The journal “Sciences et Avenir” explains that while chocolate is a popular treat for people, it is actually poisonous to cats and dogs, and that under no circumstances should you “feed” your pet chocolate.
Chocolate is toxic to them because it is not properly absorbed by the body. This is due to the alkaloid theobromine, which is found in cocoa and chocolate.
This substance becomes dangerous to health when stored in large amounts in the liver. Dark chocolate contains about 12 grams of theobromine, milk chocolate contains twice as much, and white chocolate contains very little.
Theobromine is not harmful to humans because the human body breaks it down quickly.
However, it takes dogs 20 hours to eliminate this molecule, so if they eat a lot of chocolate at once, it can accumulate in the liver and cause poisoning.
Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, rapid pulse, and convulsions.
Cats are the same, but cats are less attracted to chocolate than dogs, because cats can’t taste sweetness with their tongues. Of course, there are exceptions.
Additionally, pet obesity is the subject of many educational campaigns aimed at pet owners.
A British man has been banned from keeping a pet Dalmatian for 10 years because his Dalmatian was too fat, a court in northwest England has ruled. This is a story from the British tabloid The Sun, November 2009.
John Green, 40, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, was extremely irresponsible towards his dog Barney, feeding him crisps and chocolate.
Thus, in just three months, he gained several times the normal weight for his breed, reaching 70 kg.
Green drew attention from surprised and alert citizens.
Animal control officers advised Green to put him on a diet because his dog’s health was at risk.
But he didn’t follow the recommendations, and the dog continued to gain weight.
The Dalmatian was eventually removed from his owners’ home in June and placed on a diet in a private kennel where kennel staff made sure he got enough exercise.
As a result, 8-year-old Barney lost 90 pounds.
Green pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his dog, but the court granted some mitigating circumstances because the man treated Barney more like a friend than a dog and did not realise he was harming him.
So Green was sentenced to only 200 hours of community service and £780 in costs.
Glenn’s caption photo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/high-angle-photo-of-a-corgi-looking-upwards-2664417/
