We love to celebrate with our pets, and with Easter just around the corner we have a few words of wisdom on the effects of chocolate on your dog.
Chocolate is poisonous to dogs; however, the hazard of chocolate to your dog depends on the type of chocolate, the amount consumed and your dog's size. In large enough amounts, chocolate and cocoa products can kill your dog.
Why is chocolate dangerous for my dog?
- The toxic component of chocolate is theobromine. People easily metabolize theobromine, but dogs process it much more slowly, allowing it to build up to toxic levels in their system.
- Large breed dogs can consume more chocolate than a small dog before suffering ill effects.
- A small amount of chocolate will probably only give your dog an upset stomach with vomiting or diarrhea, however contact your vet if you know your dog has eaten chocolate.
- With large amounts, theobromine can produce muscle tremors, seizures, an irregular heartbeat, internal bleeding or a heart attack. The onset of theobromine poisoning is usually marked by severe hyperactivity.
Treatment
The general treatment for theobromine poisoning is to induce vomiting within two hours of ingestion, this is usually performed by your veterinarian. If you are worried or suspect that your dog may have eaten chocolate and they are showing any of the signs listed above, or behaving unusually, call your veterinarian immediately.
Different chocolate types have different theobromine levels. Cocoa, cooking chocolate and dark chocolate contain the highest levels, while milk chocolate and white chocolate have the lowest. The high level of theobromine in dark chocolate means it takes only a very small amount to poison a dog, and remember its not just bars of chocolate, its cakes, biscuits, anything with chocolate in and left out or tempting for them to eat.
We hope you have found this helpful and wish you all a safe and fun Easter,
Bertie & Bella's