Lifetime Pet Wellness Center

Appointments

(614) 888-2100

Chocolate’s Not So Sweet for Pets

Chocolate’s Not So Sweet for Pets

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s important to remember to put all those heart-shaped boxes of treats out of your pet’s reach.

Chocolate is extremely dangerous to both dogs and cats and can cause nausea, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, pancreatitis, seizures and even death. The toxic substance in chocolate is theobromine, and it is present in all chocolate, even the white kind. As a rule, the darker the chocolate, the more theobromine present, with the most dangerous being unsweetened baking chocolate.

But it’s not just chocolate to watch out for: sugar-free candy, gum and peanut butter often contain xylitol, an artificial sweetener that can be very harmful to our pets as well. Read labels and make sure anything you give your pet is xylitol-free.

For more information or if you think your pet may have ingested a harmful substance, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 614-888-2100.