I've been commenting on the FML about chocolate for years.  That's not to
imply that I know what I'm talking about, but rather to imply that I'm
stubborn.  Anyhow, here are a few of my thoughts about it.
 
First off, I'm not advocating it for anything other than occasional treats.
Ferrets are carnivores, not Hersheyvores and there is concern that too much
sugar in the diet can contribute to insulinoma (per Dr.  Brown).  On the
other hand, if you like to treat your fuzzbeans to raisins I think a
chocolate chip is better: raisins have a lot of fiber, stick to teeth and
are loaded with sugar too.  Chocolate is high in fat and contains no fiber.
 
As far as toxicity, the compound many people worry about is theobromine.
This is a mild stimulant which isn't of much concern to most animals, but
dogs have a particular problem with it: they metabolize it very slowly so
toxic levels can build up and eventually interfere with heart rhythm.  The
fatal dose of milk chocolate in dogs is much higher than some people think,
(the lethal dose is around 4oz/kg, so a 20 lb dog, for example, would have
to eat over 2 lbs of chocolate to be in deep doo-doo) but it would certainly
be foolish to give dogs chocolate, I agree.
 
Chocolate toxicity may very well be a problem in other species as well, but
as far as I could find, dogs seem to be considerably more sensitive than
other species.  The problem is, I can't find very much information about
theobromine in ferrets.  I've done some electronic searches and I'm pretty
sure there isn't published research about this, but I'd love to hear from
anyone who has more info.
 
Lacking studies, it boils down to anecdotal evidence and then to a question
of quantity.  I've been told by many people that their own ferrets did stuff
like get into a bag of chocolate chips and ate like there was no tomorrow
with few, if any, side effects.  A typical chocolate chip is 2 grams - one,
or even a few, just isn't going to matter, in my opinion.  But I also can't
ignore Erika's experience with her poor Bobbin... there's much we don't know
about these critters... sigh.
 
One thing I do know - chocolate sure seems to be addicting.  My furry little
creeps will do almost anything for chocolate.  I'll bet they have dreams of
being let loose in a candy store and attacking all the chocolate mice.  It
will probably be heavily taxed by the ferret government when they take over
the world.    Bill
[Posted in FML issue 1382]