Comments on: Kitty Heimlich?

Question: Kitty Heimlich?

the luke parker fiasco — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:22:17 -0800

My cat got into some white chocolate. Will she die?

I left a partial bar of white chocolate on the kitchen counter, which I thought my kitten couldn't reach. Turns out, she's gotten more agile, and ate a chunk about the size of a decent-sized thumbnail before I spotted her. I know regular chocolate is really bad, but this doesn't have cocoa, just cocoa butter. How bad is this?

By: DieHipsterDie

DieHipsterDie — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:29:39 -0800

White chocolate: 200 ounces per pound of body weight. It takes 250 pounds of white chocolate to cause signs of nervous-system poisoning in a 20-pound dog, 125 pounds for a 10-pound dog.

Your cat should be ok.

By: bitdamaged

bitdamaged — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:30:29 -0800

she should be fine

By: the luke parker fiasco

the luke parker fiasco — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:31:33 -0800

Wow ... that's a relief. I figured it wasn't too bad, but didn't want to chance it.

Where did you find that info, if you don't mind my asking?

By: bitdamaged

bitdamaged — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:32:04 -0800

Whoops wrong link

this should be right

By: bitteroldman

bitteroldman — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:32:57 -0800

I found the same info by typing in "cats chocolate" in google. I also found it here

By: lunasol

lunasol — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:33:42 -0800

This website would seem to indicate that your cat will be fine: "It takes 125 pounds of white chocolate to cause nervous-system toxicity signs in a 10-pound dog or a 10-pound cat."

Incidentally, the site also points out that for milk chocolate, a 10-lb cat would still need to eat half a pound of chocolate to show signs of toxicity.

By: bitteroldman

bitteroldman — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:33:59 -0800

whoops, bitdamaged was quicker on the draw! Kudos to you!

By: palmcorder_yajna

palmcorder_yajna — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:50:58 -0800

For future reference, the ASPCA Poison Control Center is a great place to go with these kinds of questions. In addition to having a very informative website, they also have a 24-hour advice line. So if your dog or cat manages to chew open and devour a bottle of pills at 2:30 a.m. (as mine once did), you can call and talk to an actual human being about what to do.

By: Solomon

Solomon — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:57:31 -0800

I could be wrong, but I think that darker chocolate has more theobromine (the toxic stuff) than white chocolate. In fact, I don't think that white chocolate is actually chocolate at all, because it has no cacao in it, just cacao butter.

By: cmyk

cmyk — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:07:15 -0800

Solomon, I think you're right -- that's what I remember anyway. Unsweetened dark chocolate is the worst for pets to get into because it's the most concentrated. Milk or white chocolate is a lot harder for them to hurt themselves with.

Though, y'know, it's still got dairy and sugar and fats in it that pets might not be used to, and even if it doesn't poison them it can still be a disgustingly messy event.

By: the luke parker fiasco

the luke parker fiasco — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:10:04 -0800

Thanks so much for the info, everyone. I did a cursory search at first and didn't come up with much for white chocolate specifically; and I was worried enough that I shot it over to the hive mind in the hopes of finding a quick answer.

Y'all are awesome ...

By: Rash

Rash — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:08:38 -0800

Solomon is correct -- the only chocolate in white chocolate is in the name -- all the real chocolate's been removed from it. But thanks lunasol, I thought the chocolate ban was just about dogs, not cats. (Although I've never known a cat that displayed any interest in sweets.)

By: ikkyu2

ikkyu2 — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:06:11 -0800

250 lbs? Does the cat have to ingest it, or could you just drop it on him?

By: dhammond

dhammond — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:23:54 -0800

Out of curiosity, is it even possible for a 10-pound cat to eat 250 lbs. of anything?

By: DMan

DMan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:27:22 -0800

250 lbs? Does the cat have to ingest it, or could you just drop it on him?

IM IN UR KITCHEN, PUTTIN WILLIE WONKA TO SHAME?

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:10:27 -0800

I would expect that the 250-lb figure was arrived at by figuring out the amount of theobromine per gram of white chocolate and then figuring out how much white chocolate would be needed to yield that much theobromine. As Rash said, white chocolate much less of many of the chemical components that are in regular chocolate.

By: agregoli

agregoli — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:21:38 -0800

I found out recently that grapes are poisonous to dogs. Seriously. Grapes. So I think I'll shoot over to that poison website in hopes of finding out more about our furry friends and their intolerances.