Chocolates for Valentine's Day?

Keep the sweets for you and your sweetie, not for your pets!  Here’s a quick reminder about chocolate safety for pets.
Chocolate includes: baker’s, semi-sweet, milk chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder
Chocolate toxicity can range from mild gastrointestinal upset to death depending on the size of the pet and the amount and type of chocolate that was ingested.
Signs to watch for include:

• vomiting/diarrhea
• stumbling
• tremors/seizures
• increased heart rate
• hyperexcitability
• coma

White chocolate and the “chocolate” dog treats are generally not harmful to most dogs as they contain negligible amounts of the toxin theobromine. A guideline to the amount of potentially toxic amounts of chocolate for a 40-pound dog follows:

• Unsweetened Cocoa – 3oz
• Baking Chocolate – 5oz
• Semisweet Chocolate – 7oz
• Milk Chocolate – 20oz