It's a delicious time of year for chocolate lovers; this dreamy early spring period between Valentines Day- chocolate hearts and kisses - and Easter with its chocolate bunnies and eggs. And much as I love chocolate, I wasn't really expecting it to enter my exam room one quiet Tuesday morning.
Sally Pearl had come to see me with her fittingly chocolate- colored Standard Poodle Sasha for an annual check up. We were chatting about Sasha's diet and flea and tick preventives before we started the exam. I was working with a new assistant called Jane. She was cheerful and willing, though her animal handling experience went no further than petting her family's dogs.
I asked Jane to lift Sasha onto the table so we could start the examination and give the vaccines. As she leaned over to pick up the dog, out of the top pocket of her loose-fitting scrub top tumbled half a dozen chocolate kisses. They landed right in front of the poodle's nose! With a sharp intake of breath, I leaned over and quickly swept them up, luckily before the dog could eat them. I was only thankful that this wasn't a labrador who would surely have ingested any food item off the floor before we even realized what had happened. How would I have been able to explain to the owner that her pet had eaten a potentially toxic food in our hospital?
As my eyes widened and Jane started to go red in face, realizing what had happened, the owner carried on relating the details of her pet's feeding regime, none the wiser. The rest of the exam went without a hitch. Afterwards, I told Jane :No chocolate, ever, in the exam room!
So, at this time of year when there is so much chocolate around, do be extra careful not to make it available in pockets, handbags or jeans to your canine friends. Dark chocolate is the most dangerous, but any chocolate especially in the pint-sized pets can be toxic.
If your dog ingests chocolate, call your vet and the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline (888 426 4435) which is open 24/7.
And have a Happy Easter!
See me at www.drevemartin.com
