Tag Archives: dogs

Let’s Talk Chocolate Toxicity and Dogs

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Here’s an excellent article about chocolate toxicity and dogs from For the Love of the Dog. Cat owners, you have little need to worry, it seems that cats avoid chocolate for some reason. Maybe dogs could take a lesson in this!

As a dog owner, you should know by now that your dog should not eat chocolate. It is toxic and in a large enough quantity, it can kill! So let’s talk a little about chocolate and what’s in it that’s the problem.

  • The toxic component of chocolate is theobromine.
  • The half life in the dog is 17.5 hours.
  • The Toxic dose in the dog is 100-150 mg/kg (kilogram (kg) = 2.2 lbs, milligram(mg) = 1/1000 of a gram).

So for a 50 pound dog, a toxic dose would be roughly 2.2 grams (2200 mg) of pure chocolate. For a 10 lb dog, the toxic dose is 500mg.

However the concentration of theobromine varies with the formulation of the chocolate so:

  • Milk chocolate has 44mg/oz (154mg/100gm): toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 50 oz of milk chocolate.
  • Semisweet chocolate has 150 mg/oz (528mg/100gm): toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 15 oz of semisweet chocolate
  • Baking chocolate 390mg/oz (1365 mg/100gm): toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 5 oz of baking chocolate

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Fighting the Worms in Dogs

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Dogs are readily susceptible to worms and parasites. Unfortunately, with their natural unrestrained feeding habits, there’s no way to prevent worms in dogs. However, when infected dogs show symptoms, there are lots of options to flush these worms in dogs and control the spread of the infestation.

The best way to curb infestation of worms in dogs is to monitor its diet. Human food may be given, but not when it is starting to get bad. Disposing of rotten food should also be done with care, lest dogs may topple garbage bins over and feed on the trash.

Here are the most common parasites, worms in dogs, their accompanying symptoms, and their treatment.
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