Rabbits and chocolate?

[Tbgb1912]

I didn't really know which forum to put this in..

Basically my job is hand making chocolates, so I often come home covered in the stuff. The buns and kits, absolutely love to lick my skin and often my clothes where chocolate has been or still is.

So exactly how bad is it for them?

 

[Susie570]

I would make efforts to prevent rabbits from ingesting chocolate.

http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/critter-experts/vet/rabbit-ate-chocolate-1310.aspx

 

[akane]

Chocolate is potentially toxic to all animals. At low amounts it risks diarrhea as well as vomiting in those species that can. At higher amounts the irritation to the digestive tract and various ingredients can lead to bacteria blooms and stagnation so you get pockets of gas (bloat) and if rapid action is not taken the digestive tract will be unable to move anything (stasis) leading to necrotic bowel. At that point it's deadly. If you are washing your hands though it's probably not the actual chocolate sticking. It's probably any oils or fatty substances you use to create texture or binding for the chocolate. Which is a little less dangerous but can still feed bacteria to cause bloat.

 

[Preitler]

I would guess that after washing hands the amount of fat or whatever is too small to cause harm. But after my sisters dog got at a plate full of choclate cookies and having a vague idea what the vet bill was I really would recommend to keep them away from any noticeable amounts of that stuff.

Hm, makes me wonder what sets us apart from animals, well, cant imagine pigs having problems with chocolate, but I don't know...
EDIT: Even such omnivores are affected :shock:
http://petpigs.com/resources/pig-care/b ... er-dangers