Rosie the Riveter

Hi Guys,

Libby here.

So the title of my post is a bit of a lie-we're not going to talk about powerful rivet-gun wielding women.

But it was too good to pass up.

And can you guess? The heroine of this post is....A dog named Rosie!

Today, we're going to talk about Rosie's experience eating chocolate.

Now, if you are a pet owner, you've probably heard the warnings about not feeding your dogs certain foods. Ya know like chocolate, chocolate, onions avocados and grapes...that sort of thing.

But what really happens when pets get their mouths onto these things?

To help tell this tale, I hearken back to the title of my post and, Rosie.

Now one day, Rosie decided she wanted to make a snack out of some chocolate.That little snack almost did the poor girl in.

After consuming a hefty amount of chocolate, Rosie's poor owner found her suffering from:

• restlessness 
• increased heart rate 
• muscle tremors 
• vomiting 
• diarrhea 

No fun!

Something else you might not have realized about chocolate?

There are varying levels of toxicity- that means that not all chocolate is created equal! Bakers chocolate is the worst. Next comes dark and semisweet, followed by milk chocolate. Now don't get me wrong- none of these chocolates are good for your pet but some are definitely worse than others!

No matter the type, if you see an empty chocolate box on your floor and a guilty looking dog you need to act fast. The very first thing you should do is try to induce vomiting at home with hydrogen peroxide.

If you are unsuccessful at dealing with this by yourself, your first stop should definitely be your veterinarian.

They will also induce vomiting (through a process involving putting a tablet in their eye-weird, right!) and then will administer supportive-sedatives like Valium. They'll also give your pet lots of fluids to prevent dehydration and administer supportive care like valium and intravenous fluids if symptoms appear.

Long story short, Rosie was the unfortunate vehicle by which I can share tips about taking care of your pets by making sure you keep them far away from chocolate. It's kind of funny. Our owners are always going on about how chocolate makes them fat which is why they avoid it. But we need to avoid it for slightly different reasons!

So remember, keep your pets safe and away from chocolate!

Til' next time,

Libby