Saturday, March 22, 2008

Easter and Chocolate Bunnies !!




This is my little stinker, Prissy. She is the highlight of any cloudy day. I am sure if you have a chihuahua, you feel the same way about yours. Tomorrow is Easter, a time for many who worship, go to church, many who come home and hide the Easter eggs outside in the lawn for the youngins to find, and a time for many baskets that are filled with chocolate candy. Please take great care that your chis do NOT get ahold of any chocolate at all. It can be very poisonous for them. I don't know what's in it that is bad, but please know that they cannot have it. With so much going on during this holiday, take special care to keep the candy up and away from your curious chihuahuas, or any dog for that matter. What are my chis getting for Easter? Just a bunch of lovin and attention.........that's really all they want. Happy Easter everyone !

4 comments:

Rockstar Mom said...

Prissy is a dolly! My smallest Chi, Senorita, had a brush with death by chocolate a few years ago.

She got up on the couch, jumped from the couch to the breakfast bar, stepped down onto the kitchen counter and walked over the stove. I had wrapped up a half a bag of mini chocolate chips from some cookies I had baked the day before. I didn't put the chips in the pantry because I had planned to bake more cookies the next day.

Senorita ate more than half of the half full bag. We came home to find brown spots all over my blue livingroom carpet. She threw up on the couch, the decorative pillows, my bedspread, my pajamas. It was horrid! And I had a hard time figuring out which of the three Chi's were sick!

She had to stay overnight for observation at the vet. But I am glad to say she is okay.

Again, your Prissy is a cutie. And this was a good post.

Magaritas said...

oh I bet the whole time you were wondering which chi it was, was very hard because sometimes I still find myself wondering which one did what. Glad that your Senorita is ok.

Jayne Laughlin said...

According to Askipedia:

Unfortunately for dogs chocolate tastes really, really good, but chocolate is not really poisonous- not like cyanide. That doesn't change the fact that it can kill your dog. It is theobromine that is harmful to dogs, if you can find chocolate without it you'll have the happiest dog in town. Theobromine is a stimulant found in the coca plant. People often get theobromine confused with caffeine, while they have similar effects, eating a piece of chocolate will not give a human the rush a cup of coffee does. Chocolate will still give a sugar rush, but don't eat it if you're up late studying for an exam.

Dogs and horses are greatly affected by theobromine. Chocolate is a banned substance in horse racing because of the boost it will give to the horse. Of course a horse can still eat too much of it, like a dog, but they're significantly bigger animals and it would take much more chocolate.

Your dog's system will try to purge itself of the theobromine if it gets enough of it. One tiny piece won't cause any significant damage, unless your dog eats a shoe while 'high' on chocolate. You'll notice if they've had too much. Aside from the dog crying it will be vomiting and have diarrhea. If you notice these symptoms you should have your animal checked out immediately. Your dog will probably not die from these symptoms, they are just warning signs. The concern comes from the dog's heart, especially if it is an older dog. The dogs heart may beat too fast and just give out, that's the real danger. An increased heart rate will probably come after the vomiting and diarrhea, when more theobromine has had a chance to be absorbed into the blood steam. Other signs to watch for are increased urination (another method the body will use to purge itself of something), muscle twitching, and excessive panting. Chocolate could kill your dog, cause seizures or put it in a coma, so be careful.

The amount of chocolate that will harm your dog will vary depending on the size, age, health of your dog, and the type of chocolate. Baker's chocolate has much more theobromine than regular milk chocolate. There are lots of things that will kill dogs, or humans, or any other animal. Too much caffeine can be fatal to humans, yet you'll never drink enough to kill you at one time.

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