听力文摘：洋葱会杀死你的宠物（在线收听）

You may already know that chocolate can be lethal to your pet, but did you know that onions can be toxic to your cats and dogs too? And I’m not just talking about their breath.

也许你已经知道巧克力对宠物的杀伤力，但是你知道小猫小狗吃了洋葱会中毒吗？我不仅仅说的是他们的呼吸。

You see all forms of onions–cooked, raw, dehydrated–contain sulfurcompounds. When your pet ingests onions, these compounds are broken down into what are known as disulphidecompounds; these are toxic to red blood cell membranes and cause them to form small bubble-like projections that are known as Heinz bodies. These bubbles make the red blood cell more rigid, and weaken its outer membrane, which means not only that the cell can’t flex and twist as it circulates in the body, but that it is more likely to rupture.

要知道，新鲜的、脱水的、烹饪的洋葱，无一例外含有硫化物。宠物摄食洋葱，化合物就分解成二硫化物，红细胞膜“中毒”，形成海恩茨氏小体的突起小泡。海恩茨氏小体使红细胞僵硬，外膜受损。红细胞在体内循环，无法弯曲和扭转，更易破裂。

Now, the main function of red blood cells is to circulate oxygen throughout the body. Without enough of these, the animal becomes anemic, and–if the bone marrow isn’t given enough time to regenerate new red blood cells–it may even die. This also explains why the effects of onion toxicity can take a few days to show up, and why even very small amounts of onions can still have a cumulative damaging effect.

红细胞的主要功能是循环体内的氧气。红细胞的缺失诱发动物贫血；如果骨髓没有及时更新红细胞，动物就会丧命。这也是洋葱毒性在数日后才得以显现的原因，而极少量的洋葱也能带来极大的危害。

So what can you do to protect your dog or cat? Make sure to read labels. For example, baby food, which people use to entice their sick cats to eat, often contains onion powder. Also, do not feed your pet table scraps that contain onions in any shape or form. And it is always if your cat or dog begins vomiting, acting depressed, or breathes rapidly. Don’t delay! Take them to the vet.

那么，你如何保护宠物呢？请仔细阅读标签。比如，人们用来喂生病宠物猫的婴儿食品中就常含有洋葱粉。也不要喂给宠物任何含洋葱的残羹剩饭。此外，如果你的宠物猫狗出现呕吐、精神沉郁、呼吁紧促等症状，就赶快送去兽医诊所！