Vet advice – never feed pets chocolate
While the occasional chocolate chip within a cookie may not be an issue, certain types of chocolate may be toxic to your pet. Dogs make up 95 percent of chocolate emergency calls. In smaller dogs, even the wrappers can result in secondary obstruction in the stomach or intestines.
Cats are usually too discriminating to eat chocolate, however, we have seen incidents of cats with chocolate poisoning too.
What’s in it that’s so bad?
When it comes to chocolate, remember: dark = dangerous. The darker the chocolate, the larger the amount of theobromine, a chemical cousin to cafeine. Cooking chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, cocoa powder and gourmet dark chocolates are more dangerous than milk chocolate. White chocolate has very little theobromine and will not cause chocolate poisoning in pets.
The threat to pets
It’s the dose that makes the poison. Pets that ingest a few M&Ms or a couple bites of a chocolate chip cookie are unlikely to develop chocolate poisoning, but it’s still best for pets to avoid chocolate altogether.
Here’s the rundown:
- Any ingestion of more than 20mg/kg of body weight may put dogs and cats at risk for chocolate poisoning.
- For dark or semisweet chocolate, it’s even less.
- Almost all ingestions of cooking chocolate can result in poisoning and are considered emergencies.
- Young animals, geriatric animals and animals with underlying disease must be treated more conservatively as they’re more at risk for poisoning than healthy adult animals.
- Due to the large amount of fat in chocolate, some pets may develop pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) after eating chocolate or baked goods containing chocolate.
Signs of chocolate poisoning
Ingestions of small amounts of chocolate may cause mild vomiting and diarrhoea. Larger ingestions can cause severe agitation, elevated heart rate (tachycardia), abnormal heart rhythms, tremors, seizures and collapse.
Treatment
We may need to induce vomiting and give multiple doses of activated charcoal to decontaminate your pet. Aggressive IV fluids are used to help with excretion, sedatives help calm the pet, heart medications reduce the heart rate and blood pressure, anticonvulsants help control seizures, and antacids (such as Pepcid) can relieve stomach discomfort and diarrhea. Theobromine may be reabsorbed across the bladder wall, so a urinary catheter or frequent walks may be needed to keep the bladder empty.
Chocolate poisoning can be hard to decipher. If your dog has nibbled and you’re at all concerned, call us immediately 9547 2750.
