Foods To Avoid
Chocolate
Chocolate is toxic for many animals, including rodents, and shouldn't be offered to them, not even as a small treat. Although a natural product, and made from the beans of the Cacao tree, it contains a toxic compound called Theobromine. It also contains small amounts of Caffeine.
Humans can break down and excrete Theobromine more efficiently than animals. In many animals such as dogs, the half-life of Theobromine is very long, and there is no specific antidote. Theobromine toxicity is also dose dependent. Which means the weight of the animal, the type of chocolate (some chocolate is more toxic than others*) and the quantity ingested determines how toxic it is to the animal.
Toxic dose of Theobromine and Caffeine for animals is approx 100-200 mg per kg. Although cases of toxicity can occur at doses much lower than this figure, sometimes as little as 20mg per kg.
* Baking (unsweetened) chocolate contains roughly 8-10 times more than Milk chocolate. White chocolate does contain Theobromine but at a much lower dose.
Avocado
Avocado fruits have a smooth, creamy, greenish-yellow flesh with an unusually high amount of fat that is primarily monounsaturated fats. Cats, dogs, cattle, goats, rabbits, birds, fish and horses can be severely poisoned or even killed when they consume the avocado leaves, bark, skin, or pit. These contain a toxic fatty acid derivative known as persin, which if eaten in sufficient quantities can cause severe poisoning, and without swift veterinary treatment, death.