Many people love chocolate because it is a mood booster and tastes lovely; however, what many people do not know is that chocolate is not safe for everyone. Not all species have the same digestive capabilities; for example, cows can eat and digest grass easily, while we cannot. Similarly, while we can digest chocolate, dogs cannot.
The issue lies within the components making chocolate; cocoa beans contain caffeine and a chemical compound called theobromine, which is toxic to dogs because they metabolize it much slower than we do, causing them great problems. If dogs eat chocolate, they can suffer from vomiting, diarrhea, and in extreme cases they can suffer from high blood pressure, seizures, tremors, respiratory failure, and cardiac arrest. The most dangerous kind of chocolate is the unsweetened dark kind, since it contains the highest level of theobromine.
If a dog does ingest chocolate, the first step to take is to induce vomiting in order to stop the theobromine from entering the dog’s system. By giving a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water to the dog, it will make them vomit, then the dog should be rushed to the veterinarian.
We are witness to interesting phenomena all the time; we hear facts and take them without questioning their occurrence. However, when we look into it, we find unraveled parallel worlds, we get to discover so much new information, and we gain insight into the lives of creatures we share this Earth with.
References
www.wired.com
pets.webmd.com
www.livescience.com
animals.howstuffworks.com
www.thenakedscientists.com
*Published in SCIplanet, Autumn 2014 Issue "How Things Work", "Ever Wonder Why? Or How?" article.