>From:    RRC <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Bob C: Q-N-A: Eggs v. Chocolate
><much snipped>... As for milk chocolate, it is inconceivable that a ferret
>could eat enough to kill itself, even if it was as sensitive to theobromide
>as a dog (which it isn't).
 
With all due respect, Bob, I'll have to disagree here.  (I thought we'd
discussed this when you were here - am I mis-remembering?)  Although, if
the statement above were re-worded to say "...it is inconceivable that a
ferret could eat enough chocolate FOR THE THEOBROMIDE to kill it..." I'd
agree with you completely.
 
One year ago, in the evening, a couple found their ferret "up to his ears"
in a bag of milk-chocolate Easter candy.  They had no idea how much he'd
eaten, but there were several shredded foil wrappers around.  A couple
hours later, the ferret had a "touch" of diarrhea, and was a bit lethargic.
They decided that if he seemed no better in the morning, that they should
get him to a vet.  Early Saturday morning, the ferret was limp and almost
totally non-responsive.  They got him to their clinic as soon as it opened.
 
The vet there wasn't very familiar with ferrets, but did run a few tests
including blood glucose.  The glucose level was very low, so she referred
them to my vet as she knew Dr. Klein had experience with hypoglycemia in
ferrets.  Dr. Klein listened to the history, re-ran the glucose test and
took an X-ray.  Glucose was even lower, and the X-ray showed a large dark
mass in the stomach.  Since the ferret hadn't eaten since the night before,
the stomach should have been more or less empty... The couple authorized
immediate exploratory surgery.  Dr. Klein expected to find foil in the
stomach, but what she found instead was a large amount of *undigested*
liquid chocolate.  (she saved a tube full...) The GI tract was almost
completely hypomotile - no movement in it at all.  But the worst thing she
found was the condition of the pancreas - in her words, it was "just a
bloody mass." The ferret didn't survive.
 
The general conclusion was that the pancreas "burned itself out" trying
to compensate for the amount of sugar the ferret had ingested with the
chocolate.  Theobromide takes some time to be processed by the metabolism.
The ferret died long before the theobromide had a chance to affect it.
 
One ferret isn't a statistically significant sample, no.  However, and
this is just IMO - the amount of sugar in milk chocolate is probably more
dangerous to the ferret than the theobromide.  Which means carob chips
are probably also not "safe."  One or two chips at a time probably aren't
hazardous to a healthy ferret (numerous carnivorous critters in the wild
love to eat sweet berries when they're available) but I'd just be very
careful on the "how often" and "how much."
 
Carla Smith  <><
WhyNot? Ferrets
http://www.whynotferrets.com
ICQ:  29478475
member, Rio Grande Domestic Ferret Club, El Paso, TX
"Every pet deserves to be loved, and to have someone cry over them when
 they're gone."
[Posted in FML issue 3028]