I’m sure that most dog owners by now are aware that chocolate can be fatal in dogs if eaten is sufficient quantities.
This doesn’t mean you need to panic if you’ve been giving your Labrador a tiny bit of chocolate every now and then. However, if your dog has broken in to your stash of Easter Chocolate and eaten the lot, you might have an issue.
Chocolate contains a product called theobromide, which is toxic to dogs. As a general rule, the darker the chocolate the more theobromide it contains. This means that a dog only needs to eat a relatively small amount of dark chocolate compared to milk chocolate.
Signs of chocolate toxicity vary depending on the dose and the individual pet, but can be everything from vomiting and diarrhoea through to heart arrhythmias, muscle tremors and death.
The easiest way to treat chocolate ingestion is to make the dog vomit. If we make the dog vomit within one hour of eating the chocolate, we can remove most of the chocolate before it is absorbed. We may also use activated charcoal an intravenous fluids to help clear any toxin from the body.
So how much is too much?
We’ve found an online calculator you can use if your dog has found the chocolate stash.
Head to: http://petsci.co.uk/chocolate-toxicity-calculator-dogs/ and enter your pet’s weight, type of chocolate eaten and the amount. This will give you an idea as to whether you need to seek urgent veterinary attention or not.
If your dog is showing any signs of toxicity, or you’re concerned about the amount your pet has eaten, please call us immediately. This toxin acts very quickly and time is critical.