Two sources, both kept current: the Merck Veterinary Manual's food hazards page and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center's list. Where either gives an amount, it is here. Where neither does, the honest answer is that nobody knows the dose, which is its own reason not to test it.
| Food | What it does | How much |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate, cocoa, coffee | Theobromine and caffeine. Thirst, vomiting, diarrhea and restlessness, then tremors, seizures and a fast or irregular heartbeat. | Merck: one ounce of milk chocolate per pound of body weight is a potentially fatal dose in a dog. Cocoa powder and baking chocolate are far stronger than milk chocolate. |
| Xylitol (birch sugar), in sugar-free gum and candy, some peanut butters, baked goods | Blood sugar crashes within 30 minutes; liver injury at higher doses one to two days later. Vomiting, weakness and staggering come first. | No safe amount given. Sugar-free gum is the usual way it happens. |
| Grapes and raisins | Kidney failure in some dogs, and reported in one cat. The cause is tartaric acid, which varies from fruit to fruit. | Merck: more than one grape or raisin per 10 pounds of body weight may be enough to pose a risk. |
| Onions, garlic, chives | Damage red blood cells and cause anemia, and upset the gut. Cats are more sensitive; dogs are at risk by the amount. | No safe amount given. |
| Macadamia nuts | Dogs only: vomiting, weakness, depression, staggering, tremors and fever within 12 hours. | Merck: signs pass in 12 to 48 hours and most dogs recover without specific treatment. Still a call. |
| Alcohol, and raw bread dough | Vomiting, incoordination, trouble breathing, tremors, coma. Dough ferments in the stomach into alcohol and gas, and can bloat and twist it. | No safe amount given. |
| Salt and salty snacks | Thirst and urination, then vomiting, diarrhea, tremors and seizures. | No safe amount given. |
| Bones, raw meat, raw eggs | Bones injure or block the gut. Raw meat and eggs carry Salmonella and E. coli. | No safe amount given. |
The internet lists avocado with chocolate. The sources do not. Merck names the animals persin poisons: horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, budgies, canaries, cockatiels and fish, and says every part of the plant is dangerous to them. The ASPCA says avocado is primarily a problem for birds, rabbits, donkeys, horses and ruminants. Neither lists the dog or the cat. What a dog gets from avocado is fat, which is on the pancreatitis list above, and a pit that can lodge in a gut. So a slice of the flesh is not a poisoning. A pit is a vet visit. And if you keep a rabbit, a guinea pig or a bird, avocado does not come into the house.
The ASPCA's list of foods you can share, with its conditions: no seasoning, cut small enough not to choke on, and snacks kept to no more than five percent of the day's calories.
Petipedia's pages on what is toxic to dogs and to cats cover plants and household things as well as food.
Read 18 September 2026.