Chocolate can cause problems for pets

Dear Readers: What it is about chocolate that makes it bad for your dog yet taste good to humans?

It’s the same ingredients that make it a favorite treat for humans that can cause serious health problems in dogs — fat and caffeinelike stimulants. Dark or white chocolate, it doesn’t matter. Both are bad, but for different reasons.

Dark chocolate has a large amount of the stimulant, but less fat, while white chocolate has more fat, with less caffeinelike stimulant. In fact, if a pooch that weighs less than 10 pounds eats as little as 2 ounces of baking chocolate (the darkest), there is the potential for serious health problems. At first, you may notice vomiting or diarrhea, abnormal urination and thirst.

White chocolate is a no-no, too! It doesn’t have as much of the stimulant, but it has a much higher fat content, which can cause a whole bunch of health issues, the worst being pancreatitis, which can be life-threatening. Our Cabbie, a miniature schnauzer, has had pancreatitis twice from getting into a garbage can and scarfing down some high-fat trash. It’s not fun — she almost died — and it’s very expensive to treat.

We all love to indulge our pups, but stick to the veterinarian-recommended goodies.

Thanks to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for this information. Visit www.aspca.org/apcc to learn what’s poisonous to your pets. Heloise

Dear Heloise: I certainly enjoy your hints, especially the funny pet names. Perhaps you can add this to your delightful collection of names: I once had a wonderful St. Bernard named Baron Von Oftenslobber. Marsha Swanson, Hays, Kan.

Love the name! Can’t resist including a couple more to make you smile:

UA Reader, via e-mail, has a kitty named Oscar de la Kitty.

UVirginia Welch of Hampton, Conn., says: “When our German shepherd was left alone for the first time, he tore up everything — newspapers, magazines, pillows, part of a rug. There was dirt and broken glass in the debris. When we came home, we thought the place had been vandalized! So, we named him Vandal!”

UJune Post of Bedford, Texas, says, “How about these — a snake: a Boa Named Sue; a parakeet: Winston Chirphill; and two little bunnies: Rabbit E. Lee and Hare E. Truman.”

Heloise

Dear Readers: Joann Elliott of Houston sent a photo of her granddaughter with the family dog giving her a kiss on the ear. Joann says: “I was worried when my granddaughter was born, since their dog was large and not accustomed to children. As the photo shows, my fears were unwarranted.”

Visit www.Heloise.com to see the baby getting a kiss. Heloise

Dear Heloise: My pet-food dishes are a mess with sticky, leftover food. So, now I give the bowl a spray of nonstick spray and then put the food in. It’s easy to clean now. A Reader, via e-mail

X Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate