Cocoa Mulch

This article is for all of us who landscape and are thinking about using Cocoa Mulch.

Theobromine*

A chemical found in cocoa mulch, can be lethal to pets.
It smells like chocolate and really attracts dogs.

*Theobromine**, also known as xantheose,^[1] is a bitter alkaloid of the cacao plant, and is therefore found in chocolate. It is in the methylxanthine class of chemical compounds,^[3] which also includes the similar compounds theophylline and caffeine.^[1] Despite its name, the compound contains no bromine — theobromine is derived from Theobroma, the name of the genus of the cacao tree, (which itself is made up of the Greek roots theo ("God") and broma ("food"), meaning "food of the gods")^[4] with the suffix -ine given to alkaloids and other basic nitrogen-containing compounds.^[5]Theobromine is a water insoluble, crystalline, bitter powder; the colour has been listed as either white or colourless.^[6] It has a similar, but lesser, effect to caffeine, making it a lesser homologue. Theobromine is an isomer of theophylline as well as paraxanthine. Theobromine is categorized as a dimethyl xanthine,^[7] which means it is a xanthine^[8] with two methyl groups.^[9^]Theobromine was first isolated from the seeds of the cacao tree in 1878^[10] and then shortly afterwards was synthesized from xanthine by Hermann Emil Fischer.^[11]

^{**The amount of theobromine found in
chocolate is small enough that it can be safely consumed by humans,
but animals that metabolize
theobromine more slowly, such as dogs,
can succumb to theobromine
poisoning from as little as 50 grams of chocolate for a smaller dog
and 400 grams for an average-sized dog. Complications include digestive
issues, dehydration, excitability, and a slow heart rate. Later stages
of theobromine poisoning include

epileptic-like
seizure
and possibly death. If caught early on, theobromine poisoning is
treatable.^[28]}

Click on the link:
www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp