Mr. Drager

Meet Drager.  That's MR. Drager to you and me.  Drager is a new friend of ours here on Cat Island and he is a Leonberger by breed.  For those of you not familiar with the breed, they hail from Germany and are a cross between a St. Bernard, Newfie, and a Great Pyrenees.  Are you getting the BIG picture here??  Leonberger loosely translates to "gentle lion" and that he is.  He likes to take out all of his toys and just play like any other 2 year old.  Drager weighs more than me, but still let's me run the show when I pet sit for him which is very decent, I must say.  I think we are going to get along just fine...

                                  

Halloween CAN be scary!

It's that time of year again when the leaves fall and it cools off and we can all enjoy going outside a bit more with our best friends.  Right around the corner of course is that beloved holiday... HALLOWEEN!  We go out and dress up like crazy folks and Lady Gaga ourselves all over the neighborhood until our bags are full of goodies then come home and dump it all out on the floor to see what we've got.  This is the point where I want all pet parents to be extra careful and make sure that what comes out of the bag gets back into the bag or into only a human mouth.  

Chocolate is very toxic for pets, dogs and cats!!  PetMD had the following article, and there's more if you follow the link at:

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/digestive/c_multi_chocolate_toxicity

So take a minute or two and read about how little it takes to do real harm and then relax and have fun with everybody this Halloween.

Chocolate Poisoning in Dogs

Chocolate Toxicity in Dogs

Dogs are known for eating things when they are not supposed to. This is especially true of puppies. Also, dogs have an excellent sense of smell, making it fairly easy to find any secret hiding spots for the chocolate. This can be a dangerous combination when there is chocolate around the house.

  

Chocolate is derived from the roasted seeds of Theobroma cacao, which contains certain properties that can be toxic to animals: caffeine and theobromine. If ingested, these two ingredients can also lead to various medical complications and may even prove fatal for your dog.

If you would like to learn how chocolate poisoning can affect cats, please visit this page in the PetMD Health Library.

Symptoms and Types
 

• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Increased body temperature
• Increased reflex responses
• Muscle rigidity
• Rapid breathing
• Increased heart rate
• Low blood pressure
• Seizures
• Advanced signs (cardiac failure, weakness, and coma)

The amount and type of chocolate ingested is also important, as they are the determining factors for the severity of the toxicity. The three types of chocolate that you must be aware of are:

1. Milk Chocolate – Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.7 ounces per pound of body weight is ingested; severe toxicity occurs when two ounces per pound of body weight is ingested (or as little as one pound of milk chocolate for a 20-pound dog).
2. Semi-Sweet Chocolate – Mild signs of toxicity can occur when 0.3 ounce per pound of body weight is ingested; severe toxicity occurs when one ounce per pound of body weight is ingested (or as little as six ounces of semi-sweet chocolate for a 20-pound dog).
3. Baking Chocolate – This type of chocolate has the highest concentration of caffeine and theobromine. Therefore, as little as two small one-ounce squares of baking chocolate can be toxic to a 20-pound dog (or 0.3 ounce per pound of body weight).

Causes

In the right quantities chocolate can become toxic for any dog. So be wary of feeding your pet anything that might contain chocolate and always keep it out of reach.