog’s bloodstream for a long time.
So, while we humans enjoy the tomfoolery of Halloween, please remember it is chock full of stresses and dangers for your dogs.
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Halloween Horrors for Dogs
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Pumpkin Pleasure (for dogs)
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Tail wagging puzzles
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Prevent Dog Bites
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