Dogs, Chocolate, and Smart Phones

Here’s a little ditty I couldn’t resist sharing.  I’m such a sucker for upbeat stories that involve kids or animals, and this one happens to involve both. An ingenious seventh grader named Parker Stevens was featured in a recent issue of DOGliving, a wonderful magazine out of North Carolina.  This young man created an iPhone application called ChocoTox that determines whether or not the amount of chocolate ingested by a dog is toxic. The iPhone user plugs in the dog’s body weight, amount of chocolate ingested, and “strength” of the chocolate (i.e., dark chocolate contains more of the toxic principle called theobromine than milk chocolate).  The smart phone then determines if veterinary intervention is indicated (I don’t think it mentions the need for impending carpet cleaning).

 

Kudos to Parker for his clever App aptitude! I sense this kid will be accomplishing great things in the world of technogeekdom!  Keep in mind, there are a few chocolaty circumstances that definitely favor consultation with your vet rather than your iPhone:

-More than one dog was involved in the chocolate fest and it is impossible to know which dog ate how much.
-The container that contained the chocolate was also ingested and is now residing somewhere in the dog’s gastrointestinal tract.
-The ingested chocolate happened to contain other toxic substances- a leafy green substance seems to be a common ingredient in brownies baked by some of our hospital clients.

Best wishes to you and your four-legged family members for abundant good health, 

Nancy Kay, DVM
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine
Recipient, American Animal Hospital Association 2009 Animal Welfare and Humane Ethics Award
Recipient, 2009 Dog Writers Association of America Award for Best Blog
Recipient, 2009 Eukanuba Canine Health Award
Author of Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life
Website: http://www.speakingforspot.com
Become a Fan of Speaking for Spot on Facebook 

Please visit http://www.speakingforspot.com to read excerpts from Speaking for Spot. There you will also find “Advocacy Aids”- helpful health forms you can download and use for your own dog, and a collection of published articles on advocating for your pet’s health. Speaking for Spot is available at Amazon.com, local bookstores, or your favorite online book seller.