Can anyone help? We know that chocolate is bad for the little dears, but can
anyone tell us what is the effect. Had a frantic call from someone whose
baby ate a whole bar - all we could say was no it's not good, but didn't
know why.
 
Many Thanks
Philip @ the Ferret Centre
 
[Moderator's note: Ah, my pet peeve.  No, far as I can tell, we DON'T know
that chocolate is toxic to ferrets.  Repeated large quantities may be, but
certainly some now and then - even fairly large quantities - don't appear to
be toxic.  In animals affected by the toxic ingredient in chocolate, the
typical course is that the critter is unable to metabolize theobromine fast
enough, thus it builds up to toxic levels.  Theobromine is a stimulant, thus
excesses lead to arrhythmias and finally cardiac arrest.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1446]