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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] More Critter Stories - cocoa bean mulch and dogs

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  • From: Hilborn.E@epamail.epa.gov
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] More Critter Stories - cocoa bean mulch and dogs
  • Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 14:20:27 -0400

Here is an old press release from the ASPCA about the issue:


ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Issues Cocoa Bean Fertilizer Warning
Friday March 14, 2003
Organic mulch fertilizer may pose hazard to dogs.
Contacts: Deborah Sindell
(212)-876-7700 ext. 4658
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(URBANA, IL) March 13, 2003 -- As spring approaches, people will start
to tend their lawns and gardens. Many will consider using cocoa bean
mulch as a fertilizer. Made from spent cocoa beans used in chocolate
production, cocoa bean mulch is organic, deters slugs and snails, and
gives a garden an appealing chocolate smell. However, it also attracts
dogs, who can easily be poisoned by eating the mulch.
Cocoa beans contain the stimulants caffeine and theobromine. Dogs are
highly sensitive to these chemicals, called methylxanthines. In dogs,
low doses of methylxanthine can cause mild gastrointestinal upset
(vomiting, diarrhea, and/or abdominal pain); higher doses can cause
rapid heart rate, muscle tremors, seizures, and death.
Eaten by a 50-pound dog, about 2 ounces of cocoa bean mulch may cause
gastrointestinal upset; about 4.5 ounces, increased heart rate; about
5.3 ounces, seizures; and over 9 ounces, death. (In contrast, a 50-pound
dog can eat up to about 7.5 ounces of milk chocolate without
gastrointestinal upset and up to about a pound of milk chocolate without
increased heart rate.)
If you suspect that your dog has eaten cocoa bean mulch, immediately
contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
(1-888-426-4435). Treatment will depend on how much cocoa bean mulch
your dog has eaten, when the mulch was eaten, and whether your dog is
sick. Recommended care may include placing your dog under veterinary
observation, inducing vomiting, and/or controlling a rapid heart beat or
seizures.
###

http://web.archive.org/web/20031013173740/http://www.aspca.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=12729





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