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I'm currently adding to my website on toxic substances for dogs and cats. In addition, if you want to look at my Pet Emergency Information and Resources you will find a list of Poison Control Contacts, and a link to a page to print out a personal Emergency Contact Sheet (just in case).

This is a brief overview on some of the information I'm adding:

Dogs are more likely to eat chocolate than cats, many cats won't eat it. However, if your cat does eat chocolate, treat the situation as life threatening, since cats are small and it takes less chocolate to be dangerous.

Different types of chocolate contain vastly different concentrations of theobromine: milk chocolate is the least toxic, semi-sweet chocolate is more toxic, and Baker's (unsweetened) chocolate is the most toxic. The more expensive dark chocolate candy is worse than semi-sweet and can approach Baker's chocolate in its theobromine concentration.

For a chocolate ingestion to be life-threatening your dog would need to eat:

milk chocolate - 1 ounce for every pound the dog weighs
semi-sweet chocolate - 1 ounce for every 3 pounds the dog weighs
baker's chocolate - 1 ounce for every 10 pounds the dog weighs

Cats, and other animals, cannot clear theobromine from their bodies as quickly as people can. Many cat owners would simply expect their pet to develop an upset stomach after eating a large amount of chocolate, few realize its toxic potential.

Further problems which can arise from chocolate poisoning are Diuresis (increased urine production), diarrhea, lethargy, vomiting, depression, and muscle tremors.

Treatment for chocolate poisoning in its advanced stage can be very unpleasant for both the cat and the owner of the cat, so it is much wiser to be safe and not to allow your cat to consume foods which contain chocolate.

Some cats tolerate chocolate better than others. Although the toxic dosage varies from animal to animal, everyone agrees that chocolate contains a lethal ingredient, a methylxanthine called theobromine, and that baking chocolate contains 10 times more of this lethal ingredient than milk chocolate.