Owners of a Broken Heart
By Dr. Jim Foster
“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.” Katherine Hepburn
Fifi, an eight-year-old spayed female poodle came into the emergency veterinary clinic in a state of shock. Her beautiful apricot colored body was limp and stretched out on the floor when her owner discovered her. It was a touch and go car ride through the streets of a metropolitan suburb in Missouri, as Fifi now exhibited labored breathing as the owner steered the car to the emergency veterinary services clinic. The owner made it to the emergency room door where Fifi was taken in for examination, testing and potential treatment for whatever ailed her. A final breath was taken. The heart broken owner asked for a determination as to Fifi’s cause of death. It would require a surgical exploration known in the veterinary world as the necropsy examination.
It is believed in certain circles of thought that a dog’s sense of smell is 10 million times stronger than that of a human. Imagine a dog walking into a beautifully decorated dining room on Valentines Day to the aroma of a heart shaped bowl filled with heart shaped chocolate candies each wrapped in decorative pink and red foil. A dining room chair the right distance becomes the route to a tasty treat for said pooch whose nose leads them to death by chocolate. Imagine more than forty candies still wrapped in foil sitting snuggly in a stomach with some of the wrapping broken and leaking the melting chocolate that is now passing into the intestines where it is being broken into its chemical components and absorbed into the body. Two of those chemicals in chocolate theobromine and caffeine in high enough concentration are toxic to dogs critically harming the heart potentially causing death if not treated. In this case, there were too many candy hearts in the stomach that could not be thrown up or passed as they were still wrapped in foil and were wedged in the stomach.
As a practicing veterinarian approaching my thirty fifth year of practice, I have noticed a major increase in poisonings in our client’s companion animals in particular dogs. Poisons for rodents tops the list and typically around the holidays of Halloween, Easter and Valentines Day, our clinic receives calls concerning chocolate. I recently attended the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association Convention in Columbia, Missouri where I listened to various guest speakers on several topics including toxicology addressing various items that can harm animals if ingested. Some of the items to consider that are becoming an increasing problem with poisonings in pets are hand warmer packets, drug patches, and marijuana. If you suspect or know that your pet has eaten something that could harm them or cause their death, please contact your veterinarian immediately for assistance.
“My wife kisses the dog on the lips, yet she won’t drink from my glass.” Rodney Dangerfield
