All pets are at risk for chocolate poisoning. But puppies get into chocolate most often because of their curious nature. And their smaller size increases the risk for chocolate poisoning even if they munch a small amount.
What Happens When Dogs Eat Chocolate?
Milk chocolate usually doesn’t cause life-threatening problems because it takes nearly two pounds of milk chocolate to poison a seven-pound puppy. Milk chocolate found in candy bars contains about 42 milligrams of theobromine per ounce. Typically, a toxic dose of milk chocolate is five ounces per pound of body weight. While a bite of chocolate generally isn’t a concern, a 10-pound puppy can still get very sick from eating as little as eight ounces of milk chocolate.Unsweetened baking chocolate is much more dangerous. It contains nearly ten times as much theobromine as milk chocolate, about 450 milligrams of theobromine per ounce. Baking chocolate is used to make truffles, brownies, chocolate cake, and other deserts. A lethal dose of theobromine is .67 to 1.3 ounces of baking chocolate per 2.2 pounds of dog. That means your ten pound puppy can become sick or even die simply by licking off the chocolate frosting on a large cake, swiping a truffle or lapping up your hot cocoa.
Signs of Chocolate Poisoning
The theobromine and caffeine are stimulants that affect the puppy's nervous system, causing hyperactive behavior along with other signs. Poisoned pups may pass large amounts of urine due to the diuretic effect of the drug which also relaxes bladder control.Pups poisoned with chocolate drool, act thirsty, and suffer vomiting and/or have bouts of diarrhea. Even if not life-threatening, the diarrhea and vomiting can leave you with potty accidents to clean up.
If your puppy stops breathing you may need to perform rescue breathing. The drug may either increase the pet's heart rate or cause irregular heartbeat. The signs of poisoning may eventually include muscle spasms or tremors, seizures, coma, and ultimately death.
Treatment for Chocolate Poisoning
There is no antidote for chocolate poisoning. Affected dogs are offered supportive treatment from the veterinarian to prevent further absorption of the poison and hasten elimination, along with symptomatic treatment.Activated charcoal may be administered to help prevent additional absorption of the theobromine into the puppy's system. Signs of shock are addressed with fluid therapy, and seizures, heart irregularities, vomiting and diarrhea are each specifically treated with appropriate medications. The treatment is often prolonged, because the half-life of theobromine—the time it takes the body to eliminate it—is 72 hours in dogs.
First Aid for Chocolate Poisoning
If you catch your puppy snacking on such things, induce vomiting as soon as you can to get rid of the poison. Even if you don’t see the dirty deed but find suspicious evidence such as chewed up candy wrappers, it’s a good idea to get him to purge. Chocolate isn't absorbed very quickly, so making him vomit may be helpful even a couple of hours after ingestion.It can be dangerous to induce vomiting if the pup acts woozy. They can inhale the material on its way up and suffocate. As long as he’s alert, there are several methods you can use to get rid of the chocolate.
- First, feed the pup a small meal. This helps dilute the toxin and delay its absorption. Having something of “substance” in the stomach also makes it much easier to induce vomiting.
- Give your pet 3% hydrogen peroxide, one to two teaspoons for every 10 pounds the pup weighs. Squirt to the back of the pet’s tongue with an eyedropper, needless syringe, or turkey baster. The taste and foaming prompts vomiting within five minutes. If it doesn’t work the first time, you can repeat two or three times, with five minutes between doses.
- Syrup of Ipecac is effective for dogs. Ipecac takes longer to work than hydrogen peroxide, though, and the dose should only be given once. Give one teaspoon for dogs less than 35 pounds, and up to a tablespoon for larger dogs.
- If you have nothing else available, table salt prompts vomiting after the first or second dose. Give it dry, onto the back of the pet’s tongue—one teaspoonful at a time for little pups or a tablespoonful for adult-size pups. Repeat in three minutes if the first dose doesn’t work.
- Call the veterinarian for further instructions after the pet has emptied his stomach. If you can’t induce vomiting after a couple of tries, prompt veterinary care is even more important.
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