Veterinarians strongly urge people to avoid feeding chocolate to dogs. Cocoa beans are toxic to them because they contain two methylxanthines, theobromine and caffeine. Dogs are unable to metabolize theobromine, which can lead to chocolate toxicity.
Caffeine raises blood the dog’s blood pressure and causes dangerous cardiac arrhythmias. If a dog consumes too much chocolate, they can suffer from gastrointestinal upset, vomiting, tremors, seizures, heart failure and even slip into a coma.
Given that chocolate is dangerous for dogs, there is one time when vets will allow them to enjoy the sweet treat. Sadly, that’s before they are put to sleep. Recently, an animal hospital in Smiths Station, Alabama, made headlines for its jar of Hershey’s Kisses that says, “Goodbye Kisses: This jar is reserved for our euthanasia appointments... because no dog should go to Heaven without tasting chocolate.”
A touching video posted to TikTok by Mackenzie Seton has over 59 million views because it shows a tender moment when her dog is able to enjoy the taste of chocolate before going to the vet to be put to sleep.
“I miss my best friend,” she captioned the video.
The video has moved countless people to tears, as evidenced by the comments. “For us, dogs are just a chapter, but for them, we’re their whole story. It’s sad,” the most popular commenter wrote. I read this quote many years ago that said, ‘I have loved you your whole life and will miss you the rest of mine,’ and I’m just not ready to lose my baby,” Taasha120 added.